FYI WIRZ: NASCAR’s top Chasers ready to catch a win at Loudon

The Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire presented by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the second of the 10-race playoffs—The Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Author: Dwight Drum racetake.com

Fans not in the stands can view the race on the 1.058-mile oval at 2.p.m. Sunday on ESPN.

When NASCAR reset the points this time for the Chase, the new point system which is stingy with numbers seemed to have a meager effect on the top 12 positions. Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick landed at the top each with four wins in the regular season. Jeff Gordon with two wins in third place was only three points out and the last place held by Denny Hamlin with one win was only 12 points back.

Ryan Newman summed up the numbers.

“First to 12th, doesn’t seem there’s that much of a reward for winning in the pre-season I guess you could say,” Newman said. “It is what it is and everybody has to deal with the same rules. I think it’s fine the way it is and we’ll go on.”

In the past a poor finish caused by crashes, mechanical problems or lack of fuel sent contenders to the bottom of the pack quickly. The method of calculating points doesn’t seem to change that plunge. A quick drop happened to Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin in Chicago.

A repeat of poor results in the first few races will likely doom any championship thoughts.
The New Hampshire race will be crucial for some with weak point totals, but just about any drop to the back before the last lap will have troubling consequences.

The top-five in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. talked about the second race in the Chase at Loudon.

Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Chevrolet)

“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,” Harvick said. “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 Chevrolet)

“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,” Stewart said. “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.

“I enjoy racing there even though it is hard to pass.”

Carl Edwards (No. 99 Ford)

“We ran really well at Richmond so I’m pretty excited about racing at New Hampshire, Edwards said. “I was nervous about it until that Richmond run. Hopefully we can run that well at New Hampshire. If we were to win there it would be huge for Roush Fenway, for the Chase and for me personally to win a Cup race at one of my toughest tracks.”

Kurt Busch (No. 22 Dodge)

“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,” Busch said. “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.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No.88 Chevrolet)

“I like Loudon,” Earnhardt said. “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.”

FYI WIRZ is the select presentation of topics by Dwight Drum @ Racetake.com.

Unless otherwise noted, quotes and information were obtained from official release materials provided by NASCAR and team representatives.

Author: Dwight Drum racetake.com