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Bubble Watch: Where drivers closest to the cutline stand before New Hampshire
By Staff Report | Published: July 15, 2021 11
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
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Chris Graythen | Getty Images
Chase Briscoe
Points behind: 196 | Full standings
Trending: Needs the speed -- Briscoe only has two top-10s in 2021, both on road courses, along with six finishes of 15th or worse in last seven races.
Loudon outlook: Mostly cold -- He has no Cup experience at this track, but finished sixth here in 2019 in the Xfinity Series.
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Maddie Meyer | Getty Images
Daniel Suarez
Points behind: 179 | Full standings
Trending: Bad luck -- Suarez has 17 finishes of 12th or worse in 21 races in 2021 (2 DNFs). Six finishes of 12th or worse in last seven races.
Loudon outlook: Cold -- Had a sixth-place finish at New Hampshire in 2017.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Points behind: 161 | Full standings
Trending: Needs improvement -- Stenhouse has 19 finishes of 11th or worse in 21 races in 2021 (4 DNFs) and 13 finishes of 12th or worse in last 14 races.
Loudon outlook: Cold -- nine finishes of 13th or worse in last 10 races at New Hampshire.
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Sean Gardner | Getty Images
Bubba Wallace
Points behind: 148 | Full standings
Trending: Needs improvement -- Wallace has twenty finishes of 11th or worse in 21 races this season and two straight finishes of 14th or worse.
Loudon outlook: Cold -- Never finished better than 22nd in three career starts at New Hampshire.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
Ross Chastain
Points behind: 145 | Full standings
Trending: Up and down -- Chastain has 16 finishes of 14th or worse (2 DNFs) in last 20 races, four top 10s and four finishes of 21st or worse in last eight races.
Loudon outlook: Cold -- Never finished better than 25th in two career starts at New Hampshire.
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Chris Graythen | Getty Images
Matt DiBenedetto
Points behind: 138 | Full standings
Trending: Slowly moving forward -- DiBenedetto has scored stage points in eight of 43 stages in 2021 (1 stage win). Earned top-10 finishes in the past two races.
Loudon outlook: Heating up -- two straight finishes of 6th or better at New Hampshire.
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James Gilbert | Getty Images
Chris Buescher
Points behind: 96 | Full standings
Trending: Need to close the deal -- Buescher has 17 finishes of 11th or worse in 21 races in 2021, along with six straight finishes of 16th or worse (1 DNF).
Loudon outlook: Cold -- Never finished better than 15th in seven career starts at New Hampshire.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
Tyler Reddick
Points to the good: 96 | Full standings
Trending: Consistent -- Ten top 10s in the last 15 races and has also recorded three straight top 10s.
Loudon outlook: Warm --Finished 10th in one career start at New Hampshire.
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Sean Gardner | Getty Images
Austin Dillon
Points to the good: 104 | Full standings
Trending: Needs improvement -- Two laps led in the last 20 races.
Loudon outlook: Cold -- One top-10 in 11 races and eight straight finishes of 13th or worse at New Hampshire.
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Sean Gardner | Getty Images
Kevin Harvick
Points to the good: 159 | Full standings
Trending: Hit or miss -- Owns 14 top 10s in 21 races this season and four top 10s in last seven races.
Loudon outlook: Hot -- Won three of last six races at New Hampshire.
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Chris Graythen | Getty Images
Tyler Reddick holds the last spot in the playoffs while Chris Buescher and others are on the outside ahead of Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). See where the playoff bubble stands with five races remaining in the regular season, with trends and outlooks provided by Racing Insights.