2022 NASCAR Cup Series preview: New Hampshire
Brenden Martin previews the Ambetter 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway where Martin Truex Jr will start on pole for the first time this season and the 20th time of his career.
The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season had yet to find a driver that made themselves a true breakaway favorite for the championship… that is until last week.
Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chase Elliott became the first driver to reach three wins this season at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a feat that only took 12 races last year when Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Martin Truex Jr. won his third race at Darlington Raceway that May.
Truex Jr. won his third race last season before any other driver had more than one. This year, Elliott reached three wins after four other drivers won twice themselves.
Elliott extended his points lead over Team Penske No. 12 Ryan Blaney, who finished 17th at Atlanta, by sweeping the stages and taking the win. Elliott enters the Ambetter 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with a 47-point lead over Blaney for the regular season title with seven races to go before the playoffs.
Elliott will start 2nd and Blaney will start 11th.
Speaking of Truex Jr., the 2017 Cup Series Champion has not won a race this season, but currently sits in 15th of the 16-car playoff standings and is 62 points above the cutline ahead of Stewart Haas Racing No. 4 Kevin Harvick.
Truex Jr. starts on pole for the first time this season and the 20th time of his career, being the only driver to post a sub-30 second lap in the final round of qualifying. He has never won a Cup Series race at the track less than six hours away from his hometown of Mayetta, New Jersey.
That doesn’t mean Truex Jr. has never had success at New Hampshire before. From 2016 to 2018, Truex Jr. had a stretch of five straight races where he led 83 laps or more. He led at least 112 laps in four of those races and won the first stage of the last three of those five races.
Since joining Joe Gibbs Racing in 2019, Truex Jr. has yet to lead a lap at New Hampshire after leading 596 laps in his nine races with Furniture Row Racing. He will have the best shot of leading a lap and potentially being the 14th different winner in the Cup Series this season on pole.
New Hampshire is known for being a great track for sleeper teams to take a win and get themselves in the playoffs as was evident last season.
Stewart Haas Racing No. 10 Aric Almirola won his only race of last season in the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301, the one highlight of a disastrous 2021 season for Almirola and SHR as a whole. Almirola was well out of the playoff hunt before the win but made his way in thanks to the victory.
Almirola’s win was not without controversy. The race began right as a rain cell passed over the track which sent the two leaders, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Kyle Busch and Truex Jr. sliding into the Turn 1 wall on Lap 6.
3Busch was taken out of the race while Truex Jr. sustained major damage that limited him for the rest of the day. The race was delayed until the rain passed, which put the race under a time limit due to New Hampshire Motor Speedway not having lights.
Almirola was the best car all day, but Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Christopher Bell was quickly closing in on him in the final laps. With 18 laps to go, NASCAR notified all drivers that the race was shortened to now have only 10 laps remaining.
Almirola held on to win the race and kept Bell at bay.
Both Bell and Almirola will start in the top 10 this year with Bell qualifying fifth and Almirola starting in the row behind him in seventh.
Another sleeper team that has made some strides of late has been 23XI Racing. The addition of 23XI Racing No. 45 Kurt Busch has injected new energy into this team, with the best showcase of that being Busch’s win at Kansas Speedway on May 15.
Busch looked to be the car to beat for the pole during group qualifying, bringing home the best lap between both Groups A and B. He wasn’t able to replicate his initial “perfect lap” as he called it but still brought home a 30.032 lap time to start third.
Busch’s teammate, 23XI Racing No. 23 Bubba Wallace, will join him in Row 2 and start in 4th. The outside Row 2 start is a Cup Series career-best for Wallace, who will need to win his way into the playoffs. Short tracks like New Hampshire, a one-mile course with almost no banking, have not been Wallace’s strong suit, but a good starting position could be the key to being a contender at the Magic Mile.
The Ambetter 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is set to begin at 3 p.m. ET. The race will run for 301 laps with stage breaks at laps 70 and 185. The race can be watched on USA Network and the NBC Sports App. The race can also be listened to on Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Starting Lineup:
Pit Stall Selection:
NASCAR Cup Series — Race No. 20 – 301 laps / 318.5 miles
New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1.058-mile oval) – Loudon, N.H.
Fast Facts for July 16-17, 2022
Tire: Goodyear Eagle 18-inch Speedway Radials
Set limits: Cup – 1 set for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 8 sets for the race (7 race sets plus 1 set transferred from qualifying)
Tire Codes: Left-side — D-5124; Right-side — D-5126
Tire Circumference:
Left-side — 2,251 mm (88.62 in.);
Right-side — 2,276 mm (89.61 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front — 14 psi; Left Rear — 14 psi;
Right Front — 30 psi; Right Rear — 26 psi