NASCAR National Series News & Notes – New Hampshire Motor Speedway – Speedway Digest

First-time winners happen at New Hampshire Motor Speedway

New winners are always a fan favorite, and this season we have yet to see one, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen this weekend. The NASCAR Cup Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a track that is home to five driver’s first-time wins in the series; including Connecticut’s Joey Logano.

Looking to this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, 12 different drivers entered in the USA TODAY 301 are looking for their first career Cup win – Josh Berry, Harrison Burton, Ty Dillon, Ty Gibbs, Todd Gilliland, Noah Gragson, Daniel Hemric, Carson Hocevar, Corey Lajoie, John H. Nemechek, Ryan Preece, and Zane Smith.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Josh Berry is coming off a top-10 finish last weekend at Iowa Speedway (seventh) and is looking to carry the momentum to this week at New Hampshire, another track he feels confident about.

“It just has a short-track feel,” said Josh Berry. “It is obviously bigger, but the way I approach that track is similar to a short track and it usually opens up to have multiple grooves in the race, which creates good racing. For me, the options of other lanes and choosing where to run and how to make passes, the creativity of it all, is what makes that place fun for me.”

NASCAR Cup Series Etc.

New England Linebacker Matthew Judon named Honorary Pace Car Driver for USA TODAY 301 – On Sunday, June 23, Matthew Judon, linebacker for the NFL’s New England Patriots, has been named the Honorary Pace Car Driver and will lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to the green flag for the USA TODAY 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS).

“Driving the pace car at a NASCAR race is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said 31-year-old Judon. “I can’t wait to get behind the wheel and lead NASCAR’s stars to the green flag at ‘The Magic Mile’ for the USA TODAY 301 NASCAR Cup Series race on June 23.”

Six-foot-three-inch Judon will enter his fourth season with New England this year after being signed as an unrestricted free agent from Baltimore in 2021. The West Bloomfield, Mich. native has earned four Pro Bowl invitations (2019 – 2022), was named to the All-AFC Team for the Professional Football Writers of America (2019, 2021 and 2022), was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week (2017 and 2022) and reached a career-high 15.5 sacks in 2022 putting him at the top of the list for most New England sacks since 2000.

In 2023, Judon was limited to four games with two starts due to injury. He recorded 13 tackles, four sacks for a loss of 25 yards, nine quarterback hits, five tackles for loss and a safety.

“He’s a leader on the football field, and I can’t wait to see him lead the field of NASCAR’s stars to the green flag at New Hampshire Motor Speedway,” said New Hampshire Motor Speedway Executive Vice President and General Manager David McGrath. “We’re proud to put him behind the wheel of the official Toyota Camry XSE pace car and welcome him to ‘The Magic Mile’ on June 23.”

Two-time Super Bowl winner and New England co-captain David Andrews (July 2022), wide receiver and All-Pro punt returner Gunner Olszewski (July 2021), safety Patrick Chung (July 2018), offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels (July 2017), offensive tackle Matt Light (September 2016), linebacker Rob Ninkovich (July 2015) and wide receiver Julian Edelman (July 2014) have all served as pace car drivers, making Judon the eighth member of the professional New England football team to get behind the wheel of the official Toyota Camry XSE pace car for a NCS race at NHMS. Other notable pace car drivers include Boston Bruins forward Chris Wagner (July 2019), Richard Rawlings of Discovery Channel’s “Fast N’ Loud” (September 2017), Dave Matthews Band bassist Stefan Lessard (July 2016), Olympic triathlete Sarah True (September 2015) and Boston Bruins legend Brad Park (September 2014).

Milestone Watch: New Hampshire Motor Speedway:  Below are the possible milestones that can be achieved this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway or in coming weeks in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Starts

Martin Truex Jr. will make his 675th NASCAR Cup Series career start this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Truex is currently tied with Joe Nemechek for 22nd on the all-time Cup Series starts list with 674 starts each.

Kyle Larson is expected to make his 350th NASCAR Cup Series career start at the Chicago Street Race.

Austin Cindric is expected to make his 100th NASCAR Cup Series career start at Pocono Raceway

Kyle Busch is expected to make his 700th NASCAR Cup Series career start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Wins

Denny Hamlin currently has 54 NASCAR Cup Series wins, if he were to win another race, he would tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace for 11th on the all-time wins list with 55 victories each.

Joey Logano currently has 32 NASCAR Cup Series wins, if he were to win another race, he would tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Fireball Roberts for 27th on the all-time wins list with 33 victories each.

Track Specific Milestones:

Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing are tied for the most poles in the NASCAR Cup Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with 10 each, if either organization wins the pole this weekend, they will break the tie and solely become the series leader in poles at New Hampshire.

A win by Kyle Busch (three NHMS wins) or Denny Hamlin (three NHMS wins) would tie them with Jeff Burton (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000) and Kevin Harvick (2006, 2016, 2018, 2019) for the NASCAR Cup Series most wins at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with four victories each.

Crew Member Spotlight: New Hampshire Motor Speedway Weekend – This weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway we wanted to highlight several of the team’s crew members that are from the surrounding areas of the track in New England.

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Up Next: The Magic Mile at New Hampshire Motor Speedway

After returning to Iowa Speedway for the first time in five years, the NASCAR Xfinity Series shifts gears to New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s “Magic Mile” for the SciAps 200 on Saturday, June 22 at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, the NBC Sports App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

This will be the 37th NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the 1.058-mile New Hampshire track. There have been 28 different race winners and 21 different pole winners in the previous 36 races. Nine drivers have won from the pole or first starting position, most recently by Kyle Busch in 2017.

The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, Kyle Busch, holds several records in the Xfinity Series at New Hampshire – most wins (six), laps led (740), and is tied with former Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick for most top fives (nine).

The weekend’s festivities commence on Friday, June 21 at 4:05 p.m. ET with practice followed by qualifying at 4:35 p.m. ET on USA Network and streaming on the NBC Sports App.

Qualifying will be key this weekend given that in the last 11 races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, all but one driver has gone on to win the race from a starting position of third or higher.

Feelin’ the magic of Victory Lane at New Hampshire Motor Speedway

There are only two drivers entered in this weekend’s SciAps 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway who have conquered the Magic Mile previously – Justin Allgaier and Christopher Bell.

Allgaier heads into the weekend with 12 starts at New Hampshire under his belt. In those 12 starts, he’s posted one win (2022), three top fives and nine top 10s.

The Cup Series regular, Bell, will be getting behind the wheel of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for his first Xfinity Series start since the 2022 season. The 29-year-old has a perfect record at New Hampshire, having posted a win in all three of his Xfinity Series starts (2018, 2019, 2021). He also has led a combined 430 of 600 laps across the three races.

With his feat of three wins in three starts at New Hampshire, he joins a short list of drivers in the Xfinity Series who have perfect records at a track with more than one start – AJ Allmendinger (Charlotte Road Course – four wins in four starts) and Chandler Smith (Richmond – two wins in two starts).

Xfinity Drivers To Watch: New Hampshire edition

While former New Hampshire winners, Justin Allgaier and Christopher Bell, will be competing for their chance to land themselves in Victory Lane once again this weekend, other drivers will be pushing to post their first win at the Magic Mile this Saturday as well.

Seeking retribution for last year’s runner-up finish, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chandler Smith will look to snag the trophy this time around. Joe Gibbs Racing has dominated in the Xfinity Series at New Hampshire, winning seven of the last eight races. Smith has already shown his prowess at one-mile ovals earlier this season, winning at Phoenix and posting a seventh-place finish at Dover.

While leading the NASCAR Xfinity Series point standings and having six top fives and 12 top 10s through the first 15 races, Stewart Haas Racing’s Cole Custer has yet to secure a victory this season. However, he returns to the track where he made history in 2014 by becoming the youngest winner in NASCAR national series history at 16 years, 7 months, 28 days in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.

In total, Custer has made four starts at New Hampshire in the Xfinity Series posting one top five and three top 10s.

Xfinity Series Playoff picture following Iowa

With JR Motorsports driver Sam Mayer’s second win of the season at Iowa Speedway last weekend, only five spots are still available to make the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs with 11 races left in the regular season.

Mayer, along with Austin Hill, Chandler Smith, Justin Allgaier, Jesse Love, and Shane van Gisbergen have all earned Playoff spots by virtue of their wins this season. Current Xfinity driver standings leader, Cole Custer, is also guaranteed a spot as the points leader.

That leaves just five spots left. Currently holding those spots on points are Sheldon Creed (+92 from Cutoff), Riley Herbst (+91), AJ Allmendinger (+60), Parker Kligerman (+55) and Sammy Smith (+31).

Here’s how the playoff standings look heading into New Hampshire.

NASCAR Xfinity Series, Etc.

Justin Bonsignore to make Xfinity Series debut – Justin Bonsignore will be making his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut behind the wheel of the No. 19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the SciAps 200 on Saturday, June 22.

The three-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion will be pulling double duty, looking to defend his crown in Saturday’s Mohegan Sun 100 following his debut in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

“I’m looking to have a smooth day and take it all in,” Bonsignore said. “If we can contend in the top five or top 10, that would be a win, but I wouldn’t have done this if I didn’t think we couldn’t contend for the win. We’re in a Gibbs car, so you have to go there with that mindset, but we need to execute and try to learn each and every lap.”

Justin Allgaier to move solely into sixth on all-time Xfinity Series starts list – JR Motorsports’ veteran Justin Allgaier is currently tied with Joe Nemechek for sixth on the NASCAR Xfinity Series all-time starts lists with 453 starts each. With his start this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Allgaier will pass Nemechek and move solely into the sixth position on the all-time starts list.

Jeremy Clements currently holds the fifth position on the Xfinity Series starts list with 479 starts.

Ryan Sieg to make 350th career NASCAR Xfinity Series start at New Hampshire – Geogia native and veteran NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Ryan Sieg, of RSS Racing, will be making his 350th NASCAR Xfinity Series career start this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

With the start this weekend, Sieg will tie Randy Lajoie and Kevin LePage for 16th on the all-time starts list in the Xfinity Series.

Sam Mayer to make 100th career start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series – JR Motorsport’s Sam Mayer, who won last weekend’s race at Iowa Speedway, will be making his 100th career NASCAR Xfinity Series start this weekend at New Hampshire. Mayer will look to become the seventh different driver to win on their 100th start in the series.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series looks ahead to Nashville Superspeedway

The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series has one more week off to regroup and go over strategy before heading to Nashville Superspeedway for the Rackley Roofing 200, the final race of the 2024 Triple Truck Challenge (Friday, June 28, at 8:00 p.m. ET on FS2, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The 16 previous CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races at the 1.33-mile track have produced 13 different race winners and 12 different pole winners. Seven of the Truck Series races have been won from the pole or first starting position, most recently by Ryan Preece in 2022.

Johnny Benson Jr., Kyle Busch, and Ryan Preece lead all drivers with two victories each at the 1.33-mile track and Toyota leads the pack with the most wins in Nashville, coming in at six victories.

Ford and Chevrolet follow with four trips to Victory Lane each and Dodge has two wins.

The Rackley Roofing 200 will be broken up into three stages. The first stage will be 45 laps, followed by 50 in the second stage, and the final stage will be 55 laps for a race total of 150 laps (199.5 miles). 

Practice will begin Friday, June 28 at 4:30 p.m. ET followed by Cometic Gasket Pole Qualifying at 5:00 p.m. ET.

‘The Trip’ makes its final stop in Music City

Since its inception in 2019, no driver has been able to win all three Triple Truck Challenge races in one season to collect the $500,000 bonus. The streak continues this year after Corey Heim took home the $50,000 bonus at World Wide Technology, following Nick Sanchez’s win at Charlotte.

“The Trip” will close out next weekend at the 1.33-mile track with a new race winner receiving $50,000 or one of the two previous winners pocketing an additional $150,000.

Let’s take a look at the past winners of the Triple Truck Challenge:

Regular Season Title Watch: Eckes determined to hold point standings with four to go

McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s Christian Eckes continues to have a breakout year as he holds onto the driver points lead in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series with four races left in the regular season. The 23-year-old is currently 31 points up on Corey Heim in second as the series has one more off week before returning at Nashville Superspeedway for the Rackley Roofing 200 on Friday, June 28 at 8 p.m. ET on FS2, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

If Eckes can hold on and win the Regular Season Championship, he will get an additional 15 Playoff points to take with him into the postseason and will become the eighth different driver to win the regular season title; joining Christopher Bell (2017), Johnny Sauter (2018), Grant Enfinger (2019), Austin Hill (2020), John H. Nemechek (2021), Zane Smith (2022) and Corey Heim (2023).

Eckes’ points lead began after a strong showing at Darlington – earning himself a total of 50 points to jump over Heim. The Middletown, New York Native has accumulated two wins, six top-five, and 11 top-10 finishes this season. He also leads the series in laps led this season with 464.

The driver of the No. 19 Chevrolet cannot yet clinch the Regular Season Championship since there are still four wins available.

Right in Eckes’ review mirror is last season’s Regular Season champion and TRICON Garage driver Corey Heim, who is coming off an impressive win at World Wide Technology Raceway. The 21-year-old driver of the No. 11 Toyota has collected four wins (the most of any driver this season), eight top fives, 10 top 10s, and has led 408 laps on the season. 

Heim is hoping to catch Eckes within the next four races and become the first driver to win multiple Regular Season Championships in the series.

The Race Is On: Six CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff spots still up for grabs

Through 12 races this season, four drivers have earned their spot in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoffs by virtue of their wins – Christian Eckes, Corey Heim, Nick Sanchez and Rajah Caruth – leaving six spots in the 10-driver Playoff field still available heading into Nashville Superspeedway on June 28.

With only four races in the regular season remaining, the battle for the final postseason transfer spot is heating up and time is running out.

Following World Wide Technology Raceway, Stewart Friesen is ranked 11th in the Playoff outlook, 26 points back from Grant Enfinger in the 10th and final postseason transfer spot on points. Just behind Friesen is Daniel Dye in 12th, -37 points back from the postseason cutoff, and three-time Truck Series champion Matt Crafton is 13th, -46 points back from Enfinger.

Since the introduction of the Playoffs in the series in 2016, Matt Crafton has not missed the Playoffs, and he leads the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series in postseason appearances with eight consecutive (2016-2023).

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, Etc.

Akinori Ogata to join Young Motorsports at Nashville Superspeedway – Akinori Ogata is set to pilot the No. 20 Young Motorsports Chevrolet at Nashville Superspeedway.

Ogata grew up a race-winning Motocross racer until he was 26 but in 2010 made the decision to leave his home in Kanagawa, Japan, and pursue his dream of racing in NASCAR.

The 50-year-old has made 14 previous starts in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, but this will be his first at Nashville Superspeedway.

2024 Sunoco Rookie of the Year breakdown – Layne Riggs continues to dominate in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings following 12 races in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.

The driver of the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford now sits 134 points over Connor Jones and 137 points over Thadd Moffitt. Riggs was the highest finishing rookie at Gateway (fifth).

Special Feature: NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour

Justin Bonsignore prepares for potentially biggest weekend of his career

Three-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Justin Bonsignore is not only racing in Saturday’s Mohegan Sun 100 – of which he is the defending winner – but he is also making his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in the SciAps 200 piloting the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

The 36-year-old star has made 25 Modified Tour starts at New Hampshire over the past 14 years. In those 25 races, he has two wins in points-paying events and one in a non-points race, along with 10 top-five finishes.

Bonsignore’s most recent New Hampshire win came last July where he outdueled defending series champion, Ron Silk, and six-time Tour champion Doug Coby. The Holtsville, New York native is one win away from tying Ted Christopher for third on the all-time Modified Tour wins list.

Driving the No. 51 for team owner Ken Massa, Bonsignore has one win, five top-five, and six top-10 finishes in 2024. He currently sits second in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour point standings, 16 points behind Ron Silk.

Storylines to watch: Mohegan Sun 100 edition

Among the many stars entered in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Mohegan Sun 100 is NASCAR Cup Series star and 2013 Modified Tour champion Ryan Preece. The Berlin, Connecticut native is making his second start of the Modified Tour season in his own No. 40 Modified. Preece has one Modified Tour victory at New Hampshire, which came in 2021.

Bobby Santos III – the active wins leader at New Hampshire with seven Modified Tour wins – will chase his eighth victory at the track in the Advantage Motorsports No. 14.

Six-time Tour champion Doug Coby will reunite with Tommy Baldwin Racing to chase his fifth New Hampshire win. He’ll do so while honoring the late Bugsy Stevens with a special tribute paint scheme.

Ron Silk, three-time Modified Tour race winner already this year, will chase his fourth New Hampshire win.

Anthony Nocella, the 2022 New Hampshire race winner, will pilot the No. 17 for team owner Michele Davini.

Chase Dowling, a winner at New Hampshire in 2018, will also be in the field behind the wheel of the No. 44 for team owner Lawney Tinio.

Luke Baldwin, son of Tommy Baldwin Jr., will be making his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour start. The younger Baldwin will make his debut in the No. 38 for Sadler-Stanley Racing.

Jon McKennedy will return to the series to make his 100th career start.

Latest posts by Speedway Digest Staff (see all)

Post Views: 8