Kasey Kahne hopes his luck at Loudon this year isn't like last year. Credit: Autostock

Loudon where Chase dreams can be broken

Track has history of making, breaking streaks of success

LOUDON, N.H. -- New Hampshire International Speedway is usually called Loudon for short. The track could also go by a newer, subtle-as-a-sledgehammer name: Landmine.

More than any other track in the Chase -- with the exception of Talladega -- New Hampshire International Speedway looms as the most dangerous of the 10 tracks that host Chase races.

	Tony Stewart had trouble at Loudon in July, which dropped him out of the top 10. Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images
	NO GIVE AND TAKE Tony Stewart battled Ryan Newman, who was multiple laps down, so hard in July that it cost Stewart more than the lead at New Hampshire.  •   Complete story, click here Spin cycleRace leader Tony Stewart spins in Turn 4 at Loudon Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

The track's flat surface, heavy braking zones and high speeds constantly produce a handful of angry drivers, and on-track confrontations have been commonplace in recent Loudon races.

Even though the Chase format is only two years old, the track has already done its share of quashing title hopes before they even begin.

No one in the Nextel Cup garage has forgotten what happened here last fall, when 10 cautions knocked out a quarter of the field.

"You saw it with Scott Riggs and Kurt Busch in the first Chase race of last year in an accident down there on the first or second lap," said Greg Biffle, who clashed with Robby Gordon here in 2004. "Look at all the stuff that happened here."

Busch, trying to defend his Nextel Cup championship, was eliminated on Lap 3 last year after he tangled with Riggs. Busch was followed by TV cameras as he made the long walk down pit road to confront Riggs' crew chief.

Busch never recovered from the Loudon carnage because his title hopes effectively ended with the crash.

"I think we're going to see, not a mirror image of that, but we're going to see something of the sort on Sunday," Biffle said. "It's just that kind of track."

Busch's experience is remembered vividly by this year's Chase contenders.

Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch had a Lap 166 tiff in this race last year, with Kahne hitting Busch's car under caution. NASCAR parked Kahne for his actions and later fined him.

With both Busch and Kahne in the Chase for the Nextel Cup, each driver is cognizant of the track's dangers.

"This weekend could explode," Kahne said. "Who knows?"

Kyle Busch recalls the Tony Stewart-Ryan Newman incident here in July. Newman was two laps down and attempting to pass Stewart, but Stewart didn't budge, and the resulting crash sent Stewart to a 37th-place finish. The wreck knocked Stewart out of the top 10 in points, and his season has never recovered.

"It's definitely a tricky place," Busch said. "There are some guys that maybe get a little impatient trying to pass somebody and try to rough them up and get by them."

It may be coincidence, but the races at Loudon seem to have gotten hairier since the track was reconfigured.

In 2002, the apron was repaved in an effort to create more two-wide racing. The changes worked -- Newman beat Stewart in a thrilling side-by-side battle in 2005 -- but it is still difficult to pass at the 1.058-mile track.

Jeff Burton, a four-time winner, preferred the old configuration.

"Today, when you get beside somebody, if you catch a guy and he gets on the outside, he can just hold you up and hold you up," Burton said. "It is an emotional racetrack because it was so hard to pass, and by the way, everyone is so good. It is so hard to pass because everyone is running well, too. It gets frustrating."

According to Matt Kenseth, it is the drivers who have control over the track.

In the July 2005 race, he rear-ended future teammate Jamie McMurray on Lap 27. Kenseth accused McMurray of running into him earlier in the race, and Kenseth sent McMurray into the wall.

Kenseth later apologized for the hit on McMurray, and he said on Friday that the carnage is not the track's fault.

"The drivers control the cars and I don't think anyone is driving Christine," Kenseth said. "We all have a steering wheel and brake pedals. We are all responsible when your car hits someone else, and vice versa."