Motor Racing Digest

Posted by: Candice Corrigan, follow @candicecorrigan

July 13, 2012

Date: Sunday, July 15, 2012

Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway —Loudon, N.H.

Time: 1 p.m. ET

Distance: 301 laps/318.46 miles

Broadcast: TV- TNT with coverage beginning at noon ET

Radio: Performance Racing Network (PRN) or Sirius XM Channel 90

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rolls far up the east coast this weekend to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the 19th race of the season. The pressure to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is on with only eight races remaining on the road to Richmond, where the Chase field will be set.

Drivers who currently have a win and are in the top-10 in points will likely try to play it safe this weekend to remain in a comfortable position going into the next few weeks. Those looking in from the outside will be going for the win in an attempt to break through the top-10 or clinch a “wild card” position.

For drivers like Clint Bowyer, a solid finish this weekend could help him maintain a place in the top-10 in points but a poor run could put him on the outside, fighting for a “wild card” spot. Earlier in the week, he discussed how the different philosophies among the chase contenders will play out this weekend.

“Well, there are certainly guys on that bubble trying to race their way in that don’t have anything to lose,” said Bowyer. “They’re probably not going to be able to race their way in on points, and the only way to get in is to win.  So they’ll be throwing some gambles out there.”

These gambles could come in the form of stretching fuel mileage, opting for different set-ups and staying out on older tires. Unlike last week’s free-for-all at Daytona, having the best car and running up front will be important to finishing well on the nearly flat track this weekend.

Ryan Newman is familiar with starting and finishing up front at New Hampshire. He won from the pole in last year’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 and won the pole in September at NHMS. Newman will start sixth on Sunday and could take hold of the second “wild card” position with a good finish or a win this weekend. He remains fifteenth in points, trailing Joey Logano by one point for the second “wild card” position.

Kyle Busch will lead the field to green on Sunday after winning the pole in qualifying on Friday with a time of 28.548 sec. at 133.417 mph. “Wild card” contender Kasey Kahne will start on the outside pole, followed by Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. Currently in the eighth position in points with no wins, Truex could really use a win this weekend to help solidify his chase bid.

Complete Qualifying Results for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire

POS	CAR	DRIVER	MAKE	SPONSOR	SPEED	TIME	BEHIND
1	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	Interstate Batteries	133.417	28.548	Leader
2	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	HendrickCars.com	133.403	28.551	-0.003
3	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	FedEx Office	133.399	28.552	-0.004
4	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	NAPA Batteries	133.338	28.565	-0.017
5	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	5-hour Energy	133.319	28.569	-0.021
6	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	Aspen Dental	133.277	28.578	-0.030
7	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe’s	133.254	28.583	-0.035
8	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	Pepsi Max	133.198	28.595	-0.047
9	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	National Guard ‘An American Salute’ / Diet Mountain Dew	133.045	28.628	-0.080
10	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Mobil 1	132.938	28.651	-0.103
11	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	3M	132.873	28.665	-0.117
12	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Budweiser Folds of Honor	132.868	28.666	-0.118
13	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	Quaker State / Menards	132.572	28.730	-0.182
14	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	Phoenix Construction Services	132.549	28.735	-0.187
15	55	Brian Vickers	Toyota	MyClassicGarage.com / Aaron’s	132.425	28.762	-0.214
16	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	Dollar General	132.425	28.762	-0.214
17	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	Furniture Row / Farm American	132.393	28.769	-0.221
18	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	Kingsford	132.333	28.782	-0.234
19	34	David Ragan	Ford	MHP / 8 Hour Alert	132.264	28.797	-0.249
20	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	DEWALT	132.200	28.811	-0.263
21	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Fastenal / Lenox	132.186	28.814	-0.266
22	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	Miller Lite	132.085	28.836	-0.288
23	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	U.S. Air Force	131.833	28.891	-0.343
24	22	Sam Hornish Jr.	Dodge	Shell / Pennzoil-AAA	131.556	28.952	-0.404
25	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	Wheaties	131.465	28.972	-0.424
26	10	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	CarportEmpire.com / TMone.com Call Centers in America	131.266	29.016	-0.468
27	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	NESN	131.234	29.023	-0.475
28	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops / NRA Museum	131.234	29.023	-0.475
29	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	Burger King / Dr Pepper	131.184	29.034	-0.486
30	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	Burger King / Dr Pepper	130.833	29.112	-0.564
31	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	Target	130.662	29.150	-0.602
32	26	Josh Wise*	Ford	MDS Transport	130.140	29.267	-0.719
33	13	Casey Mears	Ford	GEICO	129.834	29.336	-0.788
34	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves	129.807	29.342	-0.794
35	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	Golden Corral	129.679	29.371	-0.823
36	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	Phil Parsons Racing	129.525	29.406	-0.858
37	32	Ken Schrader	Ford	Federated Auto Parts	129.318	29.453	-0.905
38	249	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	Robinson-Blak-eney Racing	129.274	29.463	-0.915
39	38	David Gilliland	Ford	Glory Foods	129.156	29.490	-0.942
40	30	David Stremme	Toyota	Stock Car Steel and Aluminum	129.094	29.504	-0.956
41	23	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	North Texas Pipe	128.863	29.557	-1.009
42	179	Kelly Bires	Ford	Team Kyle / Bestway Disposal	128.515	29.637	-1.089
43	33	Stephen Leicht*	Chevrolet	Little JoesAutos.com	128.182	29.714	-1.166
Did Not Qualify
44	119	Mike Bliss	Toyota	Humphrey Smith Racing	128.070	29.740	-1.192