NASCAR Cup Series At New Hampshire: What To Watch For

LOUDON, N.H. — The NASCAR Cup Series makes its annual stop at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday for the USA TODAY 301.

Locked In

After an up-and-down start to the season, Ryan Blaney finally broke through for his first win of the season last week in the inaugural race at Iowa Speedway.

Blaney dominated, winning the opening stage and leading 201 laps en route to his 11th career victory. It’s his first win since the Round of 8 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in October, a triumph that ultimately led to his series title at Phoenix Raceway a week later.

The 30-year-old started the 2024 season with three top fives in the first four races before enduring a difficult stretch beginning at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. He finished outside the top 10 in nine of the next 11 races, capped off with a heartbreaker at World Wide Technology Raceway. Leading with two laps to go, Blaney ran out of fuel and finished 24th while Team Penske teammate Austin Cindric went on to win and steal a playoff spot.

Blaney sits seventh in driver’s points.

New Points Leader

The revolving door of points leaders in the Cup Series made another swing over the weekend.

Chase Elliott took the lead in driver’s points, pacing Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson by eight. Elliott finished third while Larson, the previous leader, suffered damage in a crash after contact with Daniel Suarez. He ended up finishing 34th after winning the second stage.

Elliott has the best average finish in the series at 9.1. He hasn’t finished worse than 19th all season and has completed all but one lap. 

The Dawsonville, Ga. native is the third different points leader in as many weeks. Denny Hamlin led for two weeks after Larson missed the Coca-Cola 600 to participate in the Indianapolis 500.

Martin’s Magic

On a Monday afternoon because of weather, Martin Truex Jr. led 254 of 301 laps to win last year in Loudon – a race he’s yearned to win his entire career. Truex grew up watching his father race in the northeast and also had a successful Busch North Series career himself.

Before finally breaking through with a victory, Truex dominated several times at the 1.058-mile oval before different circumstances derailed his races. He led 80 or more laps seven times before the 2023 race but it somehow never resulted in a trip to victory lane. In 2022, he paced a career-high 172 laps before a two-tire call went awry.

Since that muggy July day last year, Truex has been winless. He won the 2023 regular-season title before a tumultuous playoff run resulted in an exit in the Round of 12. This year, he has seven top 10s in 17 starts and sits fifth in points.

Last weekend, Truex announced he’ll be retiring from the Cup Series at season’s end. Does he have a little more New Hampshire magic up his sleeve to clinch a playoff spot?

Double Duty For Bell

One of the best to do it at “The Magic Mile” has two shots at victories this weekend.

Christopher Bell will run double duty for Joe Gibbs Racing, piloting the organization’s No. 20 Xfinity entry in addition to his Cup Series duties.

In four Cup races at Loudon, Bell has a win in 2022 and a runner-up the year before that. He had one of the best cars last year after winning the pole, but a series of issues on pit road and a late spin took away his chances of going back-to-back.

In Xfinity, no pressure – he’s never lost. Bell’s three for three with his most recent triumph coming back in 2021. Of 600 possible laps, he’s led 430.

Through 17 Cup races this year, Bell sits eighth in points with two victories. He won the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 last month at Charlotte Motor Speedway as well as at Phoenix Raceway in March. 

Race Information

Sunday’s race is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network. The forecast calls for a chance of thunderstorms throughout the entire weekend.

Stage breaks are after laps 70 and 185. The purse is $7,876,911.