By Jeff Wackerlin, MRN.com | Saturday, August 1, 2020
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The NASCAR Cup Series will make its only stop at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday for the running of the Foxwoods Casino 301 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). There are 10 previous New Hampshire winners in the field with Kevin Harvick leading the way with four victories. Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman each are three-time winners.
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"I feel pretty good with how we have raced with this package in the few races so far this season," Truex Jr. said. "We’re starting to come up on some more tracks here in the second half of the season with this package, so it’s important that we learn what we can this week and try to keep carrying that momentum as we head towards the playoffs."
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Hot at Loudon: The two hottest drivers in 2020, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick, have combined to win three of the last four races at New Hampshire with Harvick taking the last two. Harvick, who leads the series standings, has finished in the top five in the last six races this season and in five of the last six races at Loudon. Last year, Harvick took the New Hampshire win over Hamlin after the two drivers combined to lead 154 of the 301 laps.
"It’s been a race track that has been really good for us from a performance standpoint," said Harvick, who is tied with Jeff Burton for the all-time win lead at New Hampshire. "And I think, from a confidence standpoint, being able to adjust on the car and know what we’re looking for, I think this is definitely a racetrack where a lot of those things came into play, and we used a lot of the same things that we’ve used in the past as far as tools of how we make our car go around the corner."
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Looking for More Magic: Kyle Busch scored his first playoff point last week at Kansas and now he has his sights set on his first win of the season. Busch has only finished outside the top 10 twice in the last 12 races at New Hampshire with two wins and 783 laps led in that span. His last victory at the track came in the 2017 fall race and his 436 laps led in the last four races at "The Magic Mile" is best among all drivers.
"We’ve been kind of the car to beat, one of the guys to beat there for – I think about, I don’t know – the last two, three, four years, maybe," Busch said. "We’re just always consistently good there, so hopefully we can keep that pattern going, at least, and be consistently good there again, but maybe we can hit on it better than somebody else and try to win."
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Playoff Push: Seven races remain until the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff field will be set and 10 drivers are locked-in based on wins. Aric Almirola, who will start from the pole Sunday, is the highest based on points - 134 ahead of the cutoff. William Byron is currently on the bubble in the 16th and final position and is 10 points ahead of rookie Tyler Reddick. Erik Jones and Jimmie Johnson are next, 12 and 18 points behind Byron, respectively. Not only will there be an eye on the points during the race, but also on how the track progresses through the 301 laps with the traction compound.
“New Hampshire is a really line sensitive track already, but the traction compound makes it even more so especially with the way the marbles accumulate outside the preferred groove," said Byron, who has posted a 13.0 average finish in two starts at the 1.058-mile track. "I think as a driver you try to keep your car within that line that is really fast but also try to give the best feedback you can on how to adjust. Thankfully you can manage the line more though as the race goes on."
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Battling from the Back: Rookie Christopher Bell will once again have to start near the back of the pack after not having the luck of the draw. Bell will start 35th in his first Cup start at New Hampshire, which has been his best track based on average finish in both the Xfinity and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series. Bell has three combined wins in both series, including victories in his two Xfinity starts.
“New Hampshire is one of my best race tracks that we go to on the schedule for whatever reason," Bell said. "I don’t know why that is. I think I have to give a lot of thanks to Kyle Busch Motorsports because whenever I drove for them in the Truck Series, we actually used one of our rookie tests up there at Loudon in the 2016 season. That kind of kicked off my experience there."
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Five to Watch: Key story lines for New Hampshire Cup race - NASCAR
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