The next stop on the Nextel Cup schedule is New Hampshire International Raceway

Next week, NASCAR Nextel Cup teams head to the Northeast’s largest sports arena, New Hampshire International Speedway, NIS. NHIS is a challenging, flat 1,058-mile oval track that gathers 100,000 fans in seats annually. The friendly residents of New Hampshire, who live by the state creed of “Live Free or Die” are huge NASCAR fans, flocking to watch their favorite drivers cheat death.

The mile-long oval with its low cant turns can be considered a close relative of Martinsville Speedway. Like Martinsville, NIS racing offers hard braking and cornering overtaking, but with the added benefit of a second grove. Drivers push their cars and each other to the limit as they jostle for position and sometimes “lean” each other for support.

Of all current drivers with 2 or more career starts at New Hampshire, Denny Hamlin has an average finish in fifth place, leading the pack.

Other drivers to consider:

Jeff Burton – Average finish of 10th

Jeff Gordon – Average Finish 11th

Matt Kenseth – Average finish 11th place

Ryan Newman – Average finish 12th

Juan Pablo Montoya captures first Nextel Cup win

As many predicted, Juan Pablo Montoya’s first Nextel Cup victory came at the Sonoma Speedway. And unlike Montoya’s first NASCAR victory, which came in Busch’s race in Mexico, he escaped without making any new enemies.

Although he had no challenges in the end, Juan’s victory was not easy. Starting 32, Juan had to pass road course aces Boris Said, Ron Fellows and Robby Gordon, among other top-level drivers, to claim the lead. And like most road racing, it all came down to fuel strategy. After being warned by his team in the final laps that the car would be 2 laps on fuel, Juan took care of it by shifting late and slipping as much as possible. When the checkered flag flew, Montoya was running on fumes that lacked enough fuel to do the customary burnout.

The Colombian citizen is the first foreign national since 1974 and the second non-US citizen to win the NASCAR Cup series. This victory is huge not only for the Montoya and Ganassi races, but also for NASCAR as it seeks to establish itself as the most popular racing series in the world.

It’s also important to note that Montoya’s victory is also the first for Dodge this season and the first manufacturer, other than Chevrolet, to win a Car of Tomorrow race.

What awaits Hendrick?

The big story this week in NASCAR will be the penalties that NASCAR decides to award to the teams of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Both drivers’ cars were found to have out-of-specification front fenders. Or was it them?

That’s the main point of contention Hendrick-owned teams have voiced since NASCAR first inspected the cars. In NASCAR inspection, templates are placed on the car body in key locations. To pass the body inspection, the car must match the template. With the old body style, before COT, teams were able to manipulate the fenders between template locations, and this is what the team leaders for cars 24 and 48 claimed they did.

With the Car of Tomorrow, NASCAR has decided to clamp down on fender tampering. But, as is customary in NASCAR, they prefer to add as much ambiguity to the mix as possible. Rather than go out and say very clearly that fenders cannot be tampered with between squad points, they would rather make an example of team fighting for every competitive advantage they can get.

For the good of all Cup teams, NASCAR needs to write a clearly defined set of rules for the new Cars of Tomorrow. After all, it took NASCAR seven years to develop the COT; you’d think they’d have an idea of ​​what should be legal versus illegal by now.

Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway

For much of Sunday’s race, it would have been foolish to pick someone other than Robby Gordon to win the race. For almost the entire race, Robby had the best car on the field. Robby’s top-tier road racing skills alongside a superior team is almost comparable to seeing Michael Jordon in his NBA prime playing against an average college basketball team.

However, the only thing Robby didn’t accomplish on Sunday was his fuel strategy. Having to pit at the end of the race, Gordon was dragged deep into the field and could not recover. This left drivers Juan Pablo Montoya, Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick fighting for victory.

In the final laps, of the three drivers, Harvick was the only driver sure of being able to reach the finish on fuel. Both McMurray and Montoya were told they would have a few laps to go. Deciding not to force the inevitable, Harvick leaned back in third place, expecting to see the other two run slowly. But how does the old saying go? Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, and never assume that the two main cars will run out of gas and you will inherit the victory. Had Harvick charged, he could have taken Montoya’s place in victory lane.

Other drivers to consider:

Jeff Gordon started at the back of the field after failing NASCAR inspection. In order for the four-time former champion to get to the front, he had to use a clever pit strategy. In the end, Gordon finished seventh and is now 271 points ahead of second driver Denny Hamlin.

Denny Hamlin has shown his solid road racing skills in his brief tenure at NASCAR’s highest level. Perhaps having Tony Stewart as a teammate doesn’t hurt, but this young talent is already proving that he is one of the best drivers in NASCAR. Hamlin finished in tenth place.

Jimmie Johnson had to overcome the same obstacles as his teammate Jeff Gordon after being sent to the rear of the group for failing his inspection. The reigning champion rallied to finish 17th and is now 3rd in points.

Matt Kenseth proved again that road courses are not his friends. The normally consistent top 10 driver finished in lousy 34th place. Kenseth now ranks fourth in points, 433 behind the leader.

Dale Earnhardt Jr proved that he is a dominant force to be reckoned with when it comes to playing EA Sports NASCAR Thunder. Jr uses the video game as a tool to help him prepare for the road courses of the circuit. Dale ran in front for most of the day after qualifying in 3rd position. He finished 13th and maintained his grip on the coveted 12th position in points.