Loudon Event Info:
Track Info: New Hampshire Motor Speedway, 1.058-mile oval
Date: Sunday, July 16
Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
Series: NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Location: Loudon, New Hampshire
Format: 301 laps, 318.46 miles, Stages: 70-115-116
TV: USA
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)

Weekend Schedule:
Saturday: 12:05 p.m. ET, Practice (USA, NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Saturday: 12:50 p.m. ET, Qualifying (USA, NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday: 2:30 p.m. ET, Race (USA, NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Pace Laps:

• The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) makes its annual trek to the Granite State for racing action Sunday afternoon.
• Jack Roush has nine wins all-time at the track including seven in the Cup Series.
• Loudon stands as one of Keselowski’s best tracks on the circuit with a 10.0 average finish.

6 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Matt McCall
Partner: BuildSubmarines.com

• Keselowski’s first race in the BuildSubmarines.com car (dubbed the #CarWithAMission) comes in a key region for the U.S. Navy’s Submarine Industrial Base. With more than 1,500 suppliers in the six-state New England region, there are hundreds of jobs available for NASCAR fans to be a part of the team that creates Navy submarines.
• Joining BuildSubmarines.com on the car this weekend will be New England-based General Dynamics Electric Boat. Their 20,000-plus employees design, build, repair and modernize nuclear submarines.

17 Team Info:
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Partner: Fastenal

Keselowski at New Hampshire
Starts: 22
Wins: 2 (2014, 2020)
Top-10s: 15
Poles: 4

• Keselowski makes his 23rd Cup start in Loudon this weekend, a track that stands as one of his best all-time with an average finish of 10th. The Michigan native has two wins at NHMS – one in 2014, and the most recent in 2020 – with 15 top-10s, nine of which were inside the top five.
• He most recently finished seventh there a season ago, one of four-straight top-10s there.
• He’s led laps in 15 of his 22 Cup starts at the track with 598 led overall.
• Keselowski has four poles at NHMS, the first coming in 2010, as well as 2013, 2014 and 2019, contributing to his 10.3 average starting position overall. Last season he qualified ninth.
• The 2012 Cup Champion also has two wins in the Xfinity Series in Loudon, winning back-to-back races in 2012 and 2014. He earned the pole in five of his 10 NXS starts, including four-straight from 2010-14. Overall, he finished top-10 in every Xfinity race he ever ran at NHMS with an average finish of 3.8.

Buescher at New Hampshire
Starts: 9
Wins: —
Top-10s: —
Poles: —

• Buescher makes his 10th Cup start at NHMS. In nine prior races he has a 23.4 average finish with a best result of 15th in 2019.
• He also made two Xfinity Series starts there with a best finish of fifth in 2014.

RFK Historically at New Hampshire
Cup Wins: 7 (Jeff Burton, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000; Kurt Busch, 2004 (twice); Greg Biffle, 2008

Patriot’s Day: This weekend’s NCS event at New Hampshire is in the home territory of RFK’s co-owners, the Fenway Sports Group. FSG is based out of Boston, Massachusetts, and is located just 82 miles from New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Niner Niner: RFK has won in all three of NASCAR’s major touring series at New Hampshire, including seven times in the NCS and once each in Xfinity and the Truck Series. Jeff Burton drove the No. 99 to RFK’s first NCS win at Loudon back in 1997, while Greg Biffle earned the most recent win in 2008. Kurt Busch went to victory lane in 2000 in the trucks while Carl Edwards picked up the win in 2006 in Xfinity series action.
Four in a Row: RFK won at least one NCS race at New Hampshire in four consecutive seasons from 1997-2000, with former driver Burton taking the checkered flag on each occasion. In addition, RFK swept both races at New Hampshire in 2004 with former driver Busch.
Wicked Good Domination: Former RFK driver Burton posted one of the most dominating wins in NASCAR history at New Hampshire on Sept. 17, 2000, with Burton qualifying on the front row (second) and leading all 300 laps of the event en route to his fourth victory at the New England track. RFK has led over 100 laps in NCS action at New Hampshire on six different occasions, including leading over 150 laps four times and over 190 laps three times. All-in-all, RFK has led 1,557 laps at New Hampshire in the NCS.

RFK Loudon Wins

1997-1 Burton Cup

1998-1 Burton Cup

1999-1 Burton Cup

2000-2 Burton Cup

2004-1 Busch Cup

2004-2 Busch Cup

2008-2 Biffle Cup

2006 Edwards NXS

2000 Busch Truck

Last Time Out & Where They Stand
Atlanta: Rain shortened Sunday night’s race in Atlanta, where RFK led a combined 58 laps – the most of any organization. Brad Keselowski won the second stage and went on to finish sixth in the 185-lap official race, while Chris Buescher was originally scored 12th, but was later credited with 15th.

Points Standings (17: 11th, 6: 12th): Both RFK drivers continue to maintain their solid points position with Buescher in 11th, two points ahead of Keselowski in 12th.

By the Numbers at Loudon

Race      Win       T5           T10         Pole       Laps       Led        AvSt      AvFn     Miles

190         7              34           61           2              54466    1557       20.6        16.8        57625.0
45           1              9              19           0              8567       246         15.1        13.0        9063.8
28           1              10           18           0              5550       227         12.1        10.0        5871.9
263         9              53           98           2              68583    2030       18.6        15.2        72560.7    

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
New Hampshire Advance | Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 Mohawk Northeast Ford Mustang, was a guest earlier today on the weekly Ford Performance media Zoom call and talked about returning to his home track and hopes for this weekend as well as next week’s test session.

RYAN PREECE, No. 41 Mohawk Northeast Ford Mustang – WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS GOING BACK TO YOUR ROOTS IN THE NORTHEAST? “For myself, having a lot of experience, I’ve been racing at New Hampshire since 2007, so think about 16 years of going and racing on that track. There’s a lot of places that we go to on the NASCAR Cup schedule and a lot of us drivers that are newer, I don’t want to say have a disadvantage, but we don’t have as much track time as some of the others. So, when I go to New Hampshire Motor Speedway and even though it’s been in different types of race cars, I look at this weekend as a similar opportunity as when we went to L.A. The quarter-mile background was something that really fit my style and this Next Gen car and all my laps at New Hampshire, I feel like I have a good understanding of what I need to go fast there, and obviously I hope it translates this weekend.”

A NEW TIRE THIS WEEKEND. HOW MUCH DOES THAT IMPACT YOUR SIMULATION? “That’s a good question. For me, there are some what-ifs. You really don’t know how that tire is going to react until we do get there or I get some lap times there, but they did a wheelforce test, I want to say it was a few weeks ago or a month or so ago, so there is some data there and we use the tools the best we can with not having testing for ourselves now, so that’s why going into Monday and Tuesday post-New Hampshire Motor Speedway is going to be a nice moment for our 41 team and SHR to gather more data for ourselves.”

DO YOU LOOK AT POINTS RIGHT NOW OR DO YOU JUST TALK ABOUT A STRATEGY TO WIN OR GET BETTER WEEK TO WEEK? “I think we’ve gotten better. We’ve gotten consistent, but not nearly where we want to be. I would say we’ve consistently been around the 15th spot and the next goal is top 10s, top 5s and this week at Atlanta I felt like we’ve been bringing closer cars. We’ve been bringing cars that I feel like I’m getting real comfortable with, so to go back and answer your question, this is a weekend that I feel like, similar to Martinsville, that if we execute, we bring a really fast race car, I do my job and we do everything right, we can sneak one in. I don’t think we’re not capable of winning. We’re certainly able to do that, so I would say New Hampshire, Richmond is somewhere I’m looking forward to going to and some of these road courses there are a lot of opportunities to try and be off on strategy and execute and win. I think that’s really the goal.”

IS THERE ANY DANGER OF PUTTING TOO MUCH PRESSURE ON YOURSELF OR YOUR TEAM TO DO IT THIS WEEKEND? “I’ve put pressure on myself my entire career and these guys, whether it’s my pit crew, who a lot of these guys, this is a pressure sport. If you can’t perform in a pressure situation, then you’re probably not going to continue to do this, so myself, I enjoy pressure situations and I feel really comfortable with them as well as my crew, my crew chief and also my pit crew. That’s kind of the motto and everything that we live by is performing.”

IS THIS A RACE YOU’VE HAD CIRCLED ON YOUR CALENDAR? “Absolutely. I put a lot of preparation at going over details with Chad and amongst my team every week, but when you see places like this, you put in that extra little bit, that little bit more to make sure because you know at the end of the day, me going to New Hampshire versus me going to Kansas is my opportunity to win at a place like New Hampshire is greater. Definitely, I have a really good idea and feel for what I need to get around New Hampshire Motor Speedway fast. We’ve been heading in that direction. I feel really confident with what we’re bringing that we can be a contender.”

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IN DRIVING A MODIFIED VERSUS A CUP CAR AT NHMS? “From the modified standpoint, they’re restricted. They have restrictor plates. We can’t shift in those cars, but they do have 15-inch wide tires. Aerowise, they’re a lot different, but the groove and how I grew up racing at my local short tracks is very – I’ll use Stafford as an example – is very similar to how I’d want to race the Cup car at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Obviously, the Cup car I feel like in the modifieds you just try to run that outside lane, keep momentum up, you draft and slingshot. We don’t have that in the Cup cars. It’s very much like a bigger short track. Obviously, it’s one mile, but the basics of how you’d want to attack racing Stafford is very similar to how you’d want to race Loudon in a Cup car.”

WHAT ABOUT RICHMOND MAKES YOU SO CONFIDENT? “Just off of earlier this year. We didn’t have qualifying or practice and we drove up to run around the 10th-12th range, so I felt like with all the stuff that we’ve learned over the course of the past four months and the feel that I’m looking for and getting closer to that feel, we’ve definitely been putting more of an emphasis on qualifying, so if we can qualify well at Richmond, I feel like all the things and the sim sessions that we’ve had have told me that we should be able to execute and run really well at Richmond.”

THAT WILL BE THE SECOND TRACK YOU’VE BEEN TO TWICE WITH THIS TEAM. HOW MUCH DOES THAT HELP? “I think every time you go back and you have something to look at off of what you did. You within your own team and have an idea of what you fought and what your team brought with the setup – it’s definitely something that we can build on, so I think that showed. Even though we lost a cylinder at Atlanta earlier this year, I felt like in the race we had a car that I could go bottom, middle, top. I could do the things I want to do as a driver and that’s just a product of Chad Johnston and I working together and our entire team trying to find the feel that I want, so, yeah, I think when we go to places twice, we’re gonna see some big improvements.”

POCONO IS NEXT WEEK, SO HOW DIFFERENT AND UNIQUE IS THAT TRACK? “I think you’ve just got to attack that place so different, but from a driver’s standpoint, something myself as a driver, I really like the tunnel turn. I like that feeling of not necessarily being out of control, but being on the racer’s edge. I’ve always enjoyed racing there and this is no different. Chad and I, we ran the truck race together there last year and ran really well, so he knows the feel that I’m looking for and he’s had a lot more time with this Next Gen car. He’s a badass, so we’re looking forward to it.”

YOU ARE TESTING NEXT WEEK AT NHMS. HOW CRITICAL IS THAT AND WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS? “It’s an opportunity for us drivers, NASCAR and Goodyear to get it to where we can put a great show on for the fans, but have a compromise for us drivers that something that we feel is what we want for a short track package. I’ll leave it at that right now. I’m very optimistic. I’m really excited about it because this part of the sport, it’s very dynamic. We have road courses. We have intermediates. We have short tracks and we have superspeedways and this is an opportunity for me and the other drivers to shape the short track package to what could be great, and I’m excited to have a hand in that.”

WITH ONLY SIX DRIVERS IN THE TEST, IS THERE A CHANCE YOU GUYS TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU FEEL ON THE TRACK AND TRY TO GET THE RIGHT FEEL, OR IS IT MORE INDIVIDUAL BASED? “There’s definitely got to be communication between all of us and have an understanding of what we’re all trying to achieve. Myself, something we always talk about is fall off. We want, and I’ve always been a driver in the past and I’m gonna use North WIlkesboro as an example. That was probably one of the first races where I’ve ever had to go 50 percent at the beginning of a race to still have 50 percent at the end of the race. It was just a completely different way. A lot of drivers talk about the old days of you could have a guy take off and lead 15-20 laps, but he burned his stuff up and he’d pay the price and lose 5-10-20 spots, whatever it may be. That’s what we want. We want to have more tools in our toolbox to where if we don’t have the fastest car, what can I do as a driver to beat them? We just want to have more opportunities to showcase those skills.”

HOW DO YOU MENTALLY GET OVER THE CHALLENGE OF EVERYONE GIVING 100 PERCENT, BUT CIRCUMSTANCES SOMETIMES GETTING IN THE WAY AND HOLDING YOU BACK? “It’s a building process. I’ve built enough race cars to know that some things can happen overnight and sometimes they take time. One thing I will say is we’ve been doing a good job of executing for what we can and sometimes the chips are stacked against you with track position or whether cautions fall untimely, but you need to know within your team that everybody is pulling the rope in the same direction and that’s the case. I see the gains each week, the little gains that we make each and every week, so even though, like for example, Atlanta 24th but we ran top 10 a good amount of that race until it ended, and I felt like we would have been fighting in the top 10 or top 5 had that weather not come in. Most people are gonna see 24th, I see a day of ‘hey, we had a good handling race car, let’s continue in this direction.’”

Martin Truex Jr.
New Hampshire Advance
No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota Camry TRD for Joe Gibbs Racing

Event Overview

● Event: Crayon 301 (Race 20 of 36)

● Time/Date: 2:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 16

● Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon

● Layout: 1-mile oval

● Laps/Miles: 301 laps/318.46 miles

● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 70 laps / Stage 2: 115 laps / Final Stage: 116 laps

● TV/Radio: USA Network / PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

● Truex and the No. 19 team for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) set the tone for the season right out of the gate by winning the 150-lap feature in the non-points Clash at the Coliseum on Feb. 5 in Los Angeles. Truex won his heat race, then went on to lead the final 25 laps of the feature en route to a victory that gave him and the team much-needed momentum heading into the 2023 season. While the team was knocking on the door over the next 10 points-paying races, the breakthrough win finally came at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway on May 1, and Truex added a second points-paying victory and third overall this season last month at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.

● Truex has eight top-five finishes and 14 top-10s and has led a total of 916 laps in 29 career Cup Series starts at New Hampshire. Truex’s average New Hampshire finish is 11.7. In last year’s New Hampshire race, Truex started on the pole and led 172 of the 301 laps before bringing home a fourth-place finish.

● History at New Hampshire: Truex has some history at New Hampshire in the NASCAR K&N Series, having scored two of his five series victories at the mile oval.

● Family Ties: Not only has Truex won at New Hampshire in both the K&N and Xfinity Series, his dad, Martin Truex Sr., won a K&N Series race at the track back in 1994.

● Reser’s Fine Foods Cornhole Tournament: Reser’s will be putting on a Cornhole Tournament benefiting the New Hampshire Chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities this weekend at New Hampshire on Saturday July 15. The event will take place in the NHMS Fan Zone, in front of the Trackside Live stage. Advanced online registration is $60 per two-person team and day of registration is $75. The winning team will receive two VIP Suite Tickets for Sunday’s Cup Series race! Check-in and practice begin at 9am and bags will fly at 10am on Saturday morning. For more information and to register visit: https://speedwaycharities.org/events/new-hampshire/cornhole/registration.

● Good Times Summer: Family owned and operated Reser’s Fine Foods will be sponsoring Truex’s No. 19 Toyota this weekend at New Hampshire as they spotlight their summer Good Times Tour with free samples of their famous potato salad in the NHMS Fan Zone. Fans can learn more about their summer tour stops and sweepstakes and register for a chance to win weekly prizes at https://reser.com/goodtimes. Prizes included a cornhole set, Bluetooth speaker, and Reser’s Deli Salads and Sides. Race fans can find Reser’s products in their local grocer’s deli, perfect for a summer barbeque or a tailgate at the track.

● Family owned and operated, Reser’s has been a proud sponsor of good times at racetracks, picnics, and barbecues since 1950 with a family of brands that includes Reser’s American Classics, Main St. Bistro, and more. Reser’s operates 14 facilities in the U.S., Mexico and Canada and actively supports the communities it serves. Visit http://resers.com to learn more.

● 33 and Counting: Truex’s win at Sonoma was the 33rd of his Cup Series career, putting him in a tie with NASCAR Hall of Famer Fireball Roberts for 26th on the series’ all-time wins list.

● After last weekend’s race at Atlanta, Truex now sits second in the Cup Series driver standings as the series heads to New Hampshire. He has 607 points, 21 points behind new points leader William Byron. The top four in the Cup Series standings are separated by just 37 points as things start to heat up in the chase for the regular-season championship. The regular-season champion will receive 15 important playoff points when the playoffs start on Labor Day weekend in September. Seven races remain in the regular season.

● Ahead at this Stage: Truex leads the NASCAR Cup Series with 57 stage wins since the beginning of the stage racing era in 2017. He is the only driver with 10 or more stage sweeps, as well. Truex added to his haul of stage wins by taking the opening stage last month at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

Martin Truex Jr., Driver of the No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota Camry TRD

Last year you dominated the New Hampshire race. How did the end of the race play out?

“We decided to get four tires at the end and we came out in a bad spot and got in a bad spot on the restart and got all bottled up and we were 14th after the first lap and we were able to drive back up to fourth. It was a heartbreaker, especially it’s one I’ve really, really wanted to win for a long time, it’s a special track to me. We’ve led tons of laps there over the years and can’t figure out how to finish the deal, so hoping this is our year there this weekend with our Reser’s Fine Foods Camry. Reser’s has a lot going at the track this weekend for the fans with a Cornhole tournament on Saturday and their Good Times Summer Campaign. Hope the fans get their Reser’s products for their tailgate and watch us get up there and finally get a Cup win there.”

It seems that JGR struggled a bit at the flat track in Phoenix in the spring but, made some pretty big gains at another flat track in St. Louis in June. What can you take away from those two races that you might be able to bring to New Hampshire, even though it’s a completely different track?

“I feel like you can take something from Phoenix and also from St. Louis as far as learning this new car and figuring out what it takes to get around these flatter, shorter tracks. It feels like we are getting closer. Loudon is obviously different, but generally if you have a good short-track package, you can kind of find the setup on all three of those tracks. We’re looking forward to big things in Loudon with our Reser’s Fine Foods Camry.”

What do you enjoy most about racing at New Hampshire and what is the biggest challenge there?

“I think, for me, the coolest part of Loudon is that I’ve been going there for a long time. I got to watch my dad race there when I was growing up in the old Busch North Series. It’s one of those tracks that I really, really want to win at in the Cup Series. I’ve won in every other series I’ve raced there. Loudon was a big part of me growing up in racing and me being able to work my way up through the ranks. Winning there when I was 19 years old really set my career off, so that always makes it special to go back there.”

What does New Hampshire mean to you and your family starting with your Dad’s win there?

“New Hampshire is a big part of my career and our families racing history. When my dad got his win there it was his first big win and I was 12 when that happened. I grew up going up there for races and seeing the Busch car and the Cup cars there for the first time ever. The only time I got close to those cars was up there until I moved to North Carolina to race for a living. A lot of special memories there and that place was a big reason I finally got the opportunity to move south.”

No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods Team Roster

Primary Team Members

Driver: Martin Truex Jr.

Hometown: Mayetta, New Jersey

Crew Chief: James Small

Hometown: Melbourne, Australia

Car Chief: Chris Jones

Hometown: Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia

Engineer: Nick Burton

Hometown: Arvada, California

Engineer: Jeff Curtis

Hometown: Fairfax Station, Virginia

Spotter: Drew Herring

Hometown: Benson, North Carolina

Road Crew Members

Underneath Mechanic: Ryan Martin

Hometown: Mechanicsburg, Virgina

Mechanic: Todd Carmichael

Hometown: Redding, California

Interior/Tire Specialist: Tommy DiBlasi

Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland

Engine Tuner: Gregg Huls

Hometown: Beatrice, Nebraska

Transporter Driver: Kyle Bazzell

Hometown: Fairbury, Illinois

Transporter Driver: Eddie DeGroot

Hometown: Baldwinsville, New York

Over-The-Wall Crew Members

Gas Man: Matt Tyrrell

Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Jackman: Kellen Mills

Hometown: Mesa, Arizona

Tire Carrier: CJ Bailey

Hometown: Outer Banks, North Carolina

Front Tire Changer: Lee Cunningham

Hometown: Leaf River, Illinois

Rear Tire Changer: Danny Olszowy

Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky

TEAM AND RACE NOTES:

Michael McDowell and the No. 34 team head to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for a 318-lap main event around the New England track.

The No. 34 team will sport a returning brand on their Ford Mustang. The Pete Store will make their 2023 season debut. A three-time Peterbilt North American Dealer of the Year (2004, 2016, and 2018), The Pete Store is a respected dealer in the transportation industry with locations spanning the eastern United States. The Pete Store offers sales, services, leasing, parts, and financing of Peterbilt trucks.

The weekend will kick-off with practice and qualifying on Saturday at 12:05 p.m. ET. Sunday’s 301- lap race is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET on the USA Network.

COMPETITION NOTES:

After finishing fourth at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, McDowell is now 16th in championship points standings and inside the playoff cut line.

McDowell has a career-best finish of 17th at the one-mile, flat oval.

CREW CHIEF TRAVIS PETERSON

“This is a tough track to compete at for sure, but I’m feeling positive about our short track program. We ran well at both Richmond and Phoenix this year so there is no reason we can’t perform the same at New Hampshire.”

DRIVER MICHAEL MCDOWELL

“New Hampshire has been a struggle for us. If anything, it’s a bigger Martinsville. At Martinsville, we’ve had speed, but it hasn’t correlated to New Hampshire all the time. I will say this. Our short track program this year is a lot better than what it was last year. I feel at Richmond and Phoenix we closed the gap quite a bit. So, I’m optimistic about New Hampshire. I go there optimistic every year, but it’s no doubt that it’s been a struggle for us in years past. Hopefully, we hit it right this weekend.”

ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS

Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization in the NASCAR Cup and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. The team is the 2021 Daytona 500 and 2022 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champions. The team was founded in 2004 and is owned by successful entrepreneur, Bob Jenkins. FRM fields the No. 34 and the No. 38 NASCAR Cup Series teams along with the No. 38 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series team from its Mooresville, N.C. headquarters. Visit teamfrm.com and follow FRM on social media: Twitter at @Team_FRM, Instagram at @team_frm and Facebook at facebook.com/FrontRowMotorsports.

NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY NOTES

Saturday, July 15 – NASCAR XFINITY Series, 3 p.m. ET (USA)

Sunday, July 16 – NASCAR Cup Series, 2:30 p.m. ET (USA)

New Hampshire Motor Speedway will serve as host to the NASCAR Xfinity and NASCAR Cup Series this weekend as the regular season continues to wind down. The Cup Series has seven races remaining while nine events remain for the Xfinity drivers before the postseason begins.

STARTING A NEW STREAK

Ford has had a great deal of success in recent years at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, winning four straight from 2018-21 before having that four-race streak snapped a year ago. Aric Almirola, last weekend’s pole-winner at Atlanta Motor Speedway, won in 2021 while Brad Keselowski (2020) and Kevin Harvick (2018-19) were also part of that run. Besides those three drivers, reigning series champion Joey Logano also has one win with Ford and two overall at his home track.

Overall, Ford has 17 all-time victories at NHMS.

Kevin Harvick: “Our flat track stuff has been really good. Our short track stuff has always been really good and I think as we go, this year our short track stuff is in the same category, so it’s definitely a racetrack that we’re looking forward to going to and I can’t wait to finally hopefully get to victory lane. After Nashville, having the fastest and having a tire go flat and Phoenix and a couple of the other places where it just seems like it all hasn’t come together, but they’re doing a great job of putting fast cars on the racetrack and Loudon is one of those places that checks a lot of boxes in order for us to go up there and hopefully have a good weekend.”

Joey Logano: “Winning at your home track is special for a lot of reasons. There are a lot of memories there, for one, but it’s the people that are there with you more times than not. Your family is there, your friends are there, people that don’t get to go to every single race, and you celebrate with them in victory lane. That is just the coolest moment and it’s probably different for others, I don’t know. For me, Loudon is always going to hold a special place in my heart for that reason.”

Aric Almirola: “When I look at these few races ahead of us Loudon, Michigan, Richmond and then Daytona the last race, those are opportunities that I feel like we have a legitimate shot to go and win if we do everything right.”

WEEKEND SWEEP

Brad Keselowski had a weekend to remember as he became the first driver to sweep a NASCAR Xfinity and NASCAR Cup Series race weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, achieving the feat on July 12-13, 2014. Keselowski led 138 of 305 laps, including the final two under a green-white-checkered finish, to beat Kyle Busch to the finish line. The win was Ford’s fourth straight series win, marking the first time that had happened since 2001.

A PERFECT 300 RACE

Jeff Burton is the last driver to lead every lap of a NASCAR Cup Series race when he did it on Sept. 17, 2000 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Bobby Labonte started from the pole, but Burton grabbed the lead after starting on the outside of the front row. Even though Labonte and Dale Earnhardt challenged him throughout the day, Burton never gave up the lead, becoming the first driver to lead every lap of a series race since Cale Yarborough did it in the Music City USA 420 at Nashville Speedway on June 3, 1978. The race, which was run with the use of restrictor plates, ended under caution after Sterling Marlin was involved in an accident with three laps remaining. It was Burton’s fourth win at the speedway and concluded a stretch that saw him win four consecutive seasons at the Magic Mile.

OWNER/DRIVER FIRST

Ford’s first NASCAR Cup Series win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway came in the track’s second year of hosting events in 1994. That’s when Ricky Rudd outdueled Dale Earnhardt in the closing laps to post his 15th career win. Rudd led 55 laps on the day, but won it after a memorable side-by-side battle with seven laps to go in which he passed Earnhardt on the inside, only to see the black No. 3 crossover and pull alongside for the next lap. Rudd eventually pulled in front and held on to take the Slick 50 300 on July 10, 1994. Rudd went on to post 23 NSCS wins in his career and had at least one victory in 16 consecutive seasons (1983-98), but none may have been as satisfying as this one because it marked his first triumph as an owner/driver.

COLE CUSTER CRUISING

Cole Custer has hit his stride in the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang, registering 11 consecutive Top-10 performances that dates back to April 1 at Richmond Raceway. This feat, which is a season milestone, includes two wins (Portland and the Chicago Street Race) and three poles (Martinsville, Nashville, Chicago). He currently sits third in the points standings – climbing nine spots from the beginning of his streak.

FORD’S NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS

AT NHMS

1994 – Ricky Rudd

1996 – Ernie Irvan

1997 – Jeff Burton (1)

1998 – Jeff Burton (1)

1999 – Jeff Burton (1)

2000 – Jeff Burton (2)

2001 – Dale Jarrett (1)

2002 – Ryan Newman (2)

2004 – Kurt Busch (Sweep)

2008 – Greg Biffle (2)

2014 – Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano

2018 – Kevin Harvick

2019 – Kevin Harvick

2020 – Brad Keselowski

2021 – Aric Almirola

FORD’S NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WINNERS

AT NHMS

1994 – Derrike Cope

1995 – Chad Little

1999 – Elton Sawyer

2001 – Jason Keller

2002 – Bobby Hamilton Jr.

2004 – Matt Kenseth

2006 – Carl Edwards

2014 – Brad Keselowski