LOUDON, N.H. - Kevin Harvick’s four wins at New Hampshire Motor Speedway are most among drivers. Should he collect a record fifth winner’s lobster at the New England-miler, it would be his first trip to New Hampshire victory lane since 2019.
It would also mark his first trip to any victory lane since back-to-back wins last summer at Michigan and Richmond.
In recognition of Harvick’s retirement at the end of the season, New Hampshire presented Harvick with a personalized musket, a nod to historical nature of the area.
“It’s just been a good place for us to race throughout the years,” said Harvick, who not only has a series high win total at the Loudon, New Hampshire track, but top five finishes in nine of the last 12 races, including three wins in the just the last eight trips to the oval.
“I grew up on a lot of the short tracks and flat short tracks out West and we spent a lot of time at RCR (Richard Childress Racing) at a lot of the flat tracks – and always ran good. That carried over to Stewart-Haas Racing and just wound up being one of our really good spots.
“I feel like four wins should be 10, but I feel like that at a lot of places. So, I guess that’s just the racer’s mentality on how you think about things. It’s been a great place to race and I’ve seen it go through some different transitions as far as the layout of the track, but it’s been fun to come here and we have a great following up here.”
Kyle Busch Looks To Add To Win Totals At New Hampshire
Kyle Busch’s three victory total so far in 2023 already tops his season win tally in each of the last three NASCAR Cup Series seasons.
The two-time series champion sits in second place in the standings – only 36 points behind leader William Byron heading into Sunday’s New Hampshire race. Busch said Saturday that he absolutely has his eyes set on challenging for the regular season title and the extra points bonus that pays for the 10-race Playoffs to close out the year.
“I think I was looking at it about race two or three,” Busch said with a laugh, noting the regular season priority. “I think you always kind of try to keep a pulse on it and just kind of see what’s going on. Seven weeks ago, we weren’t looking too good. But we’ve made some really good headway in the last seven weeks of being able to work our way back up the points standings and get ourselves closer to that front.
“I was doing a points study earlier this week. We’re 120 stage points less than William Byron. And if I had half of that I’d be leading the points by 20, you know what I mean. We have to be able to execute better in the stages to get stage points. That’s what it’s going to come down to. We know our weaknesses, just still trying to figure out how to improve that.”
Preece Hopes New Hampshire Modified Experience Pays Off
Ryan Preece arrived in New Hampshire especially optimistic about earning his first NASCAR Cup Series victory at what he considers his “home track.’’ The Connecticut native figures he has easily turned more laps and run more races at New Hampshire than at any other track that circuit visits.
Although Preece earned his career first pole position at Nashville last month, he is still racing for his maiden series victory and he currently sits 81 points below the top-16 Playoff cutoff line.
This weekend is important to him.
“New Hampshire is a place I’ve had a lot of laps on – a lot more than most tracks we go to,” said Preece. “I feel really comfortable here. It’s that energy you have, that swagger when you walk into a race track where you feel comfortable. New Hampshire was definitely a track going into it, that I know what I need as a race car driver to find victory lane or run really well.”
Playoff Cutoff Intensity Picking Up
With only seven races remaining to set the 16-driver Playoff field, drivers concede there is a very real uptick in intensity. Obviously, where they sit in the championship standings affects their approach. This, they say, is exactly the kind of season-long intensity this NEXT Gen car has created.
“I think the intensity is as much as ever, with how much Playoff points matter, I think it matters even more now because there’s not real clear favorites, there’s not cars that are the fast car every single week now,” said Joey Logano, the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion. “Knowing that, collecting Playoff points and doing great in the regular season becomes more important.
“You can probably group five or six cars together and say those are the favorites and then everyone else is trying to catch them, but I don’t there’s like “that’s the guy.” He may be for four or five weeks and then everybody catches up to him. It doesn’t take much to get ahead these days or get behind.”
NASCAR Cup Series
New Hampshire Motor Speedway – Loudon, NH
Crayon 301 – July 15, 2023
Sunday’s Starting Line Up
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
1. 20 Christopher Bell Rheem/WATTS Toyota 30.524 124.781
2. 19 Martin Truex, Jr. Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota 30.531 124.752
3. 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 30.542 124.707
4. 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 30.571 124.589
5. 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Sylvania Ford 30.635 124.328
6. 45 Tyler Reddick Draft Kings Network Toyota 30.640 124.308
7. 24 William Byron RaptorTough.com Chevrolet 30.742 123.896
8. 23 Bubba Wallace Draft Kings Toyota 30.748 123.871
9. 6 Brad Keselowski BuildSubmarines.com Ford 30.752 123.855
10. 8 Kyle Busch Lenovo Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
11. 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops Club Chevrolet 30.474 124.985
12. 99 Daniel Suarez SLAM! Foundation Chevrolet 30.596 124.487
13. 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Light Ford 30.598 124.479
14. 16 A.J. Allmendinger Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet 30.629 124.353
15. 5 Kyle Larson Valvoline Chevrolet 30.638 124.316
16. 47 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Kroger/Drumstick Chevrolet 30.653 124.255
17. 34 Michael McDowell The Pete Store Ford 30.665 124.207
18. 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 30.666 124.203
19. 31 Justin Haley Campers Inn RV Chevrolet 30.667 124.199
20. 11 Denny Hamlin Mavis Tires & Brakes Toyota 30.689 124.110
21. 41 Ryan Preece Mohawk Northeast Ford 30.709 124.029
22. 2 Austin Cindric Autotrader Ford 30.726 123.960
23. 38 Todd Gilliland A&W Root Beer Float Ford 30.754 123.847
24. 7 Corey LaJoie Schluter Systems Chevrolet 30.761 123.819
25. 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 30.780 123.743
26. 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 30.786 123.719
27. 14 Chase Briscoe Mobil 1 Gen G Ford 30.824 123.566
28. 21 Harrison Burton Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 30.927 123.155
29. 42 Noah Gragson # Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet 30.931 123.139
30. 43 Erik Jones Allegiant Chevrolet 30.953 123.051
31. 1 Ross Chastain Kubota Chevrolet 30.955 123.043
32. 78 B.J. McLeod Circle B Diecast Chevrolet 31.073 122.576
33. 15 Ryan Newman Parts Plus Ford 31.087 122.521
34. 51 Cole Custer(i) Biohaven/Jacob Co. Ford 31.163 122.222
35. 77 Ty Dillon Ferris Commercial Mowers Chevrolet 31.219 122.003
36. 54 Ty Gibbs # He Gets us Toyota 31.408 121.268
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
WDUN will carry live PRN Radio coverage of Sunday with the NASCAR Cup Series Crayon 301 from New Hampshire Motor Speedway at 1:30 pm on 102.9 FM, AM 550 and streaming live on AccessWDUN.
