New Hampshire A Crucial First Stop On Chase Schedule

The 2009 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins in New England, travels to both coasts, and ends in South Florida.

Drama dogs each step, but it doesn’t wait until teams settle in.

New Hampshire, site of Sunday’s Sylvania 300, has produced as many plotlines at the start as later Chase events, and doing well at New Hampshire — or not — usually carries forth.

“I don’t really think you can pick that out,” said top-seeded Mark Martin of favorites. “I mean, the Chase is anyone’s to win and anyone’s to lose. All of these teams got in here because they’re good. And all it takes is a stretch of 10 good races to win this. I think any of these 12 teams could win it.”

But Chase hopes can be twisted or expanded at the tricky, 1.058-mile oval. Take last year, when Greg Biffle, then the ninth seed, won the first two Chase races at New Hampshire to establish himself as a contender.

He’s the 12th seed this year (5,000 points), but trails top seeded Mark Martin (5.040 points) by only 40 points as opposed to 2008, when then-top seeded Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M’s Toyota) began with 5,080 points.

“I’m excited about it because if I win the first two races, I’ll be leading the points this year,” said Biffle, “instead of last year I won the first two and I still wasn’t. It’s pretty tight. Forty points, that’s reachable in a couple of races.”

More proof that New Hampshire’s Chase race makes a big difference:

2004 — In the Chase’s first year, eventual series champion Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge) led off with a New Hampshire win. He didn’t win again during the Chase, but gathered enough momentum to beat series runner-up Jimmie Johnson by eight points after the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

2005 — In a reverse of fortune, Busch encountered immediate trouble (and a 34th-place finish) in the first Chase race at New Hampshire. Meanwhile, eventual champion Tony Stewart finished second, beginning a run of seven top 10s that helped seal his second series title.

2007 — Then-second-year driver Clint Bowyer (No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet), considered by many as a Chase afterthought, won his first series race in the first Chase race at New Hampshire to establish himself as a contender. He finished third in the final standings that year.

2008 — Top-seeded Kyle Busch got off to a tough start right away. He finished 34th at New Hampshire, encountered more on-track trouble the next week at Dover International Speedway and finished 10th in the final standings