After a two-week hiatus, I’m back in action this week as the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup rolls on into The Granite State for the second time this season. If it wasn’t for Ryan Newman’s tenth-place finish, the twelve drivers in contention for the drivers’ championship this year would have claimed the top twelve finishing spots in July’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
To say the twelve chase contenders have historically run well at New Hampshire is an understatement. Eight of the last twelve, including four of the last five races in Loudon have been won by this year’s Chase drivers. After last week’s Geico 400, there are a few Chase drivers with work to do to keep their championship hopes alive. Jeff Gordon (a three-time New Hampshire winner), Matt Kenseth (no New Hampshire wins), and Denny Hamlin (one New Hampshire Win) all finished outside the top fifteen last week at Chicago and all are looking for strong finishes this week to put their championship efforts back on track.
On the contrary, five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion, Jimmie Johnson started his 2012 Chase campaign off with a runner-up finish last week in Chicago. He was one of seven Chase drivers starting their playoff run with a top ten last week and this week should be no different in the front end of the field being packed full of Championship contenders.
Nothing to recap from last week so we’ll get right into my picks for this week…
New Hampshire Picks
Winner Pick
Denny Hamlin won all three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice sessions, but wasn’t able to parlay his speed over into NASCAR Sprint Cup Qualifying. He was seven-tenths of a second slower than pole-sitter Jeff Gordon in qualifying on Friday, but that fact doesn’t scare me away from picking him for the win on Sunday afternoon. He is in need of a solid finish this week in New England to bring him back to the discussions of favorites to win the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Hamlin’s confidence in a win this week has caught my ears and my eyes via Twitter following his tweet after the Geico 400, “This is 1 week of 10. We will win next week.” Hamlin was asked about his confidence on Friday, and I might say I am a fan of it, “Just confident that we could win. It’s no different than the nine Chase tracks that we go to, other than Dover where I’m going to be realistic. I feel like I can go win each and every one of them.” It’s Hamlin with a tall mountain to climb to land in Victory Lane tomorrow afternoon, but it’s a challenge that Hamlin has the equipment he needs to put himself in position to win this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Dark Horse Pick
I like what Michael Waltrip Racing has done this season with the No. 55 car. With the constant switch of drivers between Mark Martin and Brian Vickers, it is difficult to establish some sort of normalcy within the race team. Vickers was able to run a lap good enough for the fourth starting spot on the grid for the Sylvania 300, and has steadily improved his speed throughout the weekend. He started the first practice session on Friday shown 13th on the charts, moved to 6th after the second practice, and finished 3rd in final practice earlier today.
Keep an eye on the No. 55 this week…
That’s all for this time, so until next week…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!
