The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series moves to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the 28th race of the season, the Sylvania 300. NASCAR expert Brian Brown took a look at past performances, season trends, and spoke to NASCAR contacts to provide you the most accurate fantasy preview of Sunday’s race.
When: Sunday, September 21; 2:15 p.m./et.
Weather: Partly cloudy with high around 77; wind out of the SW at 12 mph. Chance of precipitation is 10%.
The Track: New Hampshire MotorSpeedway
NHMS is a 1.058 mile flat-oval. It has 12 degree banking on the corners with 2 degree banking on the straight-aways. Ryan Newman has been great at NHMS during his career. He earned his first career Nextel Cup victory at the track and has won two additional races at NHMS. Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Newman, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin (twice), Clint Bowyer, and Brian Vickers have won the past 12 races at the track.
Key to Race: THAT ISONE BIG PAPERCLIP
NHMS is basically a big version ofMartinsville. It is a mile long paperclip configuration with two long straight-aways with tight corners at the ends. This race is always hard on brakes and tires. The team that can figure out a setup that allows them to keep the brakes and tires fresh will have a big advantage. Look for Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch to have strong runs in Sunday’s race.
Qualifying Procedures:
43 cars will attempt to qualify for 43 spots.
Fantasy Cheat Sheet:
Top 5
No. 2 Brad Keselowski: Keselowski has been the hottest driver on the circuit the past month and NHMS is one of his best tracks. Use him in all leagues this weekend.
No. 4 Kevin Harvick: Harvick has 12 top 10 finishes in 27 career starts at NHMS. He dominated a similar track, Phoenix, this season.
No. 48 Jimmie Johnson: Johnson has finished in the top 15 in all but four of his 25 career Cup starts at NHMS. He won at the track in June of 2010 and is a great pick on Sunday.
No. 20 Matt Kenseth: Kenseth won at NHMS last fall. We love his chances to repeat this weekend.
No. 18 Kyle Busch: Rowdy has cracked the top 10 seven times in the past 16 races at NHMS. He will be back inside the top five this trip up Route 106.
6 to 10
No. 22 Joey Logano: Logano won his first career Cup race at NHMS. This is his home track and he has a lot of speed at the Magic Mile. Additionally, Joey was great at Richmond and Phoenix this year. Both are flat tracks like NHMS.
No. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Junior has finished in the top 10 in 12 of the last 23 races at NHMS.
No. 15 Clint Bowyer: Bowyer has dominated four of the last 13 races at NHMS. If he can bring a similar setup to the track this weekend he will be fast again.
No. 24 Jeff Gordon: Between 1997 and 2001 Gordon was easily the top driver at NHMS, but then the Rainbow Warrior went into a serious slump at the track. He has worked hard at his race setups at the Magic Mile and is once again a great option to take the checkers.
No. 31 Ryan Newman: In 24 Cup starts at the Magic Mile, Newman has 15 top 10 finishes, including three wins. He is a solid pick in most fantasy leagues.
11 to 20
No. 11 Denny Hamlin: Hamlin won the 2012 September race at NHMS and has finished in the top 10 in 11 of his last 17 Cup races at the track. He is a good pick on Sunday.
No. 5 Kasey Kahne: Kahne won the July 2012 race and has been fast the past few visits to NHMS. He is a good option this weekend.
No. 42 Kyle Larson: Larson was awesome earlier this summer at NHMS. He should be active in all leagues.
No. 14 Tony Stewart: Stewart has the top driver rating at NHMS the past nine years. He is a sneaky pick this weekend, if you trust his head is on the race.
No. 99 Carl Edwards: Carl has had one of the better cars at NHMS the past few years, but it hasn’t translated to a win. He will flirt with another top 10 finish this weekend.
No. 78 Martin Truex Jr.: Truex has five top eight finishes in the last 15 races at NHMS. This is the weekend to use the No. 78 driver.
No. 16 Greg Biffle: Biffle was very fast in six of the past 12 NHMS races. He should be blazing again this weekend.
No. 41 Kurt Busch: Busch has three career wins at NHMS including the July 2008 rain-shortened race. With his past success at the track he is worth taking a gamble on.
No. 43 Aric Almirola: Almirola has run plenty of laps at NHMS during his career. He finished fifth last summer at the track and should have the No. 43 right around the top 15 when the checkers fly in the Granite State.
No. 1 Jamie McMurray: McMurray has appeared to finally figure out NHMS’s tricky configuration the past few races race. He is a decent option.
21 to 30
No. 3 Austin Dillon: Dillon looked like a wily veteran in his first Cup start at NHMS. He is a worthy fantasy choice.
No. 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Stenhouse has driven decent on flat tracks during his career. He is always worth taking a chance on if you feel he can avoid getting caught up in a wreck with his girlfriend.
No. 55 Brian Vickers: Vickers shocked the NASCAR world when he won at NHMS last summer. He will be doing very well to notch a top 20 this visit to the track.
No. 47 A.J. Allmendinger: NHMS is a track that Dinger would prefer to skip. He isn’t an option.
No. 9 Marcos Ambrose: Ambrose averages a 22nd place finish at NHMS. Based on how he has run this season, he should cross the finish line just a little slower this visit.
No. 27 Paul Menard: NHMS has never been very kind to Menard. He isn’t much of a fantasy option this weekend.
No. 13 Casey Mears: Mears has had limited success at NHMS. We don’t like his chances to help your fantasy team this weekend.
No. 10 Danica Patrick: Patrick hasn’t used her past Indy car experience at NHMS to her advantage in Cup. Not an option.
No. 34 David Ragan: Ragan has been very inconsistent at NHMS. He should just make the top 30 again this weekend.
No. 38 David Gilliland: Gilliland notched a 24th place finish at NHMS earlier this year. There are worse options.
Field Fillers:
No. 26 Cole Whitt
No. 98 Josh Wise
No. 7 Michael Annett
No. 23 Alex Bowman
No. 36 Reed Sorenson
No. 40 Landon Cassill
No. 83 Ryan Truex
No. 51 Justin Allgaier
No. 33 David Stremme
No. 32 Timmy Hill
No. 66 Joe Nemechek
No. 77 Corey LaJoie
No. 93 Travis Kvapil
Brownie’s Picks
My Yahoo! Fantasy NASCAR Team for this Week:
B. Joey Logano
B. Ryan Newman
C. Kyle Larson
