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Kyle Busch finished third last year at New Hampshire, his first top-10 in three starts.

New Hampshire stingy for winners trying to repeat

By Jarrod Breeze, NASCAR.COM
June 25, 2009
11:16 AM EDT

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This week the Nationwide Series is racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, same as the Sprint Cup Series -- and that means more double-duty participation.

Five former series champions will join Nationwide/Cup regular Carl Edwards in this week's field including Kevin Harvick (2001, '06), who in eight starts at New Hampshire has failed to finish in the top 10 just once -- his first race there in 2000.

3Times he qualified on the pole including 2007 when he won his only race there. Harvick has never started worse than seventh and has an average starting position of 2.9. He also started on the pole in 2003 (no time trials).

6Top-fives, most in track history, including three runner-up finishes. He finished fourth last year in his own car, the No. 33 Chevrolet, in which he is entered for this race.

588Laps led, most of any driver at NHMS since 1995 and nearly twice as much as the next closest driver (Jeff Green with 295). Three times Harvick led 152 or more of the scheduled 200 laps and another time was out front a race-leading 90 laps.

Beside Edwards (2007), other former series champions entered include Joe Nemecheck (1992), Greg Biffle ('02), Brian Vickers ('03) and Clint Bowyer ('08).

2Top-10s in seven starts for Greg Biffle, who has finished 30th or worse three times (two DNFs). His best finish came in 2007 when he ran seventh in Clarence Brewer's No. 37 Ford. The rest of his starts have been for Jack Roush including a 19th-place finish last year. His average finish is 19.9.

4Top-fives for Carl Edwards including a victory in 2006 and two runner-up finishes. He finished fifth last year.

4Place of finish for Brian Vickers in his only start at NHMS in 2003.

9.0Average finish for Clint Bowyer in four starts and place of finish in last year's race. Bowyer has one top-five and three top-10s. He has led 163 laps, second-most among drivers entered in this race, with 127 coming in 2006 when he finished fifth.

18.0Average starting and finishing positions for Joe Nemechek, who won at NHMS in his own car in 1992. Overall, he has two top-fives, four top-10s and four DNFs in 11 starts. He hasn't race there since 2004.

Coverage of the Camping World RV Sales 200 (Entry List | Tickets) begins at 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ABC.

1Drivers to post their only career win at New Hampshire: Derrike Cope in 1994. Cope is entered in this week's race.

11Lead changes in last year's race, the most at New Hampshire since 1997 when there also were 11. However, only four drivers took turns in the lead with winner Tony Stewart leading 75 laps, third place Kyle Busch 63, seventh place David Reutimann 20 and ninth place Clint Bowyer 36. The most lead changes in a race there is 18 in 1991 and the fewest is two in 2006.

16Races won from a top-10 starting position including nine of the past 10. There have been two winners from the pole during that span -- Tim Fedewa in 2000 and Kevin Harvick in 2007 -- and three overall. The worst starting position by a winner was 26th by Buckshot Jones in 1998.

THE LEFFLER WATCH

Jason Leffler is currently riding a series-best, 10-race, top-10 streak in the No. 38 Toyota of Braun Racing.

1Top-10s in six career starts at New Hampshire. Leffler finished third in 2004. Three times he has finished 24th or worse including last year when he was credited with 32nd after a DNF (vibration). In two other starts in the 38 car, he finished 14th (2006) and 12th ('07).

THE WOW FACTOR

22Different winners in the 22 series races at New Hampshire, which stands as the longest such streak at active tracks in any of NASCAR's national series. Seven drivers have a shot to become the first to repeat at Loudon -- Kenny Wallace (won in 1991), Joe Nemechek ('92), Derrike Cope ('94), Jason Keller (2001), Bobby Hamilton Jr. ('02), Carl Edwards ('06) and Kevin Harvick ('07). Jack Roush is the only repeat owner: Matt Kenseth ('04) and Edwards.

THE SUPER LOOPER

801Laps in the Top 15, out of 801 possible, for Kevin Harvick in the past four races.

Driver Rating (since 2005, four races)

Pos.	Driver*	Starts	Rating	Pct. Laps / Top 15	Avg. Run Pos.	Avg. Fin.

1.	Kevin Harvick	4	130.0	100	3.3	3.8
2.	Kyle Busch	2	117.5	86.8	5.2	9.5
3.	Carl Edwards	4	116.5	96.6	5.7	2.5
4.	Clint Bowyer	4	112.1	93.0	6.4	9.0
5.	Paul Menard	2	97.3	83.8	9.8	5.5
6.	Mike Bliss	2	91.2	84.8	12.0	10.5
7.	Scott Wimmer	3	88.6	72.2	13.5	10.7
8.	Brad Keselowski	1	87.5	81.5	13.1	10.0
9.	Greg Biffle	4	86.0	69.4	13.8	16.8
10.	Jason Leffler	4	78.3	44.3	19.2	21.8

• Loop Data Statistics: Season-to-Date Box Score | * Entered in this race only

BLAST FROM THE PAST

22Career series wins for Tommy Ellis, the 1988 champion. Ellis won his last race in the first race held at New Hampshire in July of 1990. The track hosted two races per season the first three years. Incidentally, Rick Mast also scored the last of his nine career series wins in the second race of that first year in October. Both drove a Buick.

Series winners at New Hampshire

Year	Driver	Make	Year	Driver	Make

1990	Tommy Ellis	Buick	1998	Buckshot Jones	Pontiac
	Rick Mast	Buick	1999	Elton Sawyer	Ford
1991	Kenny Wallace	Pontiac	2000	Tim Fedewa	Chevrolet
	Ricky Craven	Chevrolet	2001	Jason Keller	Ford
1992	Jeff Burton	Oldsmobile	2002	Bobby Hamilton Jr.	Ford
	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	2003	David Green	Pontiac
1993	Robert Pressley	Chevrolet	2004	Matt Kenseth	Ford
1994	Derrike Cope	Ford	2005	Martin Truex Jr.	Chevrolet
1995	Chad Little	Ford	2006	Carl Edwards	Ford
1996	Randy LaJoie	Chevrolet	2007	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet
1997	Mike McLaughlin	Chevrolet	2008	Tony Stewart	Toyota

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Nationwide Series

Driver Standings

Pos.	+/-	Driver	Points	Behind

1.	--	Kyle Busch	2,391	--
2.	--	Carl Edwards	2,264	-127
3.	--	Brad Keselowski	2,173	-218
4.	--	Jason Leffler	2,127	-264
5.	--	Joey Logano	1,860	-531
6.	+3	Mike Bliss	1,745	-646
7.	--	Brendan Gaughan	1,744	-647
8.	-2	Justin Allgaier	1,740	-651
9.	-1	Jason Keller	1,716	-675
10.	--	Steve Wallace	1,693	-698