Stewart’s the man at Magic Mile
Veteran driver rates the edge on the field at New Hampshire track
 Russ Hamilton / AP file Tony Stewart has shown a knack for navigating the tight corners at New Hampshire International Speedway, writes Johnny Benson of NBCSports.com. |
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Working in Stewart’s favor
He has an impressive past at this flat track and has won this event twice (2005 and 2000). To go along with his two victories at New Hampshire, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has a pole, 10 top-fives and 11 top-10s in 18 Cup starts. He’s led for over 14 percent of the laps he has run at this venue where his average starting position is 11.9 and his average finishing position is 12.8.
He has a win and has crossed the checkers third or better in four of his last six New Hampshire races. Come race day Stewart should again show that he is among the best at getting through clean at the 1.058-mile oval, which has some tight corners. Of great help to Stewart’s chances of winning is his crew chief Greg Zipadelli, who is especially good at calculating what it takes to win at New Hampshire.
Zipadelli’s quite familiar with the flat oval as he is a native of Berlin, Conn. and early in his career he proved adept at getting to New Hampshire’s Victory Lane with cars racing on the NASCAR Modified Tour and NASCAR Camping World Series East circuits. When it comes to knowing what it takes to achieve success on this layout, there may be none better than Zipadelli.
This is the time of year when Stewart usually gets on a roll. Even though he has yet to post a win, his No. 20 Toyota has two consecutive top-10 finishes – possible hints Stewart may be about to take off. The long straightaways and flat corners of New Hampshire may be just what Stewart needs to break into the win column this year.
Other drivers to watch
It was another win for Kyle Busch last week at Infineon – his series-leading fifth victory. Kyle has made only six starts at New Hampshire but he has performed in impressive fashion in most of them. He won this event two years ago and last year in his two runs in New England he had finishes of 11th and fourth.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who followed his win two weeks ago at Michigan with a 12th-place result last week at Infineon, ran strong in this event a year ago, leading for 64 laps and coming home fourth. While never having won at New Hampshire, Junior has four top-fives and seven top-10s. With as well as he is running this year, he’s a threat to win each time out.
Veteran Jeff Burton runs extremely well at New Hampshire. He's won four races at the venue to go along with seven top-fives and 12 top-10s. The Richard Childress Racing driver has four top-10s in his last five events at this oval.
If it's not Stewart in Victory Lane it could well be Jeff Gordon. In 26 Cup starts at New Hampshire, Gordon has five poles, three wins, 12 top-fives and 15 top-10s. The four-time Cup champion was runner-up in both events at this track a year ago and he was third in the New Hampshire September race in 2006.
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Denny Hamlin will be making just his fifth Cup start at New Hampshire. In this event in 2006 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 made up for that disappointment by winning this event last year.
New Hampshire is one of Carl Edwards’ favorite tracks and he has never come home lower than 20th in his seven starts at the venue where he has one top-five and one top-10. He was second in this event in 2006.
In 16 Cup starts at New Hampshire Matt Kenseth has posted 11 top-10s and five top-fives. He has the best average finish at the oval (10.5) among the Cup drivers and he’s in a hot stretch with six consecutive top-10s.
Brian Vickers, who took the pole in this event in 2005, should be watched since he’s been coming on of late with four straight top-15 results.
My darkhorse is Martin Truex Jr., who was outstanding at New Hampshire last year with two top-fives, including a third-place finish in this event.
Keys to success at New Hampshire
This flat track with its long straightaways and tight turns is similar but bigger than Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. It is banked at only 12 degrees off the corners. The key to this track is getting through the middle and off of the corners. A driver needs to get his car to rotate in the corner and have lots of forward bite exiting the corners.
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Racing well at New Hampshire requires a lot of throttle and braking and because of the heavy braking and the difficulty in turning the cars through the tight corners right-front tire issues can occur.
There is a passing lane to the inside but this is a tough track to pass on and if a car is not handling well that driver is in for a long day. Passing will be done through the center of the corner and off on the bottom of the track. The key will be to get through the center of the corner really well and to come off on the bottom. If a driver can get along the side of another car, he'll pretty much have the pass made going into the next corner.
With a resurfacing a couple of years ago New Hampshire came up with a great asphalt combination that produces terrific racing. The lower groove became a bit wider when the track was resurfaced as at the same time slightly different banking degrees were implemented and that's made for superb side-by-side racing but the bottom is still the best place to run.
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