Posted on by Dustin Albino

In recent seasons, Toyota has obliterated the field in laps led at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The caveat, however, is the manufacturer hasn’t always won the race. In fact, Ford has been victorious in four of the last five races at the 1.058-mile track. This year, Toyota took up half of the top eight starting positions in qualifying. They also will start shotgun on the field as Ty Gibbs had a massive moment in qualifying, getting loose through Turns 1 and 2.

RELATED: Starting lineup | New Hampshire odds

Dustin Albino’s race-day lineup:

Starter 1: Christopher Bell
Starter 2: Martin Truex Jr.
Starter 3: Brad Keselowski
Starter 4: Kevin Harvick
Starter 5: Joey Logano
Garage pick: Ryan Blaney

NEXT IN LINE: Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Aric Almirola. 

RISING: With how strong Team Penske has run at New Hampshire in recent years, Blaney’s statistics sometimes get overlooked. It could be because he’s yet to win at the “Magic Mile,” but he’s sure spent time at the front with four top-10 efforts in the last six races. The No. 12 car was quick on Saturday, as he was sixth on 10-lap averages in practice and qualified one spot better in fifth. 

Admittedly, New Hampshire is not one of Michael McDowell’s favorite racetracks. He said as much to the Performance Racing Network after practice on Saturday. He surprised himself by having a superb practice session where the No. 34 team posted the quickest overall lap and was second on 10-lap averages. Another solid points day on Monday would do wonders for McDowell. 

FALLING: Hendrick Motorsports continues to struggle at New Hampshire. The team hasn’t won in the Granite State since 2012, and it might be a far cry to win this year’s 301-lap race. Alex Bowman said he put additional emphasis on this weekend, as did Kyle Larson, though he too hasn’t always performed up to par at the track. Just William Byron made the final round of qualifying from HMS, and Larson was the best of the bunch on long-run speed.

It was a day at the race track for Kyle Busch on Saturday. The No. 8 car got loose in practice and smacked the wall. He gained his composure and still put up a lap in qualifying quick enough to make the final round. Then it got bad. The Chevrolet snapped on him in the middle of the corner and was fenced. The team will repair the primary by replacing the rear bumper, rear fascia and underwing. Still, Busch has dropped from my lineup.

FEATURED MATCHUPS:  

William Byron vs. Chase Elliott

Pick your poison with this one. Neither driver stood out on Saturday and Elliott was particularly frustrated with how his car was handling. Byron looks to have more pace and made a solid qualifying run, considering HMS’ recent struggles at New Hampshire. That leaves me to believe the No. 24 car will run better.

Kyle Busch vs. Denny Hamlin

With the eventful weekend Busch has had thus far, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him race from the rear of the field to have a good finish. Hamlin is starting mid-pack after a disappointing qualifying run. The No. 11 Toyota had good speed in practice on the long run, so I’ll bank on that.  

Ross Chastain vs. Joey Logano

The No. 22 team has been a mystery this season. Typically, Logano is strong at New Hampshire; such is the case this weekend. Chastain had a lackluster qualifying run, as he commented on being too loose and will start 31st. Chastain has consecutive top 10s at New Hampshire, but Logano could contend for the win. At Gateway, the series’ most recent visit to a track like New Hampshire, Logano earned a top-five finish. 

Tyler Reddick vs. Martin Truex Jr. 

Truex will tell you that he isn’t owed anything by anyone, but with how dominant he’s been at New Hampshire, leading more than 80 laps in six of the past nine races, including last season, a win at the track must be coming soon. It took him a while to conquer Richmond and Martinsville, and once he did, it was hard to stop him. Reddick was one of the fastest Toyotas on Saturday as well, but don’t think the No. 45 car will outrun the No. 19 once the race begins. This might be the toughest call of the four battles this weekend.

Posted on by Tadd Haislop

Mohegan Sun 100

New Hampshire Motor Speedway

  • Race results:
Pos. Car No. Driver Sponsor Laps Diff.
1 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc. 100  –
2 7 Doug Coby Mayhew Tools 100 0.045
3 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine & Future Homes 100 0.289
4 64 Austin Beers Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical/Andrew James Interiors 100 0.721
5 7 Patrick Emerling Bonesteel Aerospace 100 0.966
6 19 Anthony Sesely Wanick Construction, Inc. 100 1.19
7 1 Corey LaJoie Celcus 100 1.267
8 89 Matt Swanson Cervado Auto 100 1.557
9 70 Andy Seuss Rockingham Boat 100 1.913
10 3 Jake Johnson* Propane Plus/Lin’s Propane Trucks 100 2.907
11 17 Chase Dowling Start Finish Production/S&S Paving 100 2.973
12 99 Ronnie Williams Tony’s Competition Engines 100 3.182
13 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing/Riverhead Building Supply 100 3.358
14 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises/Eastport Feeds 100 3.53
15 32 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Driling/MUSCO Lighting 100 3.782
16 46 Anthony Nocella Riverhead Building Supply 100 4.19
17 77 Max McLaughlin Curb Records/Mowhawk Northeast 100 4.3
18 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto 100 4.576
19 6 Woody Pitkat Koopman Lumbar 100 8.424
20 20 Edward McCarthy, Jr. McCarthy’s Marine Sales 100 10.278
21 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprera 100 11.472
22 4 Tim Connolly* Connolly Companies, LLC 100 30.406
23 43 Matt Kimball* J&M Towing Recovery/Poodlack Wealth Mgmt 99 1 Lap
24 21 Anthony Bello* Bello Motorsports/SKM/JB Mgmt 98 2 Laps
25 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 98 2 Laps
26 97 Bryan Dauzat Brother-In-Law Motorsports 96 4 Laps
27 44 Bobby Santos, III Harshaw Paving/Olivas Market 82 18 Laps
28 1 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 22 78 Laps
29 26 Max Zachem Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply/L.I. Wood Heat 18 82 Laps
30 82 Craig Lutz Horton Ave Materials 4 96 Laps
Posted on by Tadd Haislop

LOUDON, N.H. — Early in Saturday’s Mohegan Sun 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers were racing against Mother Nature as much as each other. The rain arrived and caused a long delay before the event resumed, at which point darkness became a third factor racers had to fight.

Justin Bonsignore defeated all three, and he did so in breathtaking fashion.

After a slow pit stop with 25 laps to go sent the three-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion back to 10th, he battled his way through the field and found himself jostling with Doug Coby and Ron Silk in the closing laps for the race win.

On the final corner, Bonsignore dove low to block Silk and drifted back high to cover Coby, who attempted a cross-over move. Holding firm on the outside of Coby, Bonsignore beat his rival to the finish line in a near-photo finish.

RELATED: Complete results from New Hampshire

The victory marked Bonsignore’s second at New Hampshire, which on an annual basis hosts what many consider the biggest Modified Tour race of the year. His other New Hampshire victory came in 2016.

“I knew all week that if I was leading at the white I was going to come off [Turn] 2 and do what I did,” Bonsignore said. ‘But I didn’t anticipate either thing that happened, of Doug staying on the outside of me and Ron having enough room to go inside of me.

“I hung a good left to continue the block, and you get down to [Turn 3] and you’ve got no angle in the corner, and Doug was able to cross me over. He was really clean about it where he didn’t just [run me into the wall], and Ron backed out of it. … That’s the respect I think we all have for each other.

“And then the drag race off of [Turn] 4, kind of had to give [Coby] a bit of a bar to kind of slow his momentum. I could tell I was building a little gap to the checkered. It was awesome.”

Bonsignore earlier Saturday evening had hoped to claim the victory when inclement weather red flagged the race on Lap 69. Bonsignore, who started on the Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole after recording the best lap in Friday’s qualifying session, had built a hefty lead over second-place Tyler Rypkema by the time the race’s first caution flew for rain.

The passing shower was quick, though, and track officials were able to get the surface dried before darkness fell over the Magic Mile.

“Obviously we would have been pretty happy if it would have just ended with the rain delay,” Bonsignore said. “I was nervous we just wouldn’t be able to get ourselves back out away from the pack.”

But he did just that just in time for the closing laps.

While Bonsignore was celebrating in Victory Lane, Coby walked by and gave his friend/rival a playful shove. When asked about the exchange, Bonsignore said it was all in fun. He expanded and explained how the racing to the checkered flag Saturday night was all about respect.

“We’re really good friends,” Bonsignore said of Coby. “I can’t wait to see the texts between [Ryan] Preece, him and I. There’s a lot of respect between us. He could have just got back underneath me and throttled up and went straight into the fence off of [Turn 4] and just got rid of me. He chose to drag race me.

“That’s something you’ll remember the next time you’re here. Even next week if the roles are reversed. As much as he wanted to win, he did it the clean way, and that’s very commendable.

“There’s talk about where the respect’s at in this series, but I think among the top guys — sometimes we take it to the limit, but we all respect each other.”

Beyond the caution and eventual red flag for rain, there would be only one more yellow in Saturday’s race; Bobby Santos III smacked the wall hard on Lap 83.

Silk finished third behind Coby. Austin Beers and Patrick Emerling finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Anthony Sesely, Corey LaJoie, Matt Swanson, Andy Seuss and Jake Johnson rounded out the top 10.

A condensed broadcast of the Mohegan Sun 100 at New Hampshire will air on CNBC on Saturday, July 22 starting at 10 a.m. ET.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour takes a couple weeks off before returning to action Saturday, July 29 for the Clash at Claremont 150 at New Hampshire’s Claremont Motorsports Park. The race will start at 8:30 p.m. ET with live coverage on FloRacing.

Posted on by Dustin Albino

LOUDON, N.H. – Justin Allgaier was looking to join some elite company at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, hoping to join Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell as the only drivers to win consecutive Xfinity Series starts at the “Magic Mile.”

He had the car to do it.

By the end of the second lap, Allgaier emerged with the lead from his fourth starting position. Throughout the opening stage, he traded it back and forth with eventual winner John Hunter Nemechek – also trading paint in the process.

“[I was] just minding our own with [Nemechek],” Allgaier said of the opening stage. “He had to get to my bumper and move me to get by me, even when we were just riding and we were able to get the lead back. I felt our car was really good.”

RELATED: Race results | Weekend schedule

Allgaier cruised to the opening stage victory. It’s his fifth of the season, tying Cole Custer for the most in the Xfinity Series through 18 races.

Then it all went wrong. Allgaier slid through his pit stall, and his No. 7 team began working on the car when it was still outside of the pit box. That resulted in a penalty that forced him to drop to the rear of the field for the restart.

“I was trying to get him back [in the box] to hold the track position,” James Pohlman, Allgaier’s crew chief, told NASCAR.com. “Unfortunately, we jacked the car and if you start service, then you have to do it. We came back down to put lefts on. That’s just part of the game.”

After tracking inside the top 20, another caution flew. On the next restart, there was a stackup at the front of the field which led to a pileup in the middle of the pack. Parker Kligerman, Ryan Sieg and Anthony Alfredo may have gotten the worst of it (all DNFs), but there was Allgaier spun around on the frontstretch, with damage on all four corners of his Chevrolet.

Another yellow flag emerged with a handful of laps remaining in the second stage. Pohlman kept Allgaier on the track while most front-runners pitted. The No. 7 car finished sixth, earning five stage points with a battered car.

Allgaier powered on during the second half of the race, remaining a viable top-10 threat. He was able to crack the top five at times, but ultimately finished sixth.

He was left disappointed after the 206-lap race.

WATCH: Chaos on restart leads to pileup

“I feel like we gave one away today,” he said. “Jim Pohlman did a fantastic job with the pit strategy and what we needed to do. The guys did a good job with the repairs. Really aggravated with how the race ended; the calls on some of the timing lines. You work your guts out all day to get back up there and to have it all taken away for no reason. Pretty frustrating, pretty aggravated.”

In what could have been a much bigger hit to his regular season championship hopes, Allgaier lost just six points to Nemechek, who dominated the race by leading 137 laps. With Cole Custer getting caught up in an overtime restart, Allgaier gained a position in the standings, moving up to third.

“These guys just fought hard all day,” Pohlman said. “That’s a testament to this team; the no-quit attitude in them. We just keep fighting. … We keep hanging tight with these guys that are leading the points. We got a [playoff] point out of today which is good. We lost a little bit overall. John Hunter is starting to pull away, which is frustrating for us because we feel like we’re doing the right things and not getting the results to show for it.”

The series heads next week to Pocono Raceway, where Allgaier has three consecutive top-10 finishes.

Posted on by Holly Cain

LOUDON, N.H. – John Hunter Nemechek completed the first back-to-back victory effort of his career, convincingly winning Saturday’s Ambetter Health 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to answer a big victory last week at Atlanta Motor Speedway, too.

Nemechek held off rookie Chandler Smith on an overtime restart, leading a race-best 137 of the 206 laps in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and becoming the winningest driver in the series this season with four victories – upping his career total to six. The 26-year-old second-generation star Nemechek now leads the championship run by 33 points over Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Hill, a three-time race winner in 2023 and the third-place finisher on Saturday.

RELATED: Race results | Weekend schedule

“They’ve had dominant JGR Supras the last couple years and I had to hold up my end of the bargain,’’ said a smiling Nemechek, who at one point led the field by more than four seconds. “It’s nerve-wracking for sure [the final restart], so I’m so proud of this No. 20 team and everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing,’’ Nemechek added, “I think our first clean race of the year and hats off to all our guys.

“I love coming up here and shout-out to a driver who is one of the masters up here,’’ he said with a smile, conceding “The Master” was Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series pole-sitter and JGR teammate Christopher Bell. “I was a little worried there with the last restarts. We kept getting really good launches and were able to clear them but I didn’t know who was saving what. I was trying to save for Cole [Custer], he really pushed us there.”

The runner-up finisher Smith, who earned his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series pole position on Friday for this race, led only the first lap but stayed in contention and kept the front pack honest throughout the day. Unfortunately for the 21-year-old Kaulig Racing driver, there was a malfunction with his cool suit on the steamy summer New England afternoon and he was treated with IVs at the care center after the race, but reported in good shape overall.

The race on the 1.058-mile oval included 10 caution periods – the last forcing an overtime finish. Nemechek had just rolled under the white flag signaling the last lap, when a pair of his closest challengers on the day – Cole Custer and Sheldon Creed – crashed behind him dueling for third place. The incident froze the running order and ended the race.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Custer – the youngest winner in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series history when he won at New Hampshire in 2014 at the age of 16 – collided with RCR driver Creed while vying for third place. Custer, a two-time winner this season, had run among the top three for much of the race. Creed is still racing for his first victory of the season.

Behind Nemechek, Smith and Hill, Kaulig Racing’s Daniel Hemric and JGR rookie driver Sammy Smith rounded out the top five. Smith earned his first career stage win, taking the Stage 2 flag and leading 18 laps on the day.

JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier finished sixth after leading 27 laps early in the race and winning Stage 1, tying him with Nemechek for most stage wins (five) on the season.

Allgaier was Nemechek’s toughest challenger early, leading 27 laps in winning Stage 1 but his early strength was short-circuited when his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet was tagged with a penalty for pitting outside the pit box when he overshot his stall in the stage intermission. He was scored in 27th place for the start of Stage 2, then later was snared in a nine-car stack-up as the field jammed up on a Lap 71 restart.

MORE: Xfinity field stacks up on restart, multiple cars wreck

Allgaier continued with damage and rallied to finish sixth, but Anthony Alfredo, Parker Kligerman and Ryan Sieg were all sidelined. Sieg was critical of Nemechek’s restart approach after he was checked and released from the infield care center.

Jeb Burton, who won earlier in the season at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, finished seventh, followed by Josh Williams, the owner-driver collecting the 11th top-10 finish of his career and the first back-to-back top 10s of the season. Brett Moffitt and Mason Massey rounded out the New Hampshire top 10. It marked Massey’s first top-10 effort of 2023 as well.

As for Nemechek, he is currently riding a massive streak of career accomplishment.

“Now it’s time to keep clicking off these victories,’’ Nemechek said.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to action next Saturday with the Pocono 225 at Pocono Raceway (5:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM).

Note: Post-race inspection was completed in the Xfinity Series garage at New Hampshire with no issues, confirming Nemechek as the winner.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Dustin Albino

LOUDON, N.H. — Six races ago, Bubba Wallace was sitting pretty, with the No. 23 team on an upward trajectory of having three consecutive top-10 finishes (four straight including a runner-up result at the non-points All-Star Race). That tied the longest streak of his career.

Over the last handful of races, however, Wallace has a best finish of 15th (Nashville Superspeedway), which includes three finishes of 25th or worse. On that list is Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend, when he was caught up in the incident that turned out to be the caution that ended the race. Soon after Wallace’s spin with Ryan Preece, rain halted the event.

Wallace was credited with 25th position, earning just 17 points for the evening.

RELATED: What to Watch: Loudon | Weekend schedule

With Daniel Suárez, AJ Allmendinger and Michael McDowell – all drivers running near the playoff cutline – earning top-five finishes, Wallace fell below the playoff cutline for the first time since early May after the 400-mile event at Kansas Speedway. He enters New Hampshire 17th on the playoff grid, three points below Suárez and McDowell. In the last two races, he’s lost 33 points to the bubble.

“We had a few mistakes that started off our weekend bad,” Wallace said Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “I guess you could say that’s in the cards, so we don’t deserve to be in right now with the way we’re performing and executing.

“This week was a big reflection week for everybody on the [No.] 23 team on how we need to execute. Mistakes like this at this point in the season, there’s no excuse for it. Whether it’s my fault on track or the crew’s fault in preparation. We need to be better as a team moving forward to even think about playoffs.”

Reflecting on this week meant the No. 23 team needed to take a step back and look at what it was doing during that May run. Collectively, Wallace said he believes the team needed to take a breather and approach the rest of the season where it’s “beneficial for everybody.”

“One mistake affects everybody on the team,” Wallace said. “You have to be aware of everything that goes on to be competitive at this level.”

Denny Hamlin, co-owner of 23XI Racing, said the No. 23 team has had its fair share of problems recently. He said he knows the organization needs improvement.

“They’re running OK,” Hamlin said. “Certainly, would like to see a little more performance, a little more execution on the team’s part. The team has its fair share of growing that they need to do. The drivers, as long as they do their part, then it’s up for us to make sure the team executes. They let him down in some spots, for sure. We all have to get better.”

With seven races remaining before the playoffs begin at Darlington Raceway, Wallace is poised to make a postseason run. He has yet to make the playoffs as a driver in five full-time Cup Series seasons. He raced in place of Kurt Busch last season to compete for the owner’s championship in 23XI’s No. 45 entry, and he ultimately won the second race of the playoffs at Kansas.

Should a new driver or two– not named Wallace — currently below the playoff cutline capture a checkered flag before the playoffs begin, it would throw a wrench into his plans. For that reason, he said his team needs to find Victory Lane quickly.

“We want to win,” Wallace said. “We know we have to win. We can’t point our way into a championship, so we need to win. We need to win early enough to lock ourselves in. If we can’t do that, it would be unfortunate, but we have to point our way, too. Mistakes don’t create points, so we have to eliminate mistakes to get points.”

MORE: Monday’s starting lineup | Fantasy Fastlane

Some of Wallace’s competitors who he’s battling near the cutline believe that he can win, too. McDowell gained 22 points on the bubble last weekend at Atlanta and moved to the last spot currently in.

“When I look at the guys around us, I’m definitely nervous because we know Bubba has some great tracks coming up and the Toyotas have been fast,” McDowell said. “AJ is super strong on road courses; I feel strong on road courses as well. It’s hard to bet against AJ on those. If you look at the guys we’re racing, Suárez as well, he’s good at the same tracks that I’m good at.”

First up is New Hampshire, where Wallace scored 10 stage points and finished third last season. At the time, it was his first top-five effort on a non-superspeedway in over a calendar year.

The No. 23 team ranked fifth in practice on one-lap speed and qualified eighth. He doesn’t necessarily believe that the run from 2022 will carry over to this weekend.

“A little bit of a nice stat,” Wallace said of the third-place effort last year. “But it brings confidence with the weekend that we had and the speed that we had in our cars. We’re looking at redoing that and backing that up.”

Compared to this time last year, it’s been a solid improvement for Wallace, who was 178 points below the cutline entering New Hampshire last season — a deficit magnified by the Cup Series having two additional winners with provisional playoff berths at this point last year.

Posted on by Holly Cain

LOUDON, N.H. – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell will start Monday’s Crayon 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway exactly where he finished his last start at the 1.058-mile New England track: in position No. 1.

Bell, 28, won Saturday’s pole qualifying session for the Crayon 301 (Mon., Noon ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) with a lap of 124.781 mph in the No. 20 JGR Toyota – just a tick faster at 0.007 seconds – than teammate Martin Truex Jr., who will start his No. 19 JGR Toyota alongside on the front row.

RELATED: Starting lineup | Weekend schedule

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola was close to earning his second pole in as many weeks – putting his No. 10 SHR Ford only 0.18 seconds off Bell’s work. He’ll start on the second row next to fellow Ford driver Joey Logano in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang.

It’s the first pole position of the year for Bell and fifth of his career, and it comes at a track where the Oklahoma native has already established himself as one of the best. He joins Kyle Busch as the only two drivers with victories in all three of NASCAR’s national series at New Hampshire – highlighted by last year’s NASCAR Cup Series win and also including three consecutive NASCAR Xfinity race wins from 2018-21 and a 2017 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory.

“The amount of sliding around we did today, the lack of grip, I think the cream is going to rise to the top [in the race],” Bell said. “The good drivers, good cars will be able to pass and get their way to the front. I start at the front and hopefully we stay up there, but this is a place where people will try different strategies by staying out, taking two tires, short-pitting, long-pitting, whatever the case may be so you’re not guaranteed to just start out front and stay there all day.”

The remaining top qualifiers include Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who will start fifth and sixth on the third row. Current NASCAR Cup Series championship leader William Byron was the only Hendrick Motorsports driver to advance to the final qualifying round and he will start his No. 24 Chevrolet seventh – alongside 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota.

Brad Keselowski – a two-time New Hampshire race winner – will start the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford ninth, alongside a fellow champion of the sport, three-time New Hampshire NASCAR Cup Series race winner Kyle Busch in the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

Busch crashed during his qualifying lap, sustaining rear-end damage on his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet after contact with the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2. Busch advanced to the final round of qualifying after an earlier wall scrape in practice; he will be credited with the 10th starting spot.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick – a four-time New Hampshire winner – will start 13th in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. He is attempting to become the track’s all-time winningest driver in his final start before retiring at the conclusion of the season.

Noah Gragson was the top qualifying rookie. He’ll roll off 29th in the Legacy Motor Club No. 42 Chevrolet. Fellow rookie Ty Gibbs will start the No. 54 JGR Toyota last in the 36-car race field.

McDowell fastest in Cup Series practice

Michael McDowell topped the leaderboard in NASCAR Cup Series practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, notching a best lap of 126.416 mph in Saturday’s opening session.

McDowell’s No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford was just 0.002 seconds faster than second-best Martin Truex Jr., who posted a lap of 126.408 mph in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. In the consecutive 10-lap averages category, the two drivers flip-flopped their 1-2 order with Truex edging McDowell atop that list.

MORE: Fantasy Fastlane | New Hampshire 101

Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain was third-fastest on the single-lap chart, followed by 23XI Racing teammates Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace, who rounded out the top five in that order.

Kyle Busch scrubbed the outside retaining wall with the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, drifting too high out of Turn 2 during the first practice group. The No. 8 crew went to work on the damage to get Busch ready for qualifying.

Saturday’s Cup Series inspection wrapped up just before practice, and only one team — the No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet for driver Noah Gragson — failed more than once. The two-time failure prompted NASCAR officials to eject No. 42 engineer Phillip Bell, plus the team forfeited pit-stall selection for Monday’s 301-lap race.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Tadd Haislop

LOUDON, N.H. — Kevin Harvick on Monday will compete for the final time at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a venue that’s technically considered a short track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The racing on the 1.058-mile configuration is as unique as it is reminiscent of NASCAR Home Tracks all around the country.

Starting in 2024, though, Harvick’s motorsports focus will turn squarely to these types of venues.

Through his marketing agency (KHI Management) and his late-model race teams, Harvick will aim to support short-track racing as a whole through his elevation of the discipline’s talent and personality upon his retirement from Cup racing at the end of the season.

Harvick, of course, is part of the new CARS Late Model Stock Tour ownership group consisting of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton and Justin Marks. He said the endeavor has taught him just how impactful his support can be to short-track competitors and, in turn, stock-car racing as a whole.

“We have a lot of great racers across the country racing at these short tracks,” Harvick said Saturday. “Our focus [with] the CARS Tour is just promoting races. If some of the guys and girls have fun tweets or posts on Instagram, you see Dale and myself reposting stuff and just trying to give them a platform to be able to have a shot.”

PHOTOS: Harvick, other NASCAR starts racing late models at North Wilkesboro

Kevin Harvick
Kevin Harvick races a Late Model Stock Car at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 17, 2023. (Photo: Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)

From the point he takes off his helmet after the Cup season finale at Phoenix Raceway in November, Harvick’s support of short-track racing will only grow.

The 47-year-old specifically mentioned the Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida, Wisconsin’s Slinger Nationals and the All American 400 at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway as events his late model teams plan to enter. The complete schedule will depend on driver availability.

And for Harvick, those drivers are the key.

Harvick himself competed in one of his late models at North Wilkesboro Speedway in May. But he said he might not run at all in 2024. He would consider that a positive development.

“The race teams primarily are going to be used for the management company drivers and the things that they want to do,” Harvick said. “The teams are really kind of an extension of what we’ll do from the management side to give them an opportunity to get in good cars and be safe … and to be able to put Cup guys in there when they want to come race.”

Kevin Harvick
Kevin Harvick and his Cup Series crew chief Rodney Childers discuss the team’s strategy ahead of a Late Model Stock race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 17, 2023. (Photo: Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)

Harvick noted Josh Berry, the driver who will take over Stewart-Haas Racing’s No. 4 Ford Mustang starting in 2024, as an example of the type of competitor he hopes to support. Berry won the 2020 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series championship driving for JR Motorsports.

Now he’s a star at the sport’s highest level.

“The most important thing is using our platform to expose who those short track drivers are. Josh Berry’s been a huge part of that. And being able to recognize that there are a lot of really good short-track racers.

“And Josh, being able to go in the 4 car — and it’s not a paid-for situation — gives a lot of those guys a lot of hope that in can be done. It can be a part of just doing the right thing.”

Posted on by Tadd Haislop

LEE, N.H. — The terrain surrounding Lee USA Speedway is overwhelmingly green and harmonious, typical for the Eastern portion of the Granite State. Yet there was nothing quiet about the scene Friday evening at the NASCAR Home Track located just 35 miles from New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Not with Rowdy in town.

In case one wasn’t aware two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch was competing in the track’s “Battle for the Belt” on Friday, the jam-packed parking lot spilling onto the Calef Highway was the tell. So was the long, winding line of patrons waiting to buy tickets for seats in already-full grandstands.

This is what happens when a NASCAR star like Busch carves out time in his schedule to compete at the short-track level. Though he finished second to late-model racing ace Derek Griffith, Busch understands that when he races on this platform, everybody wins.

“It takes the fans in the stands at these short tracks to be able to get these short tracks going,” a worn-out Busch said. “I know what it’s all about. … It was nice to see a good crowd out here.”

PHOTOS: Kyle Busch racing at Lee USA Speedway

Kyle Busch
Kyle Busch at Lee USA Speedway (Susan Wong/NASCAR)

Busch’s desire to compete — and, frankly, to have a little fun — made his answer a quick and easy yes when his Richard Childress Racing spotter Derek Kneeland called before the season and asked about running in the Pro Stocks division (Super Late Models) at Lee USA a couple days before the Cup race at New Hampshire. Busch said he was in … as long as he’d have a good car.

He had just that with the No. 8 Go Fas Racing Chevrolet. Busch qualified fifth and ran around that position for the entirety of the 125-lap race. In the closing stages, he found himself running second and attempting to chase down Griffith before settling for his runner-up result.

In typical Rowdy fashion, disappointed he couldn’t finish one spot better, he accepted the second-place trophy with a sarcastic cheer as the crowd returned sincere applause.

Busch’s run was impressive nonetheless considering he was driving a new car on what was to him a foreign track.

“Whenever you come to places like this, it’s always hard to out-do the guys who have been here and have a thousand laps here,” Busch said. “Coming in for the first time with a brand-new car, one I had never driven before, it was interesting trying to feel it all out and learn what there was to learn.

“Early on I was just trying to ride. But when I saw [Griffith] picking them off and going a little bit, I was like, ‘OK, he knows what he’s doing, so I need to go a little bit, too.’ I just wasn’t as strong as him getting through [the field] before him.”

Busch was at least stronger than his Cup Series spotter Friday night. Also competing at Lee, Kneeland battled a loose race car in the opening laps and was forced a lap down when he pitted to address the issues. He joked that he was waiting for Busch to run him into the wall when the latter was passing by.

Kyle Busch
Kyle Busch at Lee USA Speedway (Photo: Susan Wong/NASCAR)

Kneeland has been racing is own Super Late Model all over the country over the last few years. Friday’s race at Lee USA gave him another chance to do so with the NASCAR national series activities at New Hampshire taking place so close.

Kneeland’s car issues kept him from battling Busch the way he did former RCR driver Tyler Reddick in the same race at Lee USA last year, but he echoed Busch’s sentiment on the joy both feel racing on a short track.

With that said, he knows his driver as well as anybody.

“I’d say he had some fun,” Kneeland said of Busch. “But I know he’s not going to be happy to finish second.”