Smack: Race to the Chase down to haves, have nots (cont'd)

3. Kurt Busch is defending event champion, but the last eight races at New Hampshire have been won by eight different drivers. Who's the favorite this week at the Magic Mile?

Joe Menzer: What is this, Penske day in Track Smack? But you've got to hand it to Kurt, who has been consistent all year long -- and was absolutely dominant in winning at Atlanta earlier. That bodes well for some of the tracks coming up, including in the Chase.

David Caraviello: All right, I'm taking a stand here -- this will be Ryan Newman's great Stewart-Haas coming-out party. He's good on flat tracks, he's won there before, and he's going to get that long-sought-after first victory of the season. Ryan is ex-Penske, so does that count?

Raygan Swan: I'm going to say the Stewart-Haas drivers. Newman needs to pull out of his funk. The last two races he has finished outside the top 10. I look for both Hoosiers to finish well, if not win.

David Caraviello: Um, Raygan, you realize both of your Hoosiers can't win, right? I mean, I guess there could be a tie down to the thousandths of a second, but that would be highly unlikely. Seeing two cars in Victory Lane would be cool, though.

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Jerry Gappens could have been the original Jeff Gordon. Instead, he took the promotions route rather than driving.

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Raygan Swan: Well I'm picking them both to be safe Sally again.

Joe Menzer: Raygs probably wants 'em to run on Hoosier tires, too! Take the last two winners out of the equation -- Greg Biffle in a Ford last fall and Kurt in his Dodge last June -- and the previous four winners all drove Chevys. That could bode well for the Stewart-Haas guys as well.

David Caraviello: Hey, you know who's usually pretty good at New Hampshire? Jeff Burton. He's won there several times, and boy is he in desperate need of a good week. Could be sort of a last stand for the RCR veteran.

Joe Menzer: I happen to think it's about time for Jimmie Johnson to win again. Or maybe Kyle Busch. As for Burton, he was good at New Hampshire a long time ago -- when he was driving a Ford for Jack Roush. He hasn't won there since 2000, which means nothing much now in my opinion.

Raygan Swan: What about Jeff Gordon? He has only one win this year, but has three wins at NHMS.

David Caraviello: Hey, you know what? I'm actually kind of looking forward to going up to New Hampshire this week. Allegedly they've made all kinds of changes up there, so it will be interesting to see what Bruton Smith and Jerry Gappens have done. I hear there actually may even be room to park in the infield now!

Joe Menzer: Well, they spent a lot of money -- and plowed through lots of environmental red tape, I hear -- to fill in that, um, lake in the infield. It was more like a ditch filled with water, but whatever.

Raygan Swan: David, Jerry mentioned something about a car-eating dinosaur. Not that you care, but look out for elephant ears!

David Caraviello: Ah, the car-eating dinosaur is back! That's always quite a show. Humpy Wheeler first rolled that beast out at Charlotte several years ago. Nice to see that Jerry is carrying on his former boss' legacy.

Joe Menzer: New Hampshire is a very underrated trip. I like staying in Manchester, an underrated town. And you can always zip into Boston for a Red Sox game at Fenway Park! But my team is the Cincinnati Reds, who are underrated.

David Caraviello: Don't know if I can stomach the Red Sox after the way they blatantly stole that game from the Braves last Sunday. That wound will take a while to heal. And Menzer, for what it's worth, Burton has top-10s in five of his last seven starts at NHMS, including a fourth last fall. And those finishes did not come in Jack Roush Fords.

Joe Menzer: But Burton hasn't won at New Hampshire since 2000. In that sense, he's like the Cincinnati Reds -- meaning he'll probably entertain and likely flirt with victory, but leave you disappointed in the end.

David Caraviello: Kind of like this Track Smack!

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.