The NASCAR Cup Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for Sunday’s race (2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network).
Joe Gibbs Racing has had a car finish in the top two in the last 12 races there, dating back to 2015. Hendrick Motorsports last won at this 1-mile track in 2012 with Kasey Kahne.
Here are a look at the drivers to watch this weekend:
FRONTRUNNERS
Martin Truex Jr.
Points position: 5th
Best finish this season: 2nd (Bristol I)
2024 stats: No wins, four top fives and seven top 10s. He has led 447 laps and has an average finish of 12.9.
Going into the weekend: Truex is the defending winner at New Hampshire. He has three top-five finishes in the last four starts there. In six of the last 10 races there, he’s led at least 100 laps in the race.
Denny Hamlin
Points position: 3rd
Best finish this season: 1st (Bristol I, Richmond I, Dover)
2024 stats: Three wins, seven top fives and eight top 10s. Has led 607 laps and has an average finish of 13.8.
Going into the weekend: Hamlin 10 top-three finishes —including three wins — in 30 starts at New Hampshire. That’s an incredible total of finishing in the top three in nearly a third of those starts.
Christopher Bell
Points position: 8th
Best finish this season: 1st (Phoenix I, Coca-Cola 600)
2024 stats: Two wins, five top fives and 10 top 10s. Has led 302 laps and has an average finish of 14.9.
Going into the weekend: Bell has a win and a runner-up finish in four Cup starts at New Hampshire. In his other two Cup starts there, he has finishes of 28th and 29th. He has four consecutive top-10 finishes entering this weekend.
Brad Keselowski
Points position: 9th
Best finish this season: 1st (Darlington I)
2024 stats: One win, seven top fives and nine top 10s. Has led 69 laps and has an average finish of 13.2.
Going into the weekend: Keselowski has four top 10s in the last five points races, including a win and a runner-up result. He has five consecutive top-10 finishes at New Hampshire, including a win there in 2020.
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER
Chase Elliott
Points position: 1st
Best finish this season: 1st (Texas)
2024 stats: One win, seven top fives and nine top 10s. Has led 137 laps and has an average finish of 9.1.
Going into the weekend: Elliott enters this weekend with back-to-back top-five finishes. He has three top 10s in his last six starts at New Hampshire.
Kyle Busch
Points position: 16th
Best finish this season: 3rd (Atlanta I)
2024 stats: No wins, two top fives and five top 10s. Has led 130 laps and has an average finish of 17.9.
Going into the weekend: Busch has fallen to 31 points below the playoff cutline with nine races left. He has not had a top 10 in the last five points races, going from 31 points above the cutline to his current spot outside it. He has finished 36th or worse in three of the last four New Hampshire races.
William Byron
Points position: 4th
Best finish this season: 1st (Daytona 500, Circuit of the Americas, Martinsville I)
2024 stats: Three wins, six top fives and 10 top 10s. Has led 236 laps and has an average finish of 12.5.
Going into the weekend: Byron has never finished in the top 10 in six starts at New Hampshire. He comes into this weekend after his runner-up finish at Iowa.
Bubba Wallace
Points position: 14th
Best finish this season: 4th (Martinsville I)
2024 stats: No wins, three top fives and five top 10s. Has led 35 laps and has an average finish of 17.1.
Going into the weekend: Wallace has one top-10 finish in the last eight races. New Hampshire might be what he needs. He’s placed in the top 10 in each of the past two races there.
