Five should get lift at New Hampshire
Five NASCAR drivers feeling less nervous about their Chase for the Sprint Cup prospects heading to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend and why:
1. Ryan Newman: The 38year-old, in a contract season with Richard Childress Racing, enters 12th in the standings but perhaps heartened by his three previous victories at New Hampshire, an all-time lead shared with Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch. The last win came in the summer of 2011 with Stewart-Haas Racing, but at this point of the season a driver will take any positive indicators. Finishes of fifth, 18th, 11th and 10th make him the sixth-best pointswinner at New Hampshire over the most recent four races.
2. Kyle Larson: The wait for the long-anticipated first Sprint Cup win from the Ganassi Racing perennial prodigy continues into a third season, but New Hampshire could finally provide a backdrop for a breakthrough. The beauty (or ridiculousness) of the current Chase version is that a first victory at NASCAR’s highest level will validate him not only as a winner but also as a playoff qualifier, just as it did for AJ Allmendinger at Watkins Glen International in 2014. The 23-yearold was pedestrian at best at New Hampshire last season at 31st and 17th but was third and second his first swing through in 2014. Nineteenth in the standings, where he finished last season, he’s 27 points behind teammate Jamie McMurray for 15th place, which is currently the final non-winners Chase billet. (Stewart’s victory at Sonoma Raceway and status as top 30 in points qualify him for the Chase, assuming NASCAR grants him a medical waiver for missing the first eight races with a broken back — certainly expected.) 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: The
Hendrick Motorsports driver has never won at New Hampshire but is the eighth-best points-earner there in the last three races. He had four consecutive top-10s until finishing 25th last fall and can’t afford another costly performance with eight races remaining in the regular season and his positioning precarious. NASCAR’s most popular driver is just 22 points ahead of McMurray.
4. Jamie McMurray: The Chip Ganassi Racing driver has led just 32 of his 7,779 career laps at New Hampshire and produced his best finish of third in the 2010 fall race. But McMurray has been competitive since 2013, qualifying in the top five twice and finishing fourth in the fall of 2014. The 10th-best points-earner at New Hampshire over the last five races needs a bountiful weekend as he attempts to maintain his firewall.
5. Greg Biffle: Yes, Biffle is 22nd in points and outside the Chase field. But he’s supplied Roush Fenway Racing some reasonable runs this season — recently, at that — finishing eighth at Daytona International Speedway and sixth at Kentucky Speedway for his lone top-10s this season. And Biffle has represented himself well at New Hampshire recently, bringing the No. 16 Ford to the checkered flag fourth last fall. He was third in the fall of 2013. Granted, that’s not a win, and his lone victory there occurred in the autumn of 2008. But for a driver groping for a starting point, this could be it.