Johnny Benson

Denny Hamlin is second in points, but still hasn't been to Victory Lane this season.

That could change on Sunday as Hamlin's my favorite to win the Nextel Cup race at New Hampshire International Speedway, nicknamed the Magic Mile.

Working in Hamlin's favor
There are a lot of things including that he runs good with the Car of Tomorrow, which will be used at New Hampshire. Hamlin has led laps in six of seven COT races, including the three laps he led last weekend at Infineon Raceway, where he secured his tenth top-ten finish of the season by fighting his way back from deep in the field.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has now led 566 laps in the COT. That's 22 percent of all possible COT laps. Some drivers have not embraced the change to the COT, but Hamlin isn't one of them.

Hamlin will be making just his third Cup start at New Hampshire. In this event last year he came home sixth after his car ran out of gas on the way to the checkered flag. It happened in an unusual way as while he was sitting in second place, a caution-lap wreck led Hamlin to run out of gas and lose his chance to challenge eventual winner Kyle Busch.

Hamlin ran again at New Hampshire last year in the first of 10 races in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. He led four laps and again appeared to have a chance at a win before taking fourth-place. Hamlin went on to finish third in the Chase.

It's a very comfortable feeling that Hamlin says he has at New Hampshire because he can really tell what his car is doing, and what it wants to do.

He also says that it comes down to being able to roll through the corners and get back on the throttle as soon as possible, and that’s where he’s been good. The chassis rolled out for Hamlin this weekend is the one he drove to the pole at Martinsville earlier this season, leading 125 laps before finishing third.

Others drivers to watch
If it's not Hamlin in Victory Lane, the next best bet to make it there is Jeff Gordon. The four-time Cup champion has posted four wins and 14 top-10s in 16 races this season. He leads in points in what has been a year where he's looking like a serious threat to add another championship.

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The crew chiefs of Gordon and Jimmie Johnson -- teammates at Hendrick Motorsports -- were both fined $100,000 and suspended for six races for violations last weekend at Infineon Raceway. There will be an impact on Gordon in having to race without Steve Letarte, but I believe it will be minor. Gordon's team is too strong for it to lose out on wins because Letarte is not present on race day.

In 24 Cup starts at New Hampshire, Gordon has three wins, three poles and 13 top-10s. He has also picked up 10 top-fives and led 1,104 laps -- records for both categories at the 1.058-mile oval.

The last time Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, was suspended, the No. 48 Chevrolet won two of the four races he missed. Johnson, who has four wins this season, is no stranger to success in New England as he swept the New Hampshire races in 2003. In 10 New Hampshire Cup starts, Johnson has completed 2,848 of 2,915 laps to go along with his two wins, two top-fives, and five top-10s.

Tony Stewart has two wins in New England (2005 and 2000), and he has finished second in two of his last three races at this venue. Stewart also has a pole, nine top-fives, and 10 top-10s in 16 Cup starts at New Hampshire. The two-time defending Cup champion has an advantage in that his crew chief, Greg Zipadelli, is a native of Berlin, Conn., and he has plenty of experience competing at New Hampshire in NASCAR Modified Tour cars and NASCAR Busch East Series cars.

Kevin Harvick won at New Hampshire last September and he was fifth in this event a year ago. To go along with his win, Harvick has one pole, three top-fives, and seven top-10s in 12 Cup starts in New England. He has completed all but four laps at the Magic Mile.

Carl Edwards has been on a roll since about the middle of May with a win and four top-fives since then. His hot stretch has helped him climb to seventh in points. New Hampshire is one of his favorite tracks and his Magic-Mile Cup resume proves that with one top-five and five top-20s in five starts.

Jeff Burton runs extremely well at New Hampshire. He's won four races at the venue -- more than any other Cup driver. Fourth in points, the veteran has three-straight top-10 results in New England. One of Burton's teammates at Richard Childress Racing, Clint Bowyer, is having a very strong season (ninth in points) and even though he'll be making just his third Cup start at New Hampshire he's a second-tier threat to win the race.

Ryan Newman won at New Hampshire in 2005, but he won't be looking at the checkers or a top-10 finish on Sunday. Newman's teammate at Penske South Racing, Kurt Busch, is more likely to make some noise at New Hampshire.

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