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The NASCAR Cup Series is back in New Hampshire, and the 1.058-mile oval could be the opportunity that hungry veterans like Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick need to get that elusive first win of the season. With a win, they qualify for the postseason.
“The Magic Mile” — as the Loudon, New Hampshire track is also known — hosts a critical race this weekend, as the NASCAR Cup Series is now down to five races remaining in the regular season. After this weekend, the season will have a two-week break while the Olympics are going on. After the Olympics, four races remain in August before the postseason begins in September.
Could a veteran snag this critical win, or will Kyle Larson continue his 2021 dominance after signing a contract extension this week with Hendrick Motorsports?
RELATED: NASCAR BetCenter | Odds for Sunday’s race at New Hampshire
Take a look at the NASCAR racing odds for the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at Loudon:
THE ODDS-ON FAVORITE
Martin Truex, Jr. (+500)
Truex, Jr. tops the odds at Loudon, but there are many historically strong drivers in this field — even with many top veterans of the past two decades recently retired. Truex comes from a New Jersey family that has had success at the New Hampshire oval track. His father — Martin Truex Sr. — won the only NASCAR touring series race of his career at Loudon, capturing the K&N Pro Series East race (now known as ARCA Menards Series East) there in 1994. Little brother Ryan Truex also won two East races here in 2010, and Truex, Jr. won twice in the same series and won once in the Xfinity Series (2005).
While Truex, Jr. hasn’t won at Loudon in the NASCAR Cup Series, he has one of the top average finish numbers there — 12.0. He has 13 career top-10 finishes and seven career top-fives. Keep in mind, Truex, Jr. hasn’t always been in top-flight equipment during his career, either. His last six runs here have been top 10s, and he took third last year in Joe Gibbs’ equipment — the strongest team he’s raced for in his career.
Couple the historical context above with the fact that he’s won three times this season and will start second this weekend, and you can see that he’s a solid favorite.
RELATED: Starting lineup for New Hampshire
OTHERS: Truex, Jr. is not miles ahead of everybody else in the NASCAR racing odds. Now that he’s racing with Hendrick Motorsports, Kyle Larson (+525) has proven he can win just about anywhere at any time. With five races remaining before NASCAR begins its postseason on Sept. 5 in Darlington, Larson would be on top of the playoff standings if the regular season ended today. He’s been stellar.
Denny Hamlin (+550) is extremely hungry to get that first win of the season. He tops the regular-season standings as of today, but that will change once the NASCAR Cup Series standings reset for the postseason. Hamlin’s past two races have produced second-place finishes at this venue, and he has won three races here in his career. He also holds the best average finish (9.6) among any active driver with more than one start.
Lastly, there’s Kyle Busch (+650). He’ll start on the pole and has 12 career NASCAR wins at Loudon in the top three series: Three in the Cup Series, six in the Xfinity Series, and three in the Camping World Truck Series.
THE DARK HORSE THREAT
Kevin Harvick (+1200)
Of all of this weekend’s entrants, nobody has more career Cup Series wins than Kevin Harvick at New Hampshire. He has won four times at the track — three coming in the past six Cup races — and also has more top fives (13) and top 10s (21) than anybody in this weekend’s field.
Harvick has been at his best in his career at intermediate-length tracks that range in size from 1.00-to-1.54 miles long. Consider this: Of Harvick’s 58 career Cup Series wins, 36 of them have come at tracks in this range of length. There’s something just right about this track size. Harvick hasn’t won a race this year, but this might be a big opportunity.
THE INTRIGUING LONG SHOT
Christopher Bell (+2000)
Bell has only run a single race at New Hampshire when it comes to the Cup Series, but he’s won the past two races here (2018 & 2019) in the Xfinity Series and won the 2017 Camping World Truck Series also. In all three lower-series victories, he started No. 2 and was racing with either Joe Gibbs (Xfinity) or Kyle Busch (Trucks) — both traditionally strong in those levels. He’ll be in a Gibbs’ Cup Series car this weekend.