It’s time to cut her loose! The chase field is set, the points have been re-set and all the agendas point towards one common goal: victory lane. If what we’ve seen on Friday is any indication- whether you’re racing for a championship, racing for a job or racing for respect- the restraints are off and it’s "git ‘er done" time.
The Sylvania 300 is the first race of the 2009 chase, set for Sunday, September 20, 2009 with green flag start at 2:15 PM Eastern, 11:15 PM Pacific. The race runs 300 laps for an actual distance of just over 317 miles.
TRACK FACTS
New Hampshire International Speedway has been host to NASCAR Cup racing since July 11, 1993. Rusty Wallace took the 
checkered flag that day. The track has run two dates a year since 1997.
It’s interesting to note that NHIS shares similar characteristics to Richmond, where the Sprint Cup ran last week. Some drivers have brought the same car to New Hampshire that they ran last week.
The track measures 1.058 miles in length, a kind of "paper clip" type oval, a "maxi zoomed" Martinsville if you will. There’s two and seven degrees of banking in the turns, and one degree on the 1,500 straightaways.
Grandstand seating for new Hampshire is 93,521.
TOP PERFORMANCES
In June, Joey Logano won his first career Cup race, a rain-shortened affair in which Jeff Gordon was runner-up. Logano ran an average speed of just over 97 miles per hour. Greg Biffle won at New Hampshire this time last year.
Jeff Burton sets the NHIS standard for wins with 4. Jeff Gordon has three victories, Kurt Busch owns 3 here.
Ryan Newman is the "King Of Poles" with 4. Until Friday, he also held the record qualifying lap.
Let the record show that Juan Pablo Montoya holds a new record for a New Hampshire qualifying laps with a speed of 133.431 miles per hour in a time of 28.545 seconds.
The race record is held by Jeff Burton, set on July 13, 1997 in the running of the Jiffy Lube 300. His speed? 117.134 miles per hour in 2 hours, 42 minutes, and 35 seconds.
There were a course record 23 lead changes on two occasions. The most recent was the July 21, 2002 New England 300 won by Ward Burton. There was only one lead change- and that came on September 17, 2000- in a race won by his little brother Jeff.
A record 17 caution flags flew on July 10, 1994. The fewest occurred on July 13, 1997, as only 2 came out that day.
All 43 drivers finished the race in the Fall of 2007. In the Fall of 2000, just 17 finished.
WHERE TO TUNE IN
Race coverage on ABC’s NASCAR Countdown will kick off at 1 pm Eastern, 10 am Pacific Sunday. Allen Bestwick, Tim Brewer, Brad Daugherty and Rusty Wallace are your hosts.
SPEED’s race day pre-race show starts at 11 am Eastern, 10 am out west. John Roberts, Jimmy Spencer and Kenny Wallace handle announcing duties.
Race coverage on ABC starts at 2 pm Eastern, 11 am Pacific. Dr. Jerry Punch, Andy Petree and Dale Jarrett call the action. Down in the pits, Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Shannon Spake provide updates.
Radio coverage is offered on Performance Racing Network (PRN) and XM Sirius Satellite.
WHO WILL WIN?
he schackles are off. The chasers all start off NASCAR’s playoff on relatively equal footing. The adage here could be modified to "You can’t win the Chase in September, but you sure can lose one." Just ask Kyle Busch, who went into a tail spin at the worst time last year. In other words, you don’t want to race yourself into a bad finish, but all that pressure to get into the chase is off and you’ve got a ticket to ride, go for it.
Juan Pablo Montoya is mounted on a mean horse. Not only was he fastest in practice, he set a track qualifying record. The former open wheel ace is a hard charger, so you know he’s got to be eager to get back into speed merchant mode.
Kyle Busch is free for some fun, but for different reasons. He missed the chase, so now he can just go for wins, with really nothing else on the line. Shrub posted a top ten qualifying effort and a top ten practice speed. RCR’s Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer are in the same boat. Harvick has won here before and he’s sporting a smile again, coming off of two good finishes. Clint Bowyer was third fastest in Friday practice.
You also can’t go wrong with some of the old stand-by’s. Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch start out on solid footing, as does tony Stewart. He’s outside pole, and if you know that he’s not much on qualifying, then you’ve got to figure he’s ready for a rebound race. All three are past NHIS winners, all three ran top 10s in qualifying and they were all three good in practice. All three are also in the chase. Draw your own conclusions.
Others headed for new team environs next year have also looked sharp. David Stremme, who has no prospects we know of yet for next year, qualified well, as did Martin Truex Jr. and Bobby Labonte. The 2000 champion is in the TRG Chevy and he racked up a top ten on the starting grid.
Then there are guys you don’t count out anywhere these days,regardless of how they looked off the truck. Jimmie Johnson must always be accounted for, and the same can be said of Kasey Kahne.
Another such racer is the one I’m picking to win. Denny Hamlin is one of the hottest drivers on the circuit right now, with the wind at his back. On top of his recent accomplishments, D.H. has an average finish at New Hampshire of 8.3. He’s almost always a sure thing on the flat tracks, and qualifying fourth, he doesn’t have far to go to get up front.
I really like Smoke’s chances in this race, as I do Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon and Juan Pablo Montoya. But Denny Hamlin? He’s on a roll and it doesn’t end at this stop.
PHOTO CREDITS- 42 car by Todd Warshaw/ Getty Images. Kurt Busch and Pat Tryson by Jason Smith/ Getty Images. Denny Hamlin and Mike Ford by Jason Smith/ Getty Images.
