Insider's View: Wally Dallenbach

Another season and another new surface for New Hampshire International Speedway. You have to give credit to track owner Bob Bahre for doing everything he can to make Loudon a competitive and safe track.

	Wally Dallenbach

Bahre resurfaced more of the track again this year in hopes of making it wider and allow for some side-by-side competition. Some of the guys that have tested there already are saying you can almost drive down on the apron so it's going to get pretty interesting watching the different lines drivers try to take on Sunday.

Loudon is a big Martinsville, a mile-long version of that paper clip layout. Very long straightaways and tight corners are what you deal with at New Hampshire. You carry a lot of speed down the straights and really need to jump on the brakes hard when you get to the turns.

Like Martinsville, brakes are going to be a factor at Loudon. And with possible extra grip of the new surface, we'll most likely see speeds even higher than in the past.

Running down at the bottom of the racetrack through the turns is the fastest away around Loudon. Really, your best chance to pass is coming off or going into the corners. If you get up too high out of the groove through the turns you're going to slide back or hit the wall.

It's also great news that New Hampshire will install the SAFER barrier system by the time the Winston Cup circuit comes back in September. This is the same system used at Indianapolis and it really absorbs the impact of the car going into the wall. The energy goes away from the driver and that's key to keeping him safe inside the cockpit. Again hats off to the Bahre's for taking the initiative and implementing this safety measure.

Ryan Newman is the most recent New Hampshire winner and comes in this weekend off his victory in Chicago last Sunday. I look for a strong qualifying run from the ALLTEL Dodge and for Newman to again be a factor come Sunday.

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Tony Stewart moved back into the top 10 in points with his runner-up finish in Chicago and the tide may be turning for that team. He has won at New Hampshire before and has six top-10 finishes in eight career starts at Loudon. Look for the Home Dept Chevrolet to be in the mix.

Jeff Gordon has only won once at Loudon in his career but I expect him to be near the front most of the day. And look for Bobby Labonte, who was a human fireball in Chicago, to bounce back and possibly make a trip to Victory Lane this week.

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