The 2nd race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Which driver will win the ISM Connect 300?
The New Hampshire Motor Speedway is not a short track, but it races like one. The track’s length is 1.058-miles around which allows for average speeds of well over 100 MPH. However, the turns have minimal banking of two to seven degrees. That forces the drivers to race the track in a similar way to when they are on short tracks and it presents a very difficult set-up for the crew chiefs and teams to figure out.
Martin Truex Jr. won last week’s Chase opener at Chicagoland to lock him in the next round. For the other 15 drivers currently on the Chase Grid, they have this weekend and next to capture a win to secure an automatic advance. Following the next two races the drivers without a win in the first round of the playoffs and are the lowest among the 16 contending drivers in point total will be eliminated from The Chase.
Which active drivers have the best career performance at the track nicknamed “The Magic Mile?” Let’s take a look.
Top 10 Driver Ratings at New Hampshire
- Denny Hamlin – 104.0
- Jimmie Johnson – 100.8
- Kyle Busch – 98.8
- Brad Keselowski – 98.7
- Kevin Harvick – 98.0
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 96.4
- Matt Kenseth – 92.8
- Chase Elliott – 92.6
- Martin Truex Jr. – 92.5
- Kurt Busch – 90.0
Driver names in red are current Chase Contenders.
NOTE: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2017 races (25 total) among active drivers at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Denny Hamlin won the first race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2017 to join the list of active drivers with three wins at “The Magic Mile.” The other active drivers on that list are all 2017 Chase contenders like Denny and include Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman.
Kevin Harvick is defending winner of this race from the 2016 NASCAR season and he too is a 2017 Chase contender. Last year’s win brought him even with Kyle Busch (also a 2017 Chase Grid driver) at two career wins each.
Two non-contending drivers have a pair of wins and could play spoiler this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Those drivers are Clint Bowyer and Joey Logano.
The only other two active drivers to have won on “The Magic Mile” during their careers are Brad Keselowski and Kasey Kahne. Both drivers have a single win at the track and both are currently on the 2017 Chase Grid.
Mix stage racing, challenging track to control the cars on, pressure to win to advance on Chase Grid and the sheer desire to win from non-chase drivers and this weekend’s race could get very interesting very quickly.
The story will be told when the green flag waives to begin 300 laps (317.4 miles) of racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Sunday, September 24th starting at 1 PM central time (2 PM eastern time) for the ISM Connection 300.
By: Buck Stevens
