NASCAR - the CHASE is with YOU

NASCAR visits Loudon, New Hampshire, a one-mile flat track with only 12 degrees in its turns. It is the shortest race of the season, only 300 miles.

I am taking you inside the race.

1st
Tony Stewart has two wins and a second in the last 5 races here and he led 406 of 600 laps in 2005. In his first start here in 1999 he led 118 laps, but finished 10th. Heading into the fall race, he had just won his first career race, at Richmond, and he finished second to another first time-winner Joe Nemechek. He won the next race here, leading 156 laps and overall he led 36% of the laps in his first 3 races. But, in the next 9 races up to 2005 he led a total of 17 laps. He has finished in the top five in 9 of 17 starts, (53%) tops among drivers with at least ten starts. Stewart is also the hottest driver over the last eight races this season, averaging 4.8.

2nd
Jeff Gordon finished 2nd and 3rd in the last two races, but in the previous 8 races he led only 96 laps. 36% of his races have been top three, with 3 wins, 3 runner-ups and 3 thirds. He leads the track in laps led with 1141, followed by Stewart with 764. He had 9 straight top 6 finishes from 1997 to 2001.

3rd
Jimmie Johnson's 5th place finish in the last race here was his first top five in 7 starts. But, when drivers are hot they run well anywhere, so this should benefit him since he is the hottest driver over the last 5 races this season, having won the last two. He doesn't lead a lot of laps, only once leading more than 12 laps, but he has found victory lane on two occasions.

4th
Denny Hamlin finished 6th his first race here, then 4th, then 1st thanks to his crew chief Mike Ford. Ford decided to take only two tires late in the race and Hamlin came out ahead of Martin Truex Jr who had led the previous 46 laps. He then held off Jeff Gordon and Truex Jr for the last 38 green flag laps, beating Gordon by only .068 seconds. Hamlin can be dominate on flat tracks where all three of his wins have been at. On the down side he has finished 17th or worse in 5 of the last 9 races this season.

5th
Kyle Busch finished 4th in his first start, and won two races later, leading 107 laps. He led 48 laps the last time here only to finish 11th.

6th
Dale Earnhardt Jr led 64 laps and finished 4th in the last race and he has top 6 finishes in 5 of the last 9 races here. In 2003, he led 120 laps and finished 5th. If it weren't for engine failures in 3 of the last 7 races this season, he probably would have finished in the top five in 6 of those starts.

7th Kurt Busch had 2 wins and 2 runner-ups from 2002 to 2005, but in the last four races he hasn't finished better than 19th. In 2004 he led 265 of the 600 laps and he may return to that success since he is the hottest driver this season over the last 9 races with 2 wins and a 6.3 average. Both Busch have done well at this track.

8th
Carl Edwards finished second in 2006 to Kyle Busch, but his best finish outside of that is 12th. But, in the last 8 races this season he has 4 top four finishes and 6 top tens with an 8.0 average.

9th
Ryan Newman has good numbers here with top ten finishes in 8 of 11 races and 518 laps led. He won his first career race in 2002, leading 143 of 207 laps and also won in 2005 leading 66 laps. He ran good at this track from the beginning finishing fifth in his first start, then finishing 1st, 4th, 9th, 3rd, 33rd and 7th prior to winning in 2005.

10th
Kevin Harvick's last three races were 8th, 1st and 5th and he led 196 of 300 laps in his win. The only other race he has led a significant amount of laps was in 2003 when he led 53 laps and battled Jimmie Johnson in a memorable battle the last 61 laps, eventually losing by 1.582 seconds. Overall 8 of his 13 races have been top 10. His 7th place finish is the only top ten in the last six races this season.

11th to 13th is interchangeable

Jeff Burton who won 4 of 7 events from 1997 to 2000, but hasn't had a top five in the 13 starts since. He has finished in the top 10 the last four races though. He only has one top five finish in the last ten races this season.

Matt Kenseth led 77 laps in 2002, but problems late in the race left him with a 33rd place finish. He has top tens in 10 of the other 11 races with a worse finish of 14th. Don't expect to see him lead laps, the most he has led besides the race in 2002, was seven.

Martin Truex Jr. may be a sleeper, he was 45 laps from winning the last race and he is hot again this season, having a second-place finish and sixth places in the last five races.

A note from this fan:

NASCAR has always been a very family oriented sport and its drivers are respectable, classy and are admired by fans 2 years old to 92. You never hear controversy over drivers lifestyle morals, like other sports.

For new fans, this is a great era of NASCAR racing don't miss it.