From a blush of peaches to a pod of lobster, the NASCAR Cup Series transitions from the Southeast and heads to the Northeast and New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Seven races remain in the 2023 regular season, and before the green flag drops for Monday’s Crayon 301 (Noon ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), take a look at trends to watch ahead of the race, rule changes and important tire info as well as interactive ways to follow all the action.
RELATED: See paint schemes for New Hampshire | Betting favorites for Monday’s Cup race
DON’T TAKE LOUDON FOR GRANITE 🗿
Over the last few seasons, New Hampshire has opened the door for drivers to secure their playoff position. Three of the last four winners at the “Magic Mile” scored their first win of the season at the track (Kevin Harvick, 2019; Aric Almirola, 2021; Christopher Bell, 2022).
Heading into the weekend, 15th-23rd in the Cup Series points standings are separated by just 60 points. The playoff bubble continues to change as the regular season winds down, and as far as trends are concerned, a first-time winner in 2023 could be in the cards for Monday.
MORE: Who’s next to score first 2023 win?
📉 TRENDS TO WATCH 📈
— Chevrolet owns just one win in the last 16 races at New Hampshire (Harvick, 2016).
— Christopher Bell is the only driver under 30 to win at New Hampshire in the last 11 races.
— The driver who led the most laps won only one of the last five New Hampshire races.
(Via Racing Insights)
NOTABLE MOMENTS 🎥
2018: Kevin Harvick moves Kyle Busch in closing laps to win | WATCH
2019: Harvick holds off Denny Hamlin on final lap to win | WATCH
2021: Aric Almirola flips playoff picture, wins at New Hampshire | WATCH
ON-TRACK SCHEDULE 🗓️
Saturday, July 15
— 12:05 p.m. ET: Practice – See results
— 12:50 p.m. ET: Qualifying – See starting lineup
Sunday, July 16
— 2:30 p.m. ET: Crayon 301 (POSTPONED)
Monday, July 17
— Noon ET: Crayon 301 (USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App)
MORE: Full weekend schedule at New Hampshire
RULE CHANGES/GOODYEAR TIRE NOTES 🛞
The GEICO Restart Zone returned to its 2022 dimensions after being extended for this season’s first five races.
Wet-weather equipment will be available this weekend in the event of rain at the track.
Cup teams will debut a new tire setup this weekend to give the cars more grip and introduce more wear to the tire. The setup came out of a test at New Hampshire during the spring. Each team will be allotted one set of Goodyear tires for practice, one set for qualifying and an additional seven for Monday’s race.
NASCAR implemented safety updates to the Next Gen car.
Alongside the right-side door bars and extending toward the rear clip, teams are mandated to run a steel plate in addition to the chassis adjustments made for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The right-side door bar gussets and the removal of the front clip V-brace are changes that remain, in addition to the removal of other front-clip components to create a softer and larger crush zone for frontal impacts.
Also included in the updates are front bumper strut softening (modifications to existing parts), the requirement of an empty front ballast box and a modified cross brace. NASCAR incurs the cost of all these updates.
In the event of a lost wheel that is contained to pit road, the offending team will be subject to a pass-through penalty under green-flag conditions. If the infraction occurs during a caution period, the offending team will restart at the tail end of the field.
If the wheel breaks free outside of pit road, the new rules guidelines mandate a two-lap penalty plus a two-race suspension for two crew members. Each penalty is series-specific: Violations in one series will not impact those crew members’ eligibility to participate in other series.
RELATED: See rules changes for 2023
FAN REWARDS 🫵
Fans can get in on the action all season long with NASCAR Fan Rewards, a free program that rewards fans for participating in the action when they watch races and play NASCAR Fantasy.
There’s no cost to join. Fans must be 18 years or older to participate in the program.
Earn points by checking into a race from home or at the track, setting your Fantasy Live lineup, making purchases on the NASCAR.com shop and more. Points can be redeemed for race tickets, merchandise and VIP experiences at the track, including pace car rides and waving the green flag at qualifying.
FOLLOW THE RACE 📲
NASCAR Mobile has now added support for fans to “Follow the Race” and access live leaderboard and race information from Live Activities in the current app release (v13.2.0), available now. Android users, we didn’t forget you — the same functionality has been custom-built for Android devices, as well.
How to access Live Activities on iPhones:
- Make sure your iOS device has been updated to 16.1 or higher.
- Available on the leaderboard of all NASCAR Series races.
- Click on the three-dot menu near the top right of screen.
- Select “Follow the Race.”
- Swipe up to access the home screen and you will see the Live Activities at the top.
- Lock the device and you will see Live Activities on the Lock Screen.
- To turn off, simply visit the leaderboard, click the three-dot menu and “Unfollow the Race.”
FANTASY LIVE 🏆
Want to manage a team and race your way to the top of the leaderboards? Check out NASCAR Fantasy Live, which is open now. The free-to-play game lets you choose your drivers each week and show off your crew-chief instincts by garaging a driver by the end of Stage 2, and there is a $25,000 prize for the winner.
How to play: Fantasy Live | Set up a team today!
ALSO ON NASCAR.COM 💻
Get additional camera views by logging on to NASCAR Drive, where each week a select number of in-car cameras will be available — as well as a battle cam and an overhead look.
NASCAR has partnered with LiveLike to add fan engagement to the NASCAR Mobile App. Log in to the mobile app during the race for polls, quizzes, the cheer meter and more — and see instant results from NASCAR fans like you.