Track: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Location: Loudon, New Hampshire
Track length: 1.058 miles
When: 2 p.m. ET
Where to tune in: USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Race purse: $11,233,037
Race distance: 301 laps | 318.46 miles
Stages: 70 | 185 | 301
Saturday’s starting lineup | Pit stall assignments
Loudon offers one last clean shot at control before Daytona chaos
LOUDON, N.H. — For the slew of drivers still sweating their way toward The Chase’s impending and imminent return, New Hampshire Motor Speedway represents something increasingly scarce on the calendar.
Control.
A mere two NASCAR Cup Series races remain before the 16-driver Chase field is finalized, and each could hardly offer a different way of getting there. Daytona International Speedway lies in wait next weekend with the regular-season cutoff looming and all the drafting volatility, multicar pileups and split-second, coin-flip (and often costly) decisions that tend to come with it.
But first comes Loudon.
Sunday’s Dollar Tree 301 (2 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) offers 301 laps around the “Magic Mile,” and for anyone still hovering around the elimination line, perhaps one final chance to dictate their own terms before Daytona starts making some of those decisions for them.
That should up the urgency considerably.
MORE: Weekend schedule | At-track photos
Shane van Gisbergen currently occupies the 16th and final Chase position, 50 points above Ryan Preece. Behind Preece sit Ross Chastain (minus-63), Brad Keselowski (minus-78), Erik Jones (minus-81) and Michael McDowell (minus-104), leaving a group of drivers with little room for a quiet afternoon on Sunday.
The math isn’t technically in full-on desperation mode for everyone listed there, but the calendar sure is.
“I felt like we took a step in the right direction after Iowa for Richmond, and then I feel like we’re going to take another step when we come here today,” Preece said Saturday morning at New Hampshire before qualifying 18th. “So there’s a lot of things I’m looking forward to, and you know, today I was just in the trailer, and Derek (Finley, crew chief) said, ‘Like, we need a home run right now.’ So that’s the plan.”
Batter up.
The flat 1.058-mile oval is hardly predictable, but its recent races have generally rewarded drivers who establish themselves early and stay there. Five of the last six New Hampshire winners started inside the top five, and the Stage 1 winner has gone on to win each of the last three races. Only one of the last 14 events has required overtime, so late-race chaos doesn’t tend to snatch trophies (or even just a clean top-five, which would still go a long way right now) away from a worthy winner.
In other words, there is typically more opportunity here to build an afternoon than simply survive one.
Come Daytona, however, all bets are off, so take your swing now, drivers.
That distinction should matter to drivers such as Preece, Chastain, Keselowski and Jones, each of whom left Richmond farther from the elimination line than when the weekend began, despite entering it with a degree of optimism. No driver below the Chase cut gained ground on the cutoff there, while the gap between van Gisbergen and Preece only grew.
We’re well past the point where merely limiting the damage is enough, though, and Sunday’s race also carries another wrinkle this weekend that could matter well beyond Sunday evening. When the Cup Series returns to Loudon in 2027, Loudon returns to The Chase.
That gives teams an unusual opportunity this weekend: race for everything immediately in front of them now … while also collecting notebook data that could become substantially more valuable a year from now.
Before we look ahead to next year, however, for a handful of teams, there is already plenty worth remembering from last year. Team Penske, for one, essentially owned the place. Joey Logano started from the pole and led 147 laps, while Ryan Blaney led another 116, won Stage 1 and ultimately took the checkered flag, with Logano finishing fourth.
That performance looks considerably more relevant now than it might have a month ago, as everything appears to be clicking into place for Penske at the exact right moment.
Blaney has displayed elite pace all year — third in season-long speed, according to NASCAR Insights — but Penske has now won three of the last four Cup races all of a sudden after visiting Victory Lane just once through the season’s first 19 events, and its three drivers combined to lead 807 laps over the last five races after totaling 480 in the first 19. Logano arrives at his home track fresh off a Richmond victory, his second win in four races, while Blaney sits second in points and returns as the defending New Hampshire winner.
Even Austin Cindric, whose Loudon history is considerably quieter, enters with some momentum after a season-best third-place finish at Richmond moved him to 15th in The Chase standings, 57 points above the elimination line. The Nos. 2 and 22 each turned in top-five times in practice, with Blaney’s No. 12 topping the board in 30-lap averages.
The timing could hardly be better for Penske to arrive at one of its best recent tracks.
| DATE | TRACK | FINISH |
|---|---|---|
| April 19 | Kansas | 4th |
| May 3 | Texas | 2nd |
| May 24 | Charlotte | 3rd |
| May 31 | Nashville | 1st |
| June 7 | Michigan | 1st |
| June 14 | Pocono | 1st |
| July 5 | Chicago | 3rd |
| July 19 | North Wilkesboro | 2nd |
| July 26 | Indianapolis | 5th |
| Aug. 9 | Iowa | 5th |
| Aug. 15 | Richmond | 4th |
Speed reads
Race-day essentials:
– Loudon hub: Key information, pit stalls, additional results | Read more
– Sunday Setup: See what crew chiefs have in mind in the Granite State | Read more
– Analysis: Why Loudon is the perfect pre-Chase heat check for Hendrick | Read more
– Paint Scheme Preview: Fresh looks ready to tackle the “Magic Mile” | View gallery
– Neil Paine: Did Joey Logano just go from Chase bubble to title contender (again)? | Read more
– NASCAR Classics: Dig into the video vault for full-race replays from New Hampshire | Watch now
– Power Rankings: Preece turns to Loudon home turf with Chase hopes on the line | This week’s ranks