NASCAR - Sprint Cup - Sylvania 300 Preview
From The Sports Network
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| DATE: Sunday, September 25th |
| SITE: New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1990) -- Loudon, New Hampshire |
| TRACK: 1.058-mile oval - 1,500 feet (Frontstretch); 1,500 feet (Backstretch) |
| CAPACITY: 95,491 (Grandstand Seating) |
| ANNUAL: 15th |
| TELEVISION: ESPN |
| ANNOUNCERS: Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree |
| RADIO: Performance Racing Network (PRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio |
| START TIME: 2 p.m. (et)/2:15 p.m. (et) Green Flag |
| DEFENDING CHAMPION: Clint Bowyer |
| RUNNER-UP: Denny Hamlin |
| POLE WINNER: Brad Keselowski (Finished 18th) |
| LAPS: 300 |
| MILES: 317.4 |
| QUALIFYING RECORD: Brad Keselowski, 2010 (133.572 m.p.h.) |
| RACE RECORD: Jeff Burton, 1997 (117.134 m.p.h.) |
| TOTAL PURSE: $5,256,417 (2010 figures) |
| PAYOUTS: 1st Place - $248,250; 2nd Place - $178,550; 3rd Place - $169,954 |
| 2010 Finish |
| Finish | Driver | Start | Finish | Driver | Start |
| 1 | Clint Bowyer | 2 | 6 | Jeff Gordon | 17 |
| 2 | Denny Hamlin | 22 | 7 | David Reutimann | 7 |
| 3 | Jamie McMurray | 4 | 8 | Ryan Newman | 24 |
| 4 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | 32 | 9 | Kyle Busch | 9 |
| 5 | Kevin Harvick | 27 | 10 | Sam Hornish Jr | 15 |
| 2010 Sylvania 300 Facts and Figures |
| AVERAGE SPEED: 106.769 m.p.h. |
| TIME OF RACE: 2 hours, 58 minutes, 22 seconds |
| MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.477 second |
| CAUTION FLAGS: 8 for 34 laps |
| LEAD CHANGES: 21 among 8 drivers |
| POLE WINNER: Brad Keselowski (133.572 m.p.h.) |
| Past Sylvania 300 Winners (Starting Position) Car -- Speed |
| 2010 -- Clint Bowyer (2nd) -- Chevrolet -- 106.769 m.p.h. |
| 2009 -- Mark Martin (14th) -- Chevrolet -- 100.753 m.p.h. |
| 2008 -- Greg Biffle (9th) -- Ford -- 105.468 m.p.h. |
| 2007 -- Clint Bowyer (1st) -- Chevrolet -- 110.475 m.p.h. |
| 2006 -- Kevin Harvick (1st) -- Chevrolet -- 102.195 m.p.h. |
| 2005 -- Ryan Newman (13th) -- Dodge -- 95.891 m.p.h. |
| 2004 -- Kurt Busch (7th) -- Ford -- 109.753 m.p.h. |
| 2003 -- Jimmie Johnson (8th) -- Chevrolet -- 106.580 m.p.h. |
| 2002 -- Ryan Newman (1st) -- Ford -- 105.081 m.p.h. |
| 2001 -- Robby Gordon (31st) -- Chevrolet -- 103.594 m.p.h. |
| 2000 -- Jeff Burton (2nd) -- Ford -- 102.003 m.p.h. |
| 1999 -- Joe Nemechek (11th) -- Chevrolet -- 100.673 m.p.h. |
| 1998 -- Jeff Gordon (1st) -- Chevrolet -- 112.078 m.p.h. (race record) |
| 1997 -- Jeff Gordon (13th) -- Chevrolet -- 100.364 m.p.h. |
| NOTE: Formerly called Farm Aid on CMT 300 (1998), Dura Lube 300 (1999-2000), |
| New Hampshire 300 (2001-02). |
| Past Sylvania 300 Pole Winners (Finish) |
| 2010 -- Brad Keselowski -- 18th |
| 2009 -- Juan Pablo Montoya -- 3rd |
| 2008 -- Kyle Busch -- 34th |
| 2007 -- Clint Bowyer -- 1st |
| 2006 -- Kevin Harvick -- 1st |
| 2005 -- Tony Stewart -- 2nd |
| 2004 -- None -- Weather |
| 2003 -- Ryan Newman -- 9th |
| 2002 -- Ryan Newman -- 1st |
| 2001 -- Jeff Gordon -- 15th |
| 2000 -- Bobby Labonte -- 2nd |
| 1999 -- Rusty Wallace -- 6th |
| 1998 -- Jeff Gordon -- 1st |
| 1997 -- Ken Schrader -- 37th |
| Last Race Results |
| RACE: GEICO 400 (September 19th) |
| SITE: Chicagoland Speedway -- Joliet, Illinois |
| MILES: 400.5 |
| LAPS: 267 |
| WINNER: Tony Stewart |
| RUNNER-UP: Kevin Harvick |
| THIRD: Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
| FOURTH: Carl Edwards |
| FIFTH: Brad Keselowski |
| POLE WINNER: Matt Kenseth (Finished 21st) |
| TIME OF RACE: 2 hours, 47 minutes, 41 seconds |
| AVERAGE SPEED: 143.306 m.p.h. |
| MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.941 second |
| CAUTION FLAGS: 6 for 25 laps |
| LEAD CHANGES: 22 among 10 drivers |
| LAP LEADERS: M. Kenseth 1-32; J. Yeley 33; Kyle Busch 34-40; Kurt Busch |
| 41-103; C. Edwards 104-115; J. Johnson 116; R. Newman 117-118; C. |
| Edwards 119-145; Kurt Busch 146; R. Newman 147-162; J. Johnson |
| 163-164; B. Keselowski 165-168; J. Johnson 169-204; T. Stewart |
| 205; M. Kenseth 206-208; T. Stewart 209-214; M. Truex Jr. |
| 215-217; M. Kenseth 218; M. Truex Jr. 219-227; M. Kenseth |
| 228-237; T. Stewart 238-250; M. Truex Jr. 251-252; T. Stewart |
| 253-267. |
| Sylvania 300 Entry List |
| Car | Driver, Hometown | Car/Name |
| 00 | David Reutimann (Zephyrhills, FL) | Toyota/Aaron's Dream Machine |
| 1 | Jamie McMurray (Joplin, MO) | Chevrolet/Axe Cool Metal |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski (Rochester Hills, MI) | Dodge/Miller Lite |
| 4 | Kasey Kahne (Enumclaw, WA) | Toyota/Red Bull |
| 5 | Mark Martin (Batesville, AR) | Chevrolet/GoDaddy.com |
| 6 | David Ragan (Unadilla, GA) | Ford/UPS |
| 7 | Robby Gordon (Orange, CA) | Dodge/Speed Energy |
| 9 | Marcos Ambrose (Launceston, Australia) | Ford/DeWalt |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin (Chesterfield, VA) | Toyota/FedEx Ground |
| 13 | Casey Mears (Bakersfield, CA) | Toyota/GEICO |
| 14 | Tony Stewart (Columbus, IN) | Chevrolet/Office Depot/Mobil 1 |
| 16 | Greg Biffle (Vancouver, WA) | Ford/ford40mph.com |
| 17 | Matt Kenseth (Cambridge, WI) | Ford/Affliction Clothing |
| 18 | Kyle Busch (Las Vegas, NV) | Toyota/M&M's |
| 20 | Joey Logano (Middletown, CT) | Toyota/Home Depot |
| 22 | Kurt Busch (Las Vegas, NV) | Dodge/Shell/Pennzoil |
| 24 | Jeff Gordon (Vallejo, CA) | Chevrolet/DuPont |
| 27 | Paul Menard (Eau Claire, WI) | Chevrolet/Menards/Sylvania |
| 29 | Kevin Harvick (Bakersfield, CA) | Chevrolet/Budweiser |
| 30 | David Stremme (South Bend, IN) | Chevrolet/Inception Motorsports |
| 31 | Jeff Burton (South Boston, VA) | Chevrolet/Caterpillar |
| 32 | Mike Bliss (Milwaukie, OR) | Ford/Street King |
| 33 * | Clint Bowyer (Emporia, KS) | Chevrolet/Cheerios/Hamb. Helper |
| 34 | David Gilliland (Riverside, CA) | Ford/TBA |
| 35 | Steve Park (East Northport, NY) | Chevrolet/"Ole Blue" Tribute |
| 36 | Dave Blaney (Hartford, OH) | Chevrolet/Golden Corral |
| 37 | Josh Wise (Riverside, CA) | Toyota/TBA |
| 38 | J.J. Yeley (Phoenix, AZ) | Ford/Long John Silver's |
| 39 | Ryan Newman (South Bend, IN) | Chevrolet/Haas Automation |
| 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya (Bogota, Colombia) | Chevrolet/Degree |
| 43 | A.J. Allmendinger (Los Gatos, CA) | Ford/Best Buy |
| 46 | Scott Speed (Manteca, CA) | Ford/Red Line Oil |
| 47 | Bobby Labonte (Corpus Christi, TX) | Toyota/Bush's Beans/Kingsford |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson (El Cajon, CA) | Chevrolet/Lowe's |
| 50 | T.J. Bell (Reno, VA) | Chevrolet/Green Smoke |
| 51 | Landon Cassill (Cedar Rapids, IA) | Chevrolet/Phoenix Construction |
| 55 | Travis Kvapil (Janesville, WI) | Ford/TBA |
| 56 | Martin Truex Jr. (Mayetta, NJ) | Toyota/NAPA Auto Brakes |
| 60 | Mike Skinner (Susanville, CA) | Chevrolet/Big Red |
| 66 | Michael McDowell (Glendale, AZ) | Toyota/HP Racing |
| 71 | Andy Lally (Northport, NY) | Ford/Interstate Moving Services |
| 78 | Regan Smith (Cato, NY) | Chevrolet/Furniture Row Racing |
| 83 | Brian Vickers (Thomasville, NC) | Toyota/Red Bull |
| 87 | Joe Nemechek (Lakeland, FL) | Toyota/TBA |
| 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Kannapolis, NC) | Chevrolet/Diet Mountain Dew |
| 99 | Carl Edwards (Columbia, MO) | Ford/Scott's Winterguard |
| Leading Contenders (Finish the last nine years) |
| Driver | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| Clint Bowyer | --- | --- | --- | --- | 24th | Won | 12th | 10th | Won |
| Denny Hamlin | --- | --- | --- | --- | 4th | 15th | 9th | 2nd | 2nd |
| Jamie McMurray | --- | 10th | 5th | 12th | 29th | 11th | 39th | 18th | 3rd |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr | 11th | 5th | 3rd | 5th | 13th | 16th | 5th | 35th | 4th |
| Kevin Harvick | 33rd | 13th | 10th | 10th | Won | 17th | 10th | 32nd | 5th |
| Jeff Gordon | 14th | 19th | 7th | 14th | 3rd | 2nd | 14th | 15th | 6th |
| David Reutimann | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | 26th | 15th | 12th | 7th |
| Ryan Newman | Won | 9th | 33rd | Won | 12th | 9th | 36th | 7th | 8th |
| Kyle Busch | --- | --- | --- | 27th | 38th | 4th | 34th | 5th | 9th |
| Carl Edwards | --- | --- | 20th | 19th | 18th | 12th | 3rd | 17th | 11th |
| Kurt Busch | 2nd | 15th | Won | 35th | 19th | 25th | 6th | 6th | 13th |
| Kasey Kahne | --- | --- | 4th | 38th | 16th | 20th | 11th | 38th | 14th |
| Jeff Burton | 20th | 42nd | 15th | 9th | 7th | 18th | 4th | 16th | 15th |
| Juan Pablo Montoya | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | 23rd | 17th | 3rd | 16th |
| Greg Biffle | 27th | 43rd | 28th | 4th | 14th | 13th | Won | 9th | 17th |
| Brad Keselowski | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | 18th |
| Martin Truex Jr | --- | --- | --- | --- | 22nd | 5th | 7th | 19th | 20th |
| Matt Kenseth | 10th | 7th | 2nd | 3rd | 10th | 7th | 40th | 23rd | 23rd |
| Tony Stewart | 3rd | 20th | 39th | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 8th | 14th | 24th |
| Jimmie Johnson | 9th | Won | 11th | 8th | 39th | 6th | 2nd | 4th | 25th |
| Paul Menard | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | 24th | 21st | 34th | 28th |
| Mark Martin | 16th | 38th | 13th | 7th | 11th | --- | --- | Won | 29th |
| Joey Logano | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | 32nd | 21st | 35th |
| Brian Vickers | --- | --- | 22nd | 13th | 5th | 43rd | 35th | 11th | --- |
| Mover of the Week |
| Kevin Harvick - Started in the 30th position and finished 2nd |
| Sports Network Selections |
| Pick to Win - Carl Edwards |
| Darkhorse - Clint Bowyer |
| Last Week's Pick to Win (Jimmie Johnson) - Finished 10th |
| Last Week's Darkhorse (Juan Pablo Montoya) - Finished 14th |
| NOTES: |
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Race one is in the books, as the Chase for the Sprint Cup began last
Monday in Illinois. Kevin Harvick holds down the top spot, but it was Tony
Stewart who prevailed at Chicagoland Speedway for his 40th career Sprint Cup
title.
Last year, New Hampshire Motor Speedway was the first event in the Chase.
Clint Bowyer opened the 10-race classic by winning for the first time in 88
races.
Bowyer had the dominant car throughout the race but ran second to Tony Stewart
in the late going before Stewart ran out of fuel with less than two laps to
go. Bowyer took over the top spot for good and held off a hard-charging Denny
Hamlin by 0.48 seconds for his third career Sprint Cup Series win but his
first since May 2008 at Richmond.
Three days following the New Hampshire race, NASCAR handed down stiff
penalties to Bowyer's team after their winning car was found to be illegal
during a more thorough post-race inspection conducted at NASCAR's Research and
Development center in Concord, NC. Bowyer and team owner Richard Childress
were each penalized with a 150-point loss, while crew chief Shane Wilson
received a six-race suspension, a $150,000 fine and probation until the end of
the year. Car chief Chad Haney also received suspension for the same length of
time, as well as probation for the remainder of the year. Wilson's fine was
later reduced to $100,000.
Only one driver in the eight-year history of the Chase for the Sprint Cup has
won the first playoff race and then capture the championship - Kurt Busch in
2004. On the other end of the spectrum, a bad start doesn't always mean a
championship deathblow. Jimmie Johnson finished 25th in last year's Chase-
opener, only to eventually win his fifth consecutive title. In 2006, he opened
up the Chase with a 39th-place finish. Denny Hamlin finished 31st at
Chicagoland, the worst of the Chase contenders.
Food for thought. In four of the previous seven years, the eventual
championship Chase winner finished in the top-five of race two - and Johnson
won each of the last two.
In 2009, Mark Martin won at New Hampshire for the first time, as he
capitalized on pit strategies and then held off the field in three late-race
restarts for his fifth victory of that season. Martin last pitted under green
with 58 laps remaining in the 300-lap race. He fell one lap behind, but the
remainder of the field had to make their final stops shortly after, allowing
Martin to reclaim the lead with 28 laps to go. An incident involving A.J.
Allmendinger set up a three-lap shootout to the finish. After the restart,
Martin and Juan Pablo Montoya were in a fierce side-by-side battle for the
lead. Martin pulled ahead of Montoya with less than two laps to go.
Allmendinger spun again on the final lap, which ended the race under caution.
The victory was the 40th and most recent of his career.
Starting ninth in the 2008 race, Greg Biffle reclaimed the lead on lap 289 and
held on the rest of the way to record his 13th career Sprint Cup title. Biffle
clipped Jimmie Johnson by 0.505 of a second. Johnson led four times for a
race-high 96 laps. Pole sitter Kyle Busch led the opening three laps, but
placed 34th. Biffle has since added three wins to his total.
Clint Bowyer started on the pole and dominated this race in 2007, as he led
for 222 laps en route to his first career Sprint Cup title. Bowyer led the
first 37 laps and the final 49, as he defeated Jeff Gordon by over six
seconds. In all, Bowyer led on six separate occasions, as he captured the
first-place prize of $259,175 in just his 64th career Sprint Cup start.
In 2006, Kevin Harvick captured the first race of the Chase, as he outran
Tony Stewart by less than a second for his fourth win in 2006 and the ninth of
his Sprint Cup career. Harvick, who's victory total now stands at 18,
dominated the race, leading seven times for a race-high 196 laps after
starting on the pole. Harvick reclaimed the lead on lap 217 of the 300-lap
race from Dave Blaney and held on for victory. Stewart made the biggest move
of the race after starting 32nd on the grid.
Ryan Newman made a late-race pass and captured the 2005 Sylvania 300 at the
New Hampshire International Speedway, in the first round of the 10-race "Chase
for the Sprint Cup." The No.12 Penske Racing Dodge crossed the finish line
0.292 seconds ahead of pole sitter Tony Stewart, as he recorded his 12th of 15
career Sprint Cup titles. Newman led three times for a total of 66 laps, while
Stewart led for a race-high 173 laps, including the first 74.
THIS AND THAT FROM NHMS: Groundbreaking for New Hampshire International
Speedway, as New Hampshire Motor Speedway was originally named, was August.
13, 1989. It was the first superspeedway to be constructed in the United
States since 1969. There have been 33 Sprint Cup races at New Hampshire Motor
Speedway; one a year from 1993 through 1996 and two per year since. Four
drivers have competed in all 33 races: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte
and Joe Nemechek. Jimmie Johnson (2003) and Kurt Busch (2004) are the only
drivers that have posted season sweeps. They are also the only back-to-back
winners. The pole sitter has captured this race four times, including two of
the past five years.
The next Chase race is the October 2 AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway.
Jimmie Johnson is the defending race winner.
09/20 17:40:21 ET
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As of September 20, 2011, at 05:40 PM ET
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