NASCAR
Stratta’s Six: Who Can Master The Magic Mile at Loudon?
New Hampshire Motor Speedway marks the next stop for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series. Another new track for the Next Gen car provides many unknowns ahead for everyone. After the major Playoff-busting win here by Aric Almirola last year, can history repeat itself at the Magic Mile? Several drivers winless on the year in particular have great records in Loudon. Who may be hoisting Loudon the Lobster on Sunday? Let’s look at a few names who could earn this win at New Hampshire.
Denny Hamlin
Three-time Loudon winner Denny Hamlin chases a third win in 2022. The FedEx 11 has a top-10 in each of the last three trips to New England, including two runner-ups. Despite Hamlin’s fear of the living lobster trophy (kabourophobia), he is seen as a favorite to take it again. The 11 is among one of the fastest cars every week; don’t expect that to change in Loudon. As the Playoffs near, Hamlin is out for every Playoff point he can claim.
“New Hampshire is a great track overall,” Hamlin said. “I expect that we’ll be shifting quite a bit this weekend, so I’m not sure what that will entail for the race. I have always felt like oval racing was momentum based and that’s how it should be. But we’ll play within the rules we’re dealt and make the most of this weekend. Our FedEx team has been working very hard to make gains on tracks like this, so it will be good to see where we’re at now that we’re halfway through the season.”
Should Hamlin win this weekend, he would join Chase Elliott as the only three-time winners in 2022. Despite a horrendous start to the season, Hamlin’s speed and performance have the 11 team seen as a top-tier title threat. At a track Hamlin knows so well, little may stand between him and another awkward encounter with a lobster.
Kevin Harvick
Tied with Jeff Burton for most wins all-time at Loudon is Kevin Harvick with four victories. In desperate need of a win to secure a Playoff berth, can the 4 find victory lane this weekend? Out of the remaining races in the regular season, Loudon may be Harvick’s best shot at erasing his nearly two-year losing streak. Harvick has 22 Loudon top-10s, including eight of the last nine New Hampshire races. That same span also features two wins for the 4. With Fords being strong at both Phoenix and Gateway earlier this year, Harvick could play upset this weekend.
“Flat tracks have always been really good for me in my career,” Harvick said. “When you look at SHR and the things we’ve been able to accomplish at Loudon and Phoenix, they’ve kind of followed that same trend. A lot of that goes back to that open test time we had at Milwaukee and Nashville. Those are the places where we would practice and practice and practice. Our guys have done a great job of having a good short-track, flat-track program, and Loudon is a place that has followed along with Phoenix and the success that we’ve had there and to be able to capitalize on that success and continue it at another track.”
“The flat-track stuff definitely has been good for us, and we’re going there knowing we’re going to have some options to move around the racetrack and be able to kind of hunt for a line that works for our GEARWRENCH Ford Mustang.”
Harvick has seen a top-10 in four of the last six races, so the 4 is not far off from outright winning pace. Should Harvick find himself up front late, he may do whatever it takes to lock up his Playoff spot, given that he’s 17th in standings.
Chase Elliott
Chase Elliott is 0-for-8 in Loudon, but does enter this weekend with great momentum. The points leader has won two of the last three races, and appears to be on cloud 9 entering the Playoff push. However, Elliott’s history has not been the best at New Hampshire, with a best finish of fifth. The 9 team appears to be firing on all cylinders, but Elliott looks at the weekend ahead as a big learning experience.
“We want to be better at every aspect of our game,” Elliott said. “When I look at the weeks ahead, I think the next two are important places that we need to improve at. Loudon has not been a very good place for me. We’ve had a couple decent runs but nothing earth-shattering. Pocono (Raceway) is kind of the same way. I don’t feel like I’ve run good up there since my rookie year, so maybe I just need to forget everything I’ve learned between then and now and restart. We want to be good at all the tracks and I think we’re a strong enough team where we can do that.”
Elliott self-admittedly does not have a great Loudon track record, but that was also true in Atlanta until last week. The 9 has shown incredible speed over the last three weeks on three wildly different tracks. With that in mind, Elliott has a solid chance to be up front challenging for another win.
Kyle Busch
Another three-time winner at New Hampshire, Kyle Busch aims for his second win of 2022 this weekend. Busch has led more than 1000 laps at Loudon across his career, but has crashed out early here the last two years. The last two New Hampshire races mark Busch’s only DNFs here. Busch started on pole here a year ago, but rain in turn one saw an early end to the 18’s day. Had that incident not happened, Busch was in a great position to contend for that victory. Now in 2022, Busch eyes winning one race that was taken from him before it really even started.
“Loudon is a Martinsville-like short track, but it’s just over a mile,” Busch said. “It’s a little more spread out, but there’s some rooting and gouging going on because it’s a one-lane track and everyone fights for that particular groove. We struggled at Phoenix and Martinsville earlier in the year and those tracks are in the same family as Loudon. But another similar track is Gateway, and I felt like we were really good racing there and made a lot of gains, so hoping we can continue this weekend at Loudon with our DEWALT Camry TRD. Hope we can run similar to Gateway and get us one spot better than we did there.”
A recent string of bad luck, poorly-timed cautions, or lacking speed have kept Kyle Busch from victory lane. On the technical, rhythm-heavy oval that is Loudon, Busch’s experience could pay off with another win.
Joey Logano
Hometown hero Joey Logano has been winless at Loudon since 2014, but could take his third lobster trophy this weekend. While it’s been 10 races since Logano’s won here, he does boast five-straight top-10s. Logano also won earlier this season at Gateway, a track that should race very similar to Loudon. With Ford’s great performance on flat ovals, the 22 could be a strong pick for Sunday. Chase Elliott scored a hometown win a week ago, and Logano hopes to repeat that feat this weekend.
Christopher Bell
The Loudon runner-up last year to Almirola, Christopher Bell is a favorite to get one spot better this year. While Bell has not found a Cup Series win in the Granite State, he’s not lost an Xfinity race here. Bell has won the last three Loudon Xfinity events plus a Truck race. Had 2021’s Cup race not been cut short, Bell may have passed Almirola for that win too. Bell returns to one of his statistically-best tracks aware that the 20 needs a banner day.
“With the Playoff picture being as tight as it is, every point matters,” said Bell. “Loudon is a great track for us and we need a good showing. I’m ready to see what we can do this weekend.”
Being the current last man in the Playoffs, Bell’s future is anything but secure. The 20 needs to race as if they’re in a must-win scenario for a Playoff spot, and New Hampshire may just be their best track left. Keep an eye on the 20 to perhaps be the next new winner of 2022 at New Hampshire.
301 laps at Loudon stand between many drivers and a season-defining win. Everyone will either be gunning for a Playoff-making victory, or to pad their bonus point total at New Hampshire. Coverage of the Ambetter 301 begins Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET on USA Network, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. The Magic Mile made one underdog’s season a year ago, are we in store for another unlikely victor?
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR
