NASCAR
Stratta’s Six: Who Can Win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway?
Sunday is the NASCAR Cup Series’ lone trip of 2024 to New England. New Hampshire Motor Speedway marks halfway through the 2024 season for America’s top racing drivers. The Magic Mile has seen dominant runs and Playoff-busting upsets alike in recent memory. Who are some favorites for the USA Today 301? Here’s a few who separate themselves from the pack at the flat mile.
Martin Truex Jr
Calling New Hampshire one of his home tracks, Martin Truex Jr had everything here but a Cup win until last year. 2023’s Monday delayed race saw the No. 19 Toyota pace the way for 254 laps. Put simply, MTJ ended one of the most complete runs of the season with an exclamation point. Truex always looks forward to competing at a track with a wealth of memories from his family’s racing history.
“I spent a lot of my childhood up there and watching my dad race in the North Series up there at New Hampshire,” Truex said. “Just spent a lot of time going up to Loudon every summer. And then racing and running well up there was a big part of the reason why I got hired and got to move to North Carolina to run in the Busch Series. It’s just been a special track for me, and to finally get that first Cup win there was huge. Hopefully we can go back-to-back this year and get our Reser’s Fine Foods Camry to victory lane there again.”
“It’s a tough place and it’s not gotten any easier since then. The older it gets, the harder it gets. Last year, we saw the track be very different than it’s ever been before. You would always run that second lane and a little bit the third one and sometimes lane one, but at the end of the race last year we were running the fourth and fifth lanes. It was just crazy to see how that old asphalt in the corner came in during the race. It’s a very challenging and unique track. Those seams are between each lane that can make your life miserable in the car if you hit those wrong. It’s crazy how it will change your car and mess up your lap. The track is very technical and it’s gotten bumpy over the years as well. It’s flat, has a fast entry and not a lot of grip. New Hampshire is a real challenge, but it’s a lot of fun when you get it right. I know all our guys will be ready with our Reser’s Fine Foods Camry this weekend.”
New Hampshire was perhaps Truex’s most consistent track without a win before 2023. Across 30 career starts, MTJ has 15 top-10s, 1170 laps led, and an 11.3 average finish. A week after one driver earned their first win of 2024, Truex hopes to return to victory lane himself. In what may be his final ride around Loudon, Truex hopes this homecoming is a 2023 repeat.
Brad Keselowski
Owning a pair of Loudon lobster trophies, Brad Keselowski’s been quietly great here for a long time. Dating back to his first New Hampshire win 10 years ago, BK has only been outside of the top-10 three times. This stretch includes an active streak of five-straight top-10s, with three of the last four race being top-fives.
If RFK Racing and the flagship No. 6 are to break back into victory lane again, New Hampshire is a prime opportunity. Ford as a manufacturer is seemingly on the upswing heading into the summer run towards the Playoffs. Keselowski also boasts five top-fives in the last nine weeks. Should anyone break up the apparent Toyota New Hampshire stranglehold, Keselowski may see the checkers first.
Kyle Busch
Despite a career hat trick here, no driver has had more bad luck in recent years at New Hampshire than Kyle Busch. Three of the last four Loudon races have not seen Rowdy make lap 100. Three last place results have Busch’s lobster trophies seeming ever more distant in the rearview mirror. Recent speed however does show reason for optimism in the No. 8 camp.
“New Hampshire is a really tricky racetrack,” Busch said. “It’s super flat and has bumpy characteristics to it as well. The asphalt has really gotten old over the years. It feels like racing over highway cracks, but those are all characteristics of a good racetrack. It’s just really challenging and very tough to pass. Everybody says it’s multigroove. You could run three different grooves there, but there’s really only one that’s fast and that’s the middle one. It makes for a challenging Sunday.”
“I feel like qualifying at New Hampshire is important just because of track position because it’s so hard to pass, making sure you’re in good position at the start of the race just to keep your day simple. I’ve always kind of put an emphasis on qualifying to make sure we do well.”
Entering New Hampshire 31 points outside the Playoffs, Busch is in desperate need of a momentum-building afternoon. If Busch’s car can stay in one piece, this team has proven capable of a top-10 if not better run.
Christopher Bell
If different horses are made for different courses, then Christopher Bell and New Hampshire Motor Speedway are a perfect match. Bell has seen more success in the Granite State than anywhere else in NASCAR. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver owns a Truck win, an undefeated Xfinity threepeat, and a Cup win from Loudon. The only blips on Bell’s insane New Hampshire stat line are his rookie Cup campaign, and a late spin last year. Other than those miscues, he’s never been worse than second here.
“I have had great equipment every time I’ve gone to Loudon, in Trucks, Xfinity and Cup,” Bell said. “Loudon is a track that Joe Gibbs Racing has a great history at, we have good setups at the short tracks and Loudon is a place that translates. I always say if you have a good racecar your going to do well and if you have a bad racecar your going to do bad. Loudon is one of those places we have good cars most of the time. I’m excited about the Xfinity race Saturday. I’m always thrilled when I get to do extra races, it will be fun, and we’ll see if I can keep the streak going.”
Toyotas are undefeated in the Next Gen era at New Hampshire, with Bell and Truex making up both wins. Heading north pinned as a favorite again, Bell will try and bring home the lobster trophy once again. Added track time with Xfinity as well could only make Bell even stronger for Sunday.
Joey Logano
Is Team Penske coming to life at just the right time for a New Hampshire triumph? Counting the All-Star Race, all three of their drivers have seen victory lane in the last month. Joey Logano is their lone contender not yet locked into the Playoffs. He comes to his home track with extra confidence for taking the win.
“That’s one track I’m probably more excited about than any other one coming up, for sure,” Logano said. “It’s a great track for us. I’d say it’s Paul Wolfe’s best track as a crew chief. I can’t say I ran really well there until Paul set up my car, so I’d say it’s a really good track for him. I feel confident going there, for sure.”
Crew chief Paul Wolfe echoed these comments earlier this week; team 22 eyes a breakthrough first win of 2024 in Loudon. Between North Wilkesboro, Gateway, and Iowa, Penske has been perfect on flat, short tracks similar to New Hampshire. Signs are pointing toward a third Logano victory on the Magic Mile.
Denny Hamlin
Never one to be counted out on any short track is the man chasing a fourth win this year–Denny Hamlin. The No. 11 owns three past Loudon wins, most recently in 2017. Hamlin will be leaning heavily on his teammates though, trying to find that extra bit of speed and possibly victory lane.
“I don’t really know what the new tire will do to the racing,” Hamlin said. “For me, I’ll prepare like I always do. Martin (Truex Jr.) and Christopher (Bell) have been really fast there the last few years, so I will study the data to see what I can do inside the car to improve. I feel like we’ve been good, but not great, there in this car. So we’d definitely like to take that next step and be able to run with those guys. I would expect them to both be very strong this weekend.”
Mirroring Keselowski, Hamlin also has an active run of five-straight New Hampshire top-10s. Driver 11 is still anxiously chasing the 60 career win threshold, and Loudon is one of his historically best tracks. Should Hamlin take Sunday’s win, he would have an awkward victory lane celebration once again with his fear of lobsters.
Recent seasons have seen New Hampshire be a precursor to who performs well at Martinsville and Phoenix. The USA Today 301 goes green Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Possibly previewing the two most integral races in the championship yet again, a lot is riding on who can put it all together this weekend.
Written by Peter Stratta
Be sure to follow us on Twitter/X
Be sure to follow the writer on Twitter/X
Photo Credit to James Gilbert/Getty Images
