by Jay | Sep 22, 2011 | NASCAR, New England, New Hampshire, NHMS
KANNAPOLIS, N.C., (Sept. 21, 2011) – A week ago while on a press junket in Chicago to promote the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup, Tony Stewart proclaimed he’d be a “bumbling idiot” if he won this year’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. After all, the driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) hadn’t won a race in 2011 and squeaked his way into the Chase field with only three top-fives and 11 top-10s during the 26-race regular season.
By Stewart’s standards, it had been a miserable season. The two-time Sprint Cup champion (2002 and 2005) had his lowest totals of top-fives, top-10s and laps led prior to the final 10 races of the season than during any of his 12 previous years in Sprint Cup.
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by Jay | Sep 22, 2011 | NASCAR, New England, New Hampshire, NHMS
-Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Driver Hoping For More Success On Flat 1.058-Mile New Hampshire Track-
LOUDON, N.H. (Sept. 20, 2011) – Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver Kurt Busch is really looking forward to this weekend’s SYLVANIA 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. With a career record that sports three wins, seven top-five finishes and 11 top 10s, it’s easy to understand the 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion’s fondness of the flat 1.058-mile track.
“With all the intermediate sized tracks we go to during the Chase, it’ll definitely be a nice change of scenery to get back to Loudon this weekend,” offered Busch, who heads into Sunday’s second of 10 Chase races ranked fourth in the series’ point standings. “The way that you have to slide a car around on a flat track like Loudon requires a loose setup and that’s the way I like to set my cars up. There’s always so much slipping and sliding and getting the forward bite we need is always so critical. Track position is really key and being up front on the restarts is so important. (more…)
by Jay | Sep 22, 2011 | NASCAR, New England, New Hampshire, NHMS
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (Sept. 21, 2011) – At the outset of the 1992 presidential election, William Jefferson Clinton, with just 3 percent of the vote, finished fourth in the Iowa Democratic Caucus. He was beaten handily by longtime Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, who not surprisingly won 76 percent of the vote, while 12 percent voted “uncommitted,” and 4 percent chose Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas.
It appeared as though his campaign was in trouble, but Clinton rallied in the New Hampshire Primary one week later as he finished a solid second behind Tsongas despite trailing by a large margin in most polls leading up to Election Day. (more…)
by Jay | Sep 22, 2011 | NASCAR, NASCAR K&N Pro Series, New England, New Hampshire, NHMS
Dave Davis Motorsports Wants Another Crack At Series’ Biggest Track
DENVER, N.C. – Since he left the speedway back in July, Cody Hodgson has been champing at the bit for another crack at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
When the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East heads to the track for this weekend’s New Hampshire 125, Hodgson will get that crack. Practice and qualifying are slated for Thursday, weather permitting, with the green flag at 5 p.m. Friday afternoon.
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by Jay | Sep 21, 2011 | NASCAR, New England, New Hampshire, NHMS
KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (Sept. 21, 2011) – Almost perfection. That’s how Ryan Newman and his No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) team would describe their dominating performance at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon just 10 weeks ago.
For the South Bend, Ind., native and everyone else at SHR, there’s no doubt it was a magical weekend at the track known as The Magic Mile. After earning the pole position in qualifying on Friday afternoon, Newman went wire to wire – driving from his No. 1 starting spot to victory lane – for his 15th Sprint Cup win, his third at New Hampshire and his first in 2011.
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by Jay | Sep 21, 2011 | NASCAR, New England, New Hampshire, NHMS
KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET – 1ST IN STANDINGS:
“The hardest thing is just making your car turn in the middle of the corner and being able to have enough forward drive up off (at NHMS). It always seems like the New Hampshire race comes down to a track position strategy call on two tires or four tires toward the end of the race. Track position will play a big part, but getting your car to handle right will probably play an equal part. I always look forward to going to New Hampshire. I like that type of track because it’s flat, similar to the tracks out west where I started my racing career. There’s a lot of braking. You have to really work on getting your car through the center of the corner and still have the forward drive you need up off the corner.”
TONY STEWART, NO. 14 MOBIL 1/OFFICE DEPOT CHEVROLET – 2ND IN STANDINGS:
“It’s a big motor deal (NHMS). With the corners being so tight, you’ve got to put a lot of gear in the car to get it up off the corner. Forward bite is always an issue there too, so it’s hard to get up off the corners. Then you’ve got long straightaways where you can kind of relax a little bit. Coming into the corners, you use a lot of brake, and it’s hard to not only get the car stopped, but to get it to turn. Then you go through that challenge all over again. Obviously, I like it because I’ve had success there. But at the same time, it’s a tough track to pass on. You can be a couple of tenths faster than a guy, but it still takes you 20 laps to get by him. There are other tracks on the circuit where it’s hard to pass, but we still go out and put on good shows there, too. Every race at Loudon seems to be a pretty good race. So, I like it. I enjoy racing there even though it is hard to pass. But when you’ve got a good car, it’s always fun to race. We were really good there in the spring. I am hoping that, that is a scenario, where what we had is going to be really close to what we are going to want this time around again. Both Ryan (Newman) and I were really fast all day long, so I am hoping we can have a similar weekend.”
DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 DIET MOUNTAIN DEW/NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET – 5TH IN STANDINGS:
“I like Loudon. Just getting the car to turn in the middle is important. That track is really flat and it is very hard to get a car to rotate in the middle of the corner really good.”
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