GFT Facts & Stats Friday: NASCAR Cup Series USA TODAY 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
21 June 2024
By Bob Francis, Managing Editor
Go Full Throttle Racing News
LOUDON, NH — New Hampshire Motor Speedway, nicknamed the ‘Magic Mile,’ hosts this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race, the USA TODAY 301 televised on USA Network, and heard on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio this Sunday, June 23 at 2:30 p.m. ET.
One thing that makes New Hampshire Motor Speedway unique is its 1.058-mile layout, the only of its kind on the schedule, but even more so is the giant lobster the track awards the race winner in Victory Lane.
“I’ve always wanted to hold the lobster (in Victory Lane) ever since I was a kid,” said reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion and Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney. “The area is great. I love the fans. I love the weather up there. It’s nice this time of year. … that place (New Hampshire Motor Speedway) is awesome, and I feel like it’s a good test for Phoenix.”
All of the NASCAR Cup Series on-track activity at New Hampshire Motor Speedway will begin with practice followed by Busch Light Pole Qualifying on Saturday, June 22 at 12:35 p.m. ET
NASCAR Cup Series USA TODAY 301
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Date: Sunday, June 23
Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
Purse: $7,876,911
TV: USA Network, 2 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 318.46 miles (301 laps)
-Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 70)
-Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 185)
-Final Stage (Ends on Lap 301)
New Hampshire Motor Speedway Track Facts
Track Length: 1.058 Miles
Race Length: 318.458 Miles (301 Laps)
Grandstand Seating Capacity: 76,000
First Race: July 11, 1993 — Slick 50 300
Degree of Banking in Corners: Variable banking at 2 & 7 degrees
Degree of Banking on Straights: 1 degree
Length of Frontstretch: 1,500 feet
Length of Backstretch: 1,500 feet
Qualifying & Race Records
Qualifying: Brad Keselowski, Ford, 140.598 mph (27.090 sec.); Sep. 19, 2014
Race: 300 Laps: Jeff Burton, Ford, 117.134 mph (2:42:35); July 13, 1997
301 Laps: Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 116.226 mph (2:44:24); July 15, 2012
Track Records
Most Wins: 4 — Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick
Most Poles: 7 — Ryan Newman
Most Top Fives: 16 — Jeff Gordon
Most Top 10s: 24 — Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick
Magic happens at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
New Hampshire Motor Speedway is tied with Charlotte Motor Speedway for the third-most winners starting outside the top-20 in the NASCAR Cup Series (with 10 each); behind only Daytona International Speedway with 14 and Richmond Raceway with 13.
The 2021 New Hampshire winner, Aric Almirola, started from the 22nd position, and six of the last 11 winners at New Hampshire have started outside the top-10.
Looking for a win in a magical place, New Hampshire
Heading into this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, there are six former Magic Mile winners entered in the field, led by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin and Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch with three victories each.
Of the six former New Hampshire winners entered this weekend, three are still looking for their first win of the season — Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Joey Logano. Both Busch and Logano are currently ranked below the Playoff outlook cutline. Truex, who recently announced his retirement from fulltime racing at the end of the season, is the defending winner of this race, and is riding a 33-race winless streak dating back to this race last season.
One driver that will be tough to beat this weekend will be Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, all three of his wins this season have come on tracks 1-mile in length or shorter (Bristol, Richmond and Dover). New Hampshire is one of Hamlin’s better tracks, in 30 starts he has put up three wins, 11 top fives (both his wins and top fives are tied with Kyle Busch for most among active drivers) and 19 top 10s (most among active drivers).
Last season, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell won the pole at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, his first at the 1.058-mile track and the organization’s 10th. The pole tied Joe Gibbs Racing with Team Penske for the series-most poles at New Hampshire with 10 each.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. returns to New Hampshire to defend last season’s win
Last season, New Hampshire Motor Speedway was the third win of the year for Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr.’s season, the last win to this day he would get to enjoy. Since then, the New Jersey native, has been riding a winless streak that has spanned 33 Cup races, and this weekend he would like nothing more than to snap the streak and become the fifth driver all-time to win consecutive Cup races at the 1.058-mile track; joining Jimmie Johnson (2003 sweep), Kurt Busch (2004 sweep), Matt Kenseth (2015 fall, 2016 spring) and Kevin Harvick (2018, 2019).
Truex has made 30 NASCAR Cup Series career starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway posting two poles, one win, nine top fives and 15 top 10s. He is one of just four drivers all-time to lead more than a 1,000 laps at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1,170 — most among active drivers), and his average finish at 1.058-mile track is 11.3 — third-best among active drivers.
Chase for a Regular Season Championship
Just nine races to go and the battle for the top spot in the regular season points is heating up. For the first time since 2022, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott sits atop the NASCAR Cup Series driver standings but does so with just a slight eight point edge over his Hendrick teammate Kyle Larson in second. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin is in third in the points (-38 from Elliott) and Elliott’s HMS teammate William Byron (-54) is in fourth and JGR’s Martin Truex Jr. (-61) rounds out the top five in the driver standings with just nine races to go in the regular season.
Not only is Elliott looking to take home the Regular Season Championship trophy and bank the 15 Playoff bonus points that come with it, but he would also like to become just the third driver since the introduction of the Regular Season Championship to win more than one; joining Martin Truex Jr. (2017, 2023) and Kyle Busch (2018, 2019). Elliott won his first NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season title in 2022.
In total only five drivers have won the NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season Championship — Martin Truex Jr. (2023, 2017), Kyle Busch (2019, 2018), Chase Elliott (2022), Kyle Larson (2021) and Kevin Harvick (2020).
Nine races to go, Playoffs loom with just six spots still open
When drivers and teams start doing the math, a Playoff appearance isn’t adding up for many unless they win a race over these last nine events on the regular season schedule.
A total of 10 different drivers have secured their spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with a win this season, leaving just six spots open on points as the series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend.
Of the six former NASCAR Cup Series New Hampshire Motor Speedway winners entered this weekend, three of them are looking to lock themselves into the Playoffs this season with a win — Martin Truex Jr. (11th in the Playoff points outlook, +122 points up from the cutline), Joey Logano (17th in the Playoff points outlook, -6 points from the cutline), and Kyle Busch (18th in the Playoff points outlook, -31 points from the cutline).
GO FULL THROTTLE NASCAR CUP SERIES BOX SCORES
GO FULL THROTTLE NASCAR FANTASY LIVE BOX SCORES
The Go Full Throttle #AI Race Prediction model delivered 191 points from the Iowa Corn 350 results in NASCAR Fantasy Live — TMD NASCAR League play. GFT AI 1 improves to 660th place vs 4,636 players in the #TMDNASCAR league, still outside the Top 10 at 14.23% vs all players.
Initial GFT NASCAR Fantasy Live Picks for the USA TODAY 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
**NOTE** Be sure to follow us on X (aka Twitter) to see the updated GFT NASCAR Fantasy Live picks AFTER our AI models ingest the Practice and Qualifying data. For a Sunday race, this usually happens overnight Saturday and is published Sunday morning at least 2 hours before the green flag.
