CUP: Hamlin, Johnson Tops To Watch This Week

Sprint Cup

CUP: Hamlin, Johnson Tops To Watch This Week

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series travels to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this week for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301...

Tom Jensen | Posted June 25, 2009 Loudon, NH

Denny Hamlin will make a rare NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start at Pocono Raceway later this month. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series travels to Loudon, N.H., this week for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, race No. 17 of 26 in NASCAR’s regular season.

This event also marks the so-called “race to the Chase,” the 10-race countdown prior to the start of NASCAR’s season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. And the points race right now is brutally tight, with a mere 140 markers separating eighth-place Greg Biffle from 16th-place Clint Bowyer. Only five of the nine drivers in those positions will ultimately make the Chase, and the field likely will start winnowing itself out even more this weekend.

NHMS is a 1.058-mile oval, which is essentially flat in the turns. Passing is at a premium here, so track position will be especially critical, as will how well the drivers negotiate the double-file restarts. The potential for calamity is high here.

Here are the top five drivers to watch this weekend:

Kurt Busch swept both races New Hampshire in 2004. (Photo: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

1. DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry Hamlin has had plenty of racing luck this year, almost all of it bad. But the Chesterfield, Va., native loves racing at NHMS, where his average finish of 7.167 is nearly three full positions better than anyone else in the race.

In six New Hampshire Cup starts, Hamlin has one victory, two top fives and five top 10s. In the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Hamlin has fared even better, with an average finish of 3.25 in four starts. In short, he takes names and kicks butts here and likely will do just that again on Sunday.

2. JIMMIE JOHNSON, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Impala SS Let’s face it, there aren’t too many places where the three-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion isn’t good. Every time the No. 48 takes the track, it seems, Johnson is a threat to win.

Even so, he’s especially good here at NHMS, where he has two victories and has come home in the top 10 in six of the last seven Cup races. Johnson finished in the runner-up spot here last fall and figures to give the competition fits again this time around.

3. KURT BUSCH, No. 2 Penske Championship Racing Dodge Charger Busch swept both races here in 2004, the second victory launching his championship run in the inaugural Chase for the Sprint Cup. The following June he was runner-up, but then Busch had a five-race NHMS stretch where he never finished better than 19th.

Last year, though, Busch got his New Hampshire mojo back in a big way, winning the rain-shortened June race and finishing sixth in the second race here. Although Busch has been inconsistent this season, when he is on, he is very, very good. Expect him to be on this weekend.

4. GREG BIFFLE, No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion Biffle was 0-for-2008 when his team unloaded at NHMS to kick off last year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup. But by the time the race was over, Biffle had his first victory here and the first of two in a row to open NASCAR’s playoff round.

But even before winning here the first time, Biffle had amassed a few good finishes at NHMS. He finished fifth, fourth and third in three consecutive races in 2005-06 and he seems to have adapted well to this track.

5. JEFF BURTON, No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet/JEFF GORDON, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. We’re going to call this one a tie. Burton has won four New Hampshire races, one more than Gordon and one more than any other driver. But Burton’s fourth-place here last fall was his only top-five New Hampshire finish in his previous 16 starts. His last win here was in 2001.

Gordon’s New Hampshire victory drought stretches back even further, all the way to 1998, in fact, although in 2007-08, he managed two runner-up finishes and one third place. And expect both these drivers to be tough again this weekend.

Overall, this race is likely to be decided on late-race track position — either by a mistake on pit road or on one of the double-file restarts in the closing laps.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

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