The NASCAR Cup season reaches the halfway point with Sunday’s race at New Hampshire the 18th of 36 points races. USA Network will have all the coverage this weekend.
Ryan Blaney became the 10th driver to secure a playoff spot with his victory last weekend at Iowa Speedway. Six positions are available at this time on points.
Here’s a look at where things stand for each Cup organization entering this weekend.
23XI Racing — Good news: Bubba Wallace, who holds the final playoff spot, is one four active drivers to have placed in the top 10 in both New Hampshire races in the Next Gen car. Wallace was third in 2022 and 8th in 2023. The other three active drivers to have top 10s in both of those races are Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. … Tyler Reddick has started in the top 10 in each of the last five points races. Bad news: Wallace is one of two drivers in a playoff spot without any playoff points. The other is Alex Bowman.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Todd Gilliland’s 12th-place finish at Iowa marks his sixth consecutive top-20 finish — his longest such streak in his Cup career. … Michael McDowell has nine top-10 starts this season. He had eight such starts all of last year. Bad News: The organization has never had a top-10 finish at New Hampshire.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: Chase Elliott is leading the points for the first time since October 2022. … Elliott’s average finish this season is a series-best 9.1. … Kyle Larson has three runner-up finishes at New Hampshire. Bad news: Alex Bowman has only one top 10 in 12 Cup starts at New Hampshire. He is entered in the Xfinity race to get some extra laps at the track. … William Byron has never finished in the top 10 in six New Hampshire Cup starts. … Hendrick Motorsports’ last win at New Hampshire was in July 2012 by Kasey Kahne.
Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Martin Truex Jr. is the defending winner at New Hampshire. … Truex has won all four stages at New Hampshire in the Next Gen car. … JGR has had a car finish in the top two in the last 12 races at New Hampshire. The last time a JGR car did not finish first or second at New Hampshire was September 2014. … Denny Hamlin has finished first or second in nearly a third of his starts at New Hampshire. … Christopher Bell has wins in Cup (one), Xfinity (three) and Trucks (one) at New Hampshire. Bad news: There’s only one race a year at New Hampshire. … Ty Gibbs has gone three races in a row without a top-10 finish.
JTG Daugherty Racing — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. scored his second top-five finish of the season last weekend, placing fifth at Iowa. Bad news: The last time Stenhouse had back-to-back top 10s was in the playoffs last year at Bristol and Texas. It has been 23 races since.
Kaulig Racing — Good news: Daniel Hemric has been running at the finish in all 17 races. The only other drivers to match that this year are Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. … The team has announced that it will field a third entry at Watkins Glen in September for AJ Allmendinger. Shane van Gisbergen and Hemric will be in the other two cars for the team there. Bad news: Hemric has finished 28th or worse in four of the last six races.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: The last time John Hunter Nemechek was at New Hampshire he won the Xfinity race. That was last season. Bad news: Nemechek’s average finish in the last five points races is 28.6. … Erik Jones’ average starting spot in the past five points races is 31.2.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Austin Dillon finished ninth at New Hampshire last year. Bad news: In the 38 races since Kyle Busch last won, he has 13 finishes of 25th or worse vs. 14 top 10s. … Busch is 31 points from the playoff cutline with nine races to go. The furtherest back a driver has been in points and made the playoffs via points was 20 points by Ryan Newman in 2019.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Justin Haley finished 13th at Iowa, giving him three finishes of 13th or better in the last five races. . … Haley’s average running position is 23.2 this season, but his average running position in each of the last five points races on ovals has been better than that. At Iowa, his average running position was 15.1. Bad news: The best finish by a Rick Ware Racing car at New Hampshire is 29th.
RFK Racing — Good news: Chris Buescher has gone 48 races without a pit road speeding penalty, second only to Chase Elliott’s 89-race streak. … Brad Keselowski has four top-10 finishes in the last five points races. Bad news: Buescher has finished 14th or worse in four of the last five points races.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: Carson Hocevar’s 14th-place finish gives him three consecutive top-20 finishes. It’s the third time he’s done that this season. … Corey LaJoie has scored stage points in each of the last two races. It’s the first time he’s done that this season. Bad news: Zane Smith has eight finishes of 30th or worse in 17 starts this season.
Stewart-Haas Racing — Good news: Josh Berry’s seventh-place finish at Iowa is his third top 10 in the last five races. … Chase Briscoe placed 10th at New Hampshire last year. Bad news: Noah Gragson, Ryan Preece and Berry each rank outside the top 25 in percentage of laps completed this season. Gragson ranks 26th, Berry 29th and Preece 30th.
Team Penske — Good news: All three Penske drivers have won in the past five races: Joey Logano won the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, Austin Cindric won at World Wide Technology Raceway, and Ryan Blaney won last weekend’s inaugural Cup race at Iowa Speedway. … Logano has climbed to within six points of the playoff cutline after gaining 10 points at Iowa. … Team Penske is the only organization beyond Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing to win multiple points races this year. Bad news: Logano’s sixth-place finish at Iowa was only his second top 10 in the last nine points races.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Ross Chastain ranks second in the series in average finish at 12.5, tied with William Byron. …Daniel Suarez became a U.S. citizen this week. … Bad news: Suarez has one top 10 in his last six starts at New Hampshire.
Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Harrison Burton’s 20th-place finish at Iowa was his best result in the last seven points races. Bad news: It has been 255 races since the organization last won, which was the team’s 99th career Cup victory.
