NASCAR Cup Series News & Notes – New Hampshire Motor Speedway

NASCAR Cup Series

Next Race: Mobil 1 301
The Place: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Track Length: 1.058 Mile Asphalt Oval
The Date: Sunday, September 21
The Time: 2 p.m. ET
The Purse: $9,797,935
TV: USA, 1:30 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 318.46 miles (301 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 70),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 185), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 301)

Where To Watch NASCAR This Week:

Friday, Sept. 19

NCTS Practice & Kennametal Pole Qualifying (FS2 at 4 p.m. ET)

Friday, Sept. 20

NCTS Race: Team EJP 175 (FS1, NRN, SiriusXM at 12 p.m. ET)

NCS Practice & Busch Light Pole Qualifying (truTV, PRN, SiriusXM at 3 p.m. ET)

Sunday, Sept. 21

NCS Race: Mobil 1 301 (USA, PRN, SiriusXM at 2 p.m. ET)

New Hampshire Storylines and Insights:

• This weekend marks the 58th running of a NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
• New Hampshire hosted one race annually between 1993-96, then two races per year between 1997-2017 before returning to one race in 2018.
• This is the 15th time New Hampshire hosted a Playoff race, but it is the first time since 2017.
• The track hosted the opening round of the Playoffs between 2004-2010 and was the second race in the Round of 16 between 2014-2017.
• New Hampshire Motor Speedway is one of eight different tracks to host the fourth race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, alongside Talladega Superspeedway (2006, 2007, 2008, 2012), Auto Club Speedway (2009, 2010), Charlotte Motor Speedway (2015, 2016, 2017), Dover Motor Speedway (2018, 2019), Las Vegas Motor Speedway (2020, 2021), Texas Motor Speedway (2022-2023) and Kansas Speedway (2004, 2005, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2024).
• A total of 17 different drivers have won the fourth race in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
• NASCAR Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson leads the series in victories in the fourth race of the Playoffs with three postseason wins (2009, 2011, 2016). Joey Logano leads all active drivers with two wins (2014, 2015).
• Ten different drivers have won the last 10 Playoff Round of 12 openers (2015-2024).
• Four times a non-Playoff driver has won the fourth race in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs: 2004 (Joe Nemechek, Kansas), 2006 (Brian Vickers, Talladega), 2022 (Tyler Reddick, Texas), 2024 (Ross Chastain, Kansas).
• Christopher Bell won this race last after NASCAR decided to wait out a 2:14:49 red flag for rain to go back racing with wet weather tires, Bell led the final 64 laps and won the race that ended at 8:10 after he was 9th on the last lap on slicks (the fastest lap on slicks was 30.032 seconds by Chase Elliott on Lap 3, fastest on wets was 31.565 seconds by Josh Berry on Lap 299)
• Four of the last nine New Hampshire winners got their first win of the season.
• In the Next Gen era, Toyota won all three races, all six stages and led 83% of the laps at New Hampshire.
• Last year’s New Hampshire race had the track’s first overtime finish since September 2014 (12 races between).
• Five drivers earned their first Cup win at New Hampshire, most recently Joey Logano in June 2009.
• The driver starting first won once in the last 20 New Hampshire Cup races (Kyle Busch – September 2017).
• Chevrolet leads all makes with 19 wins at New Hampshire but won only one of the last 18 races there.
• New Hampshire is the only track where William Byron doesn’t have a top-10 finish (best finish in seven starts is 11th twice, most recently 07/22).
• Christopher Bell won two of the last three New Hampshire races.
• Only five entered drivers are New Hampshire Cup winners: Kyle Busch-3, Denny Hamlin-3, Joey Logano-2, Brad Keselowski-2 and Christopher Bell-2.
• Joe Gibbs Racing had at least one car finish in the top-2 in the last 13 races at New Hampshire, the longest streak by a team ever at any track in Cup.
• The last eight races of 2025 were won by eight different drivers.
• Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin lead all drivers in 2025 with 12 top-five finishes.
• Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell lead all drivers in 2025 with 16 top-10 finishes.
• The driver leading the most laps won five of the last seven races of 2025.
• Toyota led 78% of the laps in the 2025 Playoffs and won all three races.
• Chevrolet only has two top fives in the 2025 Playoffs.
• All 12 drivers to advance to the Round of 12 have made it to the Round of 12 prior, nine of the 12 have raced in the Championship 4.
• All four Championship 4 drivers from 2024 are still Playoff eligible: Blaney, Byron, Logano and Reddick.
• Austin Cindric advanced to the Round of 12 with 2,066 points, the lowest total ever to move on from the Round of 16.
• Chase Briscoe was the only Playoff driver to finish inside the top-10 in all three Playoff races, the first time a single driver was the only one to do so in the first round.
• Joe Gibbs Racing is the first team to sweep all three races in the first round of the Playoffs and the first team since 2015 to sweep all three races in a round.
• Two drivers overcame a deficit in the first round – Tyler Reddick (-1 to start Round of 16) and Joey Logano (-3 after race 1).
• Only one driver missed the Round of 12 from above the cutline – Shane van Gisbergen – the fewest ever in the first round.
•  Playoff drivers averaged 25 points per race in the first round, the lowest of any round in Playoff history.
• There were 31 cautions in the first round, the most ever.
• The first round had 75 lead changes among 33 different leaders, both first round records.
• The most points a driver has started above the cutline and failed to move on to the Round of 8 is Kyle Larson in 2017, +26.
• The most points a driver has started below the cutline and moved on to the Round of 8 is Aric Almirola in 2018, -12.
• The average total points for the last advancer from the Round of 12 since 2017 is 3,105.
• Both drivers making their first Cup Playoff appearances were eliminated following Bristol (Shane van Gisbergen, Josh Berry).
• Three of the drivers that rank in the top-six in average finish in the first three races of the 2025 Playoffs are non-Playoff drivers.
• Chase Briscoe’s 451 laps led in the 2025 playoffs is the third most all-time through three playoff races behind Harvick with 581 in 2015 and Larson with 462 in 2024.

NCS Clinch Scenarios for New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Playoff Race #4):

Already Clinched

• No drivers have clinched a spot in the 8-driver field of the next round.

Can Clinch Via Win

• The following drivers would clinch on their win alone: Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick.

Historical & Significant Events at New Hampshire Motor Speedway:

• New Hampshire Motor Speedway was built at the site of the former Bryar Motorsports Park. It is the largest sporting venue in New England at over 1,100 acres and seating for over 92,000.
• New Hampshire Motor Speedway is 75 miles north of Boston, 42 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean and 250 miles from Montreal.
• Bryar Motorsports Park opened as a kart track in 1960. A 1/5 mile dirt oval ran near the later paved tracks from 1961 to 1963; it was also referred to as Route 106 Midway Raceway. The 1.6 mile road course ran cars from 1964 to 1988, and motorcycles only in 1989. A paved 1/5 mile oval ran from 1965 through 1988, and a 5/8 mile paved oval from 1968 through 1988. A 1/4 mile paved drag strip operated in the 1970s.
• Bob Bahre purchased Bryar in 1989. The existing complex was dismantled and the one mile paved oval and 1.6 mile paved road course were built with much of the work done by Bob Bahre and his brother Dick.  After just nine months of construction the oval successfully opened on July 15th, 1990, with a Xfinity Series race won by Tommy Ellis over Harry Gant.
• The road course opened in 1991.
• The first NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was on July 11th, 1993 and was won by Team Penske driver Rusty Wallace over pole winner Mark Martin.
• In the early years drivers and fans complained about the problems with the track surface and the lack of a passing zone. In 2002 NHIS widened the lower turn areas between turns 1 and 2 and between turns 3 and 4 to create a second groove that would make for safer, more exciting racing. The banking was changed from 12 degrees to 2-7 degrees. Then in June cracks were found, and Bob Bahre was forced to fix the problems with just three weeks for the surface to cure before the first Cup race. Many said there was not enough time before the heavy Cup cars scheduled for July.  During the July Cup race marbles built up in turns 3 and 4. Several drivers blamed the marbles for causing most of the 14 caution flags.
• In 2003 turns 1 and 2 and turns 3 and 4 were repaved; they paved into the straightaways so the transition will be ‘squared and even’ and not angled. The asphalt was mined in Trinidad and then shaped into pellets in Germany before it was shipped to the US to be melted and combined with an aggregate. Drivers praised the track surface after the initial event on the repaved track.
• After years of speculation that the track was for sale Speedway Motorsports bought the track for $340 million in 2008. Since then, many changes and improvements have taken place including the expansion of the usable infield space by over 400%, new and enhanced safety fencing, new shower and restroom facilities, a new electronic scoreboard, leveling (evening) of the walls between pit road and the pit area, moved the Cup Series to the center garage, and added a new pedestrian sidewalk through the Turn 2 tunnel.
• In addition to the NASCAR Cup races, the track hosts several other racing series, including the NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. The track also hosts the New England based ACT late model series, PASS north series, Loudon Road Race Series, SCCA sports cars, Legend and Bandolero cars, World Karting Association go-karts and racing schools.
• Starting in 2018 NHMS held only one Cup race, their second date was transferred to Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
• Over 2,000 Dunkin Donuts stores are located in the New England; a quarter of all of their stores.
• Since 2010, NASCAR Cup Series winners have been presented with a trophy lobster in their Victory Lane celebration. But this isn’t just your average lobster. It’s gargantuan and ranges in size from 20-26 pounds
• It takes approximately seven years for a lobster to reach 1 pound in size and can reach a maximum age of 100 years and grow to be 3 feet or more in overall body length.