The NASCAR Cup Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the Chase just two races away and the championship picture beginning to take shape. Denny Hamlin has built the largest points lead of the season, Ryan Blaney returns to the site of his 2025 victory, and Joey Logano arrives riding a surge that has transformed him from a bubble driver into one of the sport's hottest contenders.
But while seven drivers have already secured their postseason spots, the battle behind them remains unsettled, with New Hampshire offering one final opportunity to build momentum before Daytona closes the regular season. The Chase is right around the corner, and at the Magic Mile, every lap brings NASCAR one step closer to cementing the Chase roster.
Weekend Tune-In Guide – New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Saturday | NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series | Team EJP 175
Saturday, August 22 at 1:30 p.m. ET | FS1, FOX ONE | NASCAR Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Saturday | NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour | Mohegan Sun 100
Saturday, August 22 at 4:30 p.m. ET | FloRacing
Sunday | NASCAR Cup Series | Dollar Tree 301
Saturday, August 23 at 3:00 p.m. ET | USA Network | PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Venue: New Hampshire Motor Speedway – Loudon, New Hampshire
Track Length: 1.058-mile flat oval
Package: 750 horsepower
Banking: Turns: 2-7° | Straights: 1°
Surface: Asphalt
Race Distance: 301 laps – 318.46 miles
Stage 1: 70 laps
Stage 2: 115 laps
Final Stage: 116 laps
The Magic Mile is one of NASCAR's most unique tracks: a flat, one-mile oval where braking, rhythm and long-run speed can separate the contenders.
Recent history offers some interesting clues: Five of the last six New Hampshire races were won from a top-five starting position. The driver starting first has won only once in the last 21 races. The Stage 1 winner has won each of the last three races. New Hampshire has had only one overtime finish in the last 14 races. Four of the last 10 winners earned their first win of the season at New Hampshire. And history suggests this is a track where championship-caliber drivers thrive: 13 of the last 17 New Hampshire winners are also Cup champions.
Ryan Blaney Returns as the Defending Winner
Ryan Blaney knows exactly what it takes to win at New Hampshire. He started third last September, won Stage 1 and ultimately led the final 18 laps to capture his first career victory at the Magic Mile. Now he returns as one of the hottest drivers in the series.
Blaney enters New Hampshire:
Second in the championship standings
Winner at New Hampshire in 2025
Winner at Phoenix earlier this season
Six stage wins, most in the series
708 laps led, second only to Denny Hamlin
Top-five finishes in 11 of his last 14 races
And Team Penske has been on a tear. The organization has led 807 laps over the last five races after leading just 480 in the first 19, while winning three of the last four races.
Denny Hamlin's Championship Lead
Denny Hamlin has spent much of the summer turning the championship picture upside down. The veteran enters New Hampshire atop the standings with a 103-point advantage over Ryan Blaney, and his 2026 season continues to rank among the best starts of his career. Hamlin has: Four victories, 14 top-five finishes, 16 top-10 finishes, 880 laps led, five stage wins, and an 8.17 average finish through 24 races. He also owns three New Hampshire victories and has led 798 laps at the track—fourth-most all-time. With just New Hampshire and Daytona remaining before the Chase, Hamlin has already created substantial separation. He's already clinched his Chase spot. Now the No. 1 seed is essentially his to lose.
Christopher Bell's New Hampshire Playground
If there is one driver who can challenge the Penske and Hamlin storylines at New Hampshire, it is Christopher Bell. Bell has won two of the last four New Hampshire races, including the 2022 and 2024 events, and has three top-two finishes in just six Cup starts at the track. His New Hampshire résumé is even stronger across NASCAR's national series: Four NASCAR O'Reilly Series starts, four wins, two Truck Series starts, two top-two finishes, and two Cup victories in the last four New Hampshire races.
Joe Gibbs Racing has also finished runner-up at New Hampshire 16 times, and the organization has won three of the last four races at the track. Bell may be the best driver to disrupt Team Penske's momentum.
Joey Logano's Championship Revival
Joey Logano's season looked very different just six races ago. Now, he's one of the hottest drivers in the garage. Logano climbed from 20th in the Chase standings to ninth after gaining 173 points on the cut line over the last six races. He also gained points on Hamlin in four of the last five races. The turnaround has been fueled by speed: 418 laps led over the last four races, two wins in the last four races, and top-10 finishes in each of the last three races.
Richmond victory last week
Seven consecutive short-track top-10 finishes
And New Hampshire has historically been another strong venue for Logano. He has four top-five finishes in his last six starts here, including a runner-up in 2023, and led a race-high 147 laps last year.
Team Penske's Time to Shine
The next two races could be tailor-made for Team Penske. Blaney won at New Hampshire last year, while all three Penske drivers have won at Daytona—including Blaney, who won the Daytona race last year. And the team's recent form is undeniable: Three wins in the last four races, 807 laps led in the last five races, and 11 consecutive top-five finishes for Denny Hamlin on non-drafting ovals.
Logano just won Richmond
Blaney enters as the defending New Hampshire winner
With Daytona looming after New Hampshire, Penske has two more opportunities to build momentum before the Chase begins.
The Chase Bubble Tightens
Only two races remain. Seven drivers have already clinched Chase spots: Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe, Chase Elliott, and Christopher Bell. But below them, the pressure is mounting.
Chase Bubble
William Byron: +113
Daniel Suárez: +101
Erik Jones has lost 89 points to the cut line over the last four races, dropping to his largest deficit of the season.
AJ Allmendinger has also fallen sharply, losing 109 points to the cut line over the last five races.
At this point, one bad race could end a championship dream.
Toyota has 14 wins through 24 races, the most by any manufacturer through this point since Chevrolet had 17 in 2007. A Toyota has finished in the top two in 22 of 24 races and the top three in 23.
Hamlin has 880 laps led, four wins, 16 top-10s and an 8.17 average finish, putting together one of the strongest regular seasons of his career.
Team Penske has led 807 laps over the last five races and won three of the last four after winning only once in the first 19 races.
Three 23-year-old drivers—Ty Gibbs, Carson Hocevar and Corey Heim—have earned their first Cup victories in 2026, matching the combined total of first-time winners from 2023-25.
The last seven races have been decided by less than one second, tied for the longest such streak since electronic scoring began in 1993.
Joey Logano has four top-five finishes in his last six New Hampshire races, led a race-high 147 laps last year, scored stage points in his last seven New Hampshire stages, and has won two of the last four races, including Richmond.
Ryan Blaney is defending the New Hampshire winner and won at Phoenix this season, another flat one-mile oval. New Hampshire is one of five tracks where he has a Cup victory.
Christopher Bell has won two of the last four New Hampshire races, three top-two finishes in six Cup starts, and four-for-four in NASCAR O'Reilly Series starts. JGR has won three of the last four New Hampshire races.
Ty Gibbs has never finished better than 26th at New Hampshire, has never led a lap at the track, and his 26.0 average finish is his worst at any Cup track.
Alex Bowman has his best New Hampshire finish at ninth in 14 starts, only one career top-10 at the track, and has scored stage points just three times in 16 opportunities. Chevrolet has won only once in the last 19 races.
Josh Berry finished top-three in both New Hampshire Cup starts, was the runner-up in last year's race, has a 2.5 average finish which is his best at any Cup track, and has three consecutive top-10 finishes entering New Hampshire.
Chase Briscoe has five top-fives in his last seven races, won at Chicagoland, and has three consecutive top-10s at New Hampshire. Joe Gibbs Racing has won three of the last four New Hampshire races.
Saturday's Mohegan Sun 100 marks the 78th NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway since 1990, with Mike McLaughlin winning the inaugural event. Mike Stefanik leads all Modified Tour drivers with eight New Hampshire victories, while 25 different drivers have reached Victory Lane at “The Magic Mile.”
Tyler Rypkema is the defending race winner after a wild finish last year that saw him crash across the finish line following contact with Justin Bonsignore.
Ryan Preece headlines the entry list and will make his second Modified Tour start of 2026. The NASCAR Cup Series driver is a 2021 New Hampshire Modified Tour winner.
Ryan Newman will make his third Modified Tour start of the season. The 18-time Cup Series winner has two Modified Tour victories at New Hampshire.
Justin Bonsignore, a three-time Loudon winner, returns in the No. 51 Ken Massa Motorsports entry, while Luke Baldwin will pilot the No. 7 owned by his father, Tommy Baldwin Jr.
Patrick Emerling enters as the Modified Tour championship leader and seeks his first points-paying victory at New Hampshire, while defending series champion Austin Beers searches for his first win of the season and first at Loudon.
Other notable entries include Matt Hirschman, Andy Seuss, Eric Goodale, Mike Christopher Jr., Jon McKennedy, Craig Lutz, Paulie Hartwig III, Anthony Nocella, Stephen Kopcik, Chase Dowling and Ronnie Williams.
Next Race: Dollar Tree 301 from New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Sunday, August 23rd | 3:00 p.m. ET | USA Network)
New England’s only NASCAR weekend is Aug. 21-23 at NHMS. On-track action kicks off Friday with practice and qualifying for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) plus SIG SAUER Academy Dirt Duels at The Flat Track.
The action continues on Doubleheader Saturday with the Team EJP 175 NCTS race and the Mohegan Sun 100 NWMT race following NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) practice and qualifying. The on-track action culminates Sunday with the Dollar Tree 301 NCS race.
Don’t miss all of the exciting off-track entertainment including the “The Magic Mile” Happy Hour Show, Trackside Live, The Groove fan hangout, concerts from Everybody Wants Some and Tim Dugger, Family Movie Night featuring “Zootopia 2,” driver appearances, fireworks and much more.
