Over the previous weekend we watched a very happy race driver very carefully hold up a giant lobster in victory lane at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship officially began and we were amazed when the guy who should have been eating that lobster ran out of gas. One of the largest motorsports fan clubs in the country found their smile again and NASCAR’s favorite “rowdy” driver spent Saturday doing what he does best: winning. With all of these thoughts in mind let’s begin with:

HOORAH to Clint Bowyer for an outstanding driver performance that led to him winning last Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire. Bowyer and his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was a major player all through this race and led 177 of 300 laps. But he was running second with two laps left when race leader Tony Stewart heard the heartbreaking sputter of an engine that had ran out of gas.

A little over a week ago we were all commenting on how Clint Bowyer slipped through the NASCAR Sprint Cup back door, following the Richmond Race, to claim the coveted 12th and final berth in the Chase line up. There was commentary that indicated that he wasn’t expected to be a major player in the Sprint Cup championship. However, Bowyer’s first win in 88 races vaulted him from 12th to second in the standings and he now has every one’s attention.

Here’s hoping that Bowyer is going to treat his pit crew to the finest steak and lobster dinner available in the state of New Hampshire. Led by crew chief Shane Wilson, that crew deserves a rarely issued double HOORAH for their flawless performance on pit road that kept their driver at the front of the field all day long.

HOORAH to the winning team’s sponsors General Mills and their Cheerios and Hamburger Helper brands. After being sponsors of NASCAR Sprint Cup teams for 14 years, General Mills scored their first ever race win at New Hampshire. A team celebration dinner featuring Cheerios, Hamburger Helper and that giant lobster actually sounds pretty good despite the fact that Bowyer admitted, on Monday afternoon, that he’s not exactly sure where the giant lobster is.

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Denny Hamlin’s second place finish earns him the HOORAH award for turning chicken do-do into chicken salad. While running fourth, with 85 laps to go, Hamlin’s Toyota was hit by a very loose Ford driven by Carl Edwards. Hamlin spun out and, amazingly, the on coming race traffic managed to avoid hitting him. Following a trip down pit road for new tires, Hamlin restarted the race in 22nd. It turned out to be a good situation. That unscheduled stop also allowed the team to pack the tank with fuel. Hamlin was one of the few front runners at the end of the race who had more than enough fuel to finish the race. When the checkers fell on the race, Hamlin had managed to cut Bowyer’s lead down to a mere 0.477 seconds.

Kevin Harvick also deserves a HOORAH for making the chicken do-do to salad transformation in his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. For someone whose nickname is “Happy”, Harvick was not feeling any joy at all during much of the Sylvania 300. Harvick became increasingly angry over the way his car was handling, how pit road adjustments didn’t seem to remedy the situation and even expressed anger over pit road calls and performance. Some of the transmissions from his in car radio were often brutal. But, true to his form all season long, this driver and team returned to reading from the same page and Harvick was able to turn a non effective day into a fifth place finish. It also allowed him to maintain his rock solid status as a bonafide Chase contender.

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WAZZUP with Chase contenders pushing the fuel mileage limits during this race? The trend started late in the race when Jeff Burton’s potential top five finish turned into a disappointing 15th place in the final running order.

Then there was the gut wrenching matter regarding Tony Stewart. This team was strong all day and the Sylvania 300 clearly belonged to them. But no one expected a long green flag run in the late stages of the race. The additional yellow flag that crew chiefs were counting on never arrived. Stewart’s tank ran dry with two laps left. He helplessly limped across the finish line to a 24th place finish while Bowyer was doing victory burn outs directly behind them.

However, Stewart more than deserves a HOORAH for being a class act after the race. After making it a point to congratulate Bowyer and saying how much fun it was racing with him, Stewart shouldered the blame for his situation by saying “I ran myself out of fuel. That’s racing; you never know who’s going to win until it’s over. That’s what makes this sport so exciting.”

Even the race winner was not immune from the stress of fuel mileage. His tank was perilously low during the final two laps of the race. But he couldn’t afford to back off of his pace because a hard charging Denny Hamlin, with plenty of fuel, had Bowyer in his sights.

Bowyer later stated that he clearly hear the nervous tone in his crew chief’s voice when they were discussing fuel issues during the final moments of the race and he did his best to heed that warning. How close did Bowyer push the fuel limits? He required the services of a wrecker to get him to victory lane.

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WAZZUP with four time Sprint Cup champion, and pre Chase favorite, Jimmie Johnson and his long day in New Hampshire? First off, there was that extremely aggressive racing with Denny Hamlin within the first five laps of the race. That action became so tight that even Chad Knaus, Johnson’s always stoic crew chief, felt compelled to get on the radio and tell his driver “there’s no need to go three wide this early.”

The next anxious moment for team #48 came with 78 laps to go. By his admission Kurt Busch came too hard into a turn and collected Jeff Burton. That in turn led to the proverbial accordion effect which saw Johnson spinning after contact with Kyle Busch.

But the WAZZUP factor concerns a very rare mistake made on pit road by this team. With 45 laps left in the race, Johnson reported that he felt one of the wheels were loose. An unscheduled green flag pit stop uncovered the fact that the problem was the right front wheel. Johnson returned to the track nearly two laps down while the team watched a strong top five finish turn into a 25th place finish.

However, Johnson does get a HOORAH for displaying the attitude of a champion prior to the Sylvania 300. The ESPN television team did a series of interviews with the 12 Chase contenders asking them who among them was the biggest threat to win the 2010 Sprint Cup. Most of the replies were vanilla soaked and diplomatic. While the #48 team was mentioned often, most of the replies were centered around the fact that any and all Chase teams were capable of winning the title. When Johnson was asked the same question he quickly replied “I am the biggest threat for the championship, I’m going down fighting while thinking that all the way through.” That, racing fans, is the true sign of a championship caliber driver and team

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You also have to send a WAZZUP to Matt Kenseth for the harsh luck he received during the opening race of the Chase. While fighting handling issues all race long, in his Roush Fenway Racing Ford, Kenseth got tagged, with 67 laps to go, by pole sitter Brad Keselowski. The Kenseth Ford spun and slammed backwards into the wall. The team was able to get their driver back into the race but the net result was a disappointing 23d place finish.

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A double HOORAH goes out to Dale Earnhardt Jr, crew chief Lance McGrew and the entire #88 team for their strong fourth place finish. With the disappointing results this team has seen all year long a solid run like this one had to seem like a win for them. The #88 team was actually the strongest of the four Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets and nobody remembers the last time we’ve been able to say that. During a mid race recap ESPN broadcaster Brad Daugherty actually yelled “hey, look at June Bug,” the long time nickname given the driver by his famous father. The Junior Nation will be smiling this week.

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HOORAH to Kyle Busch for winning the Race Day Raffle Series Dot Com 175 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event Saturday at New Hampshire. Busch started the race from the pole and led 156 laps while earning his fifth series win in only 11 starts this season. It was also his 80th win in a NASCAR national touring series event.

Another HOORAH goes out to Busch and Kevin Harvick for their non stop, all race long, side by side racing efforts. What we had here was two full time Sprint Cup drivers, who are also truck team owners, putting on a show that thrilled everyone who watched it.

HOORAH for James Buescher, the 20 year old Texas driver, who almost stole the show from the series veterans. With ten laps to go, Busch and Harvick were again side by side with some occasional contact between the two trucks. Meanwhile Buescher reeled them in and made a beauty of a low line pass to jump from third to the lead.

But the appearance of a first time series winner evaporated three laps later when the eighth and final caution flag came out to turn the race ending into another green-white-checker finish the series is so famous for. In those final laps, Busch performed a slide job on Buescher to reclaim the lead. But in the process of making that pass, Busch slammed hard into the backstretch wall and nearly took Buescher with him. Busch would later say that he hit was so hard that “it knocked my racing helmet sideways.” Somehow Busch managed to keep his truck under control and took the win with Buescher a mere 0.280 seconds away from his bumper.

Buescher was less than thrilled about the way the race ended and presented Busch with the one finger wave during the cool down lap. He gets a WAZZUP for that gesture. But it’s not because it was the wrong thing to to. In fact, it was pretty funny. Buescher has been in the truck series long enough to know that a hand gesture is only going to fuel Kyle Busch’s sarcastic sense of humor and the gesture isn’t going to phase him at all. That’s the reason for the WAZZUP.

It was back to the left and right turns for the 25^th running of the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at Watkins Glen in upstate New York.  The Cup Series took 90 laps around the 2.45 mile road and here is what is surprising and not surprising from the race at the Glen this past weekend.

Surprising:  After two consecutive failures to win due to four tire pit strategy decisions, crew chief Brian Pattie finally made the right call and took Juan Pablo Montoya and the No. 42 Target Chevrolet to victory lane.  This was Montoya’s second career win in the Sprint Cup Series and Pattie’s first ever win as a crew chief and undoubtedly has gone a long way to easing the tensions on that Earnhardt Ganassi Racing team.

Not Surprising:  After calling Hendrick Motorsports rivals Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon ‘pretty boys’, both of whom have also annoyed him on the track as well, Kurt Busch flexed his road course muscle at Watkins Glen with a second place run.  With his runner up finish, Busch was also the biggest winner in the point standings, advancing three positions to fourth place.

Surprising:  Marcos Ambrose, who scored his third Nationwide win at the Glen on Saturday, was in contention yet again for another victory on a road course on Sunday.  Unfortunately, the racing gods and an ill-handling car resulted in another disappointment for the Australian, who finished the race in the third position.  Ambrose noted it was just another down in the up and down roller coaster ride of his season, from his surprising gaffe at Sonoma to his announcement of his departure from JTG-Daugherty Racing at the end of this season. 

Not Surprising:  Carl Edwards, who started the race from the pole position, had a solid run at the Glen.  He brought his No. 99 Aflac Ford home in the fifth spot, advancing up to the ninth position in the Chase race.

Surprising:  Hendrick ‘pretty boy’ Jimmie Johnson was nowhere to be found on the leader board at the Glen.  Johnson had a Tiger Woods type day, colliding with Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch after a three-wide attempt through the turn, ending his day in 28^th and falling to the fifth position in the point standings.

Not Surprising:   Hendrick teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr., never one known for his road racing abilities, lived up to that reputation with a disappointing 26^th place finish.  Junior lost two more spots in the point standings falling to 16^th, 690 points behind and undoubtedly out of contention for the Chase.

Surprising:  After signing a multi-year contract with Richard Petty Motorsports, AJ Allmendinger became not only the alpha dog at RPM but also a top five finisher at the Glen.  The ‘Dinger brought home the No. 43 Insignia HDTV Ford in the fourth spot, after qualifying it in that very same position.

Not Surprising:  Jamie McMurray, who started the race on the outside pole, has continued to prove his prowess on road courses as well as ovals.  He brought his No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet to the checkered flag in the sixth position, notching another top ten finish for the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing team.

Surprising:   Tony Stewart, with one of the best records overall at Watkins Glen International, was not really a contender for the win during Sunday’s Cup competition.  Stewart had a top ten, coming in seventh, with his teammate Ryan Newman following behind in 12^th.

Not Surprising:  Jeff Gordon, proud second-time papa to son Leo Benjamin born after the conclusion of the race at the Glen, was strong all race long.  He was able to pass point’s leader Kevin Harvick, who was struggling with a tire issue at the end, to secure a top-ten finish, taking the checkered flag in tenth position.

Surprising:  The final foursome of the Hendrick Motorsports team Mark Martin had a top twenty run at the Glen, finishing in the 19^th position in the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet.  But even more important, with that finish Martin has now climbed to the coveted final position in the Chase race, up one spot to 12^th in the point standings.

Not Surprising:  While no one seems to be paying much attention, veteran Jeff Burton had a top-10 finish on the road course.  With his ninth place race finish, Burton climbed two positions closer to the top and now rests third, right behind the other Jeff in the Chase race.

Surprising:  The so-called ‘road course ringers’ had a heluva bad time at the Glen.  Boris Said, who was finally in good equipment with the Red Bull team, tussled with Tony Stewart and finished a disappointing 38^th.  Fellow road course aces Ron Fellows and PJ Jones fared no better, finishing in 40^th and 41^st respectively.

Not Surprising:  Kyle Busch pulled out another good finish after an eventful race.  Yet even after an eighth place finish, Busch dropped one position in the Chase standings to the seventh spot.

The Cup Series will now head to the Irish hills of Michigan for the CARFAX 400.  The race will be broadcast at 1:00 PM ET on ESPN from Michigan International Speedway.

Last Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway showed that there may actually be a light at the end of the tunnel for the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team. That light is still pretty dim and quite a ways away, but it’s there.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. — who missed his third chase in four years — battled back from 32nd place starting position and adversity on pit road to finish fourth.

[media-credit name=”Kirk Schroll | Speedway Media” align=”alignright” width=”400″][/media-credit]In fact, after several races of being the worst finishing Hendrick Motorsports driver, Earnhardt earned the best finish among his HMS comrades.

Earnhardt had reached the top-ten by the middle of the race, but lost some spots on pit road when Regan Smith blocked NASCAR’s most popular driver into his pit box. His crew had to push his car back to give Earnhardt room to maneuver his car out of his pit area, losing several spots.

That wasn’t the only adversity he faced during the day, however. Earnhardt had two multi-car wrecks happen in close proximity to his Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet that he had to avoid. He and his crew were also burdened with a broken jack-stop.

At times Earnhardt was running faster laps than the leaders. Although, in the end, Earnhardt didn’t have the track position to break his more than two-year winless streak in the Sprint Cup Series.

“The setbacks we had today hurt us a lot,” Earnhardt said. “I want to thank AMP Energy and National Guard and the team, they worked really hard. We unloaded a great car, they did a good job preparing it at the shop. We worked on it all weekend. It was pretty good in practice and we improved on it a little bit. We had an eighth place finish last time and felt like we were really fast and competitive all day long. We can’t qualify very good here, but once we get in race trim, we just kind of go to the front or get near the front.”

“It felt like we had a top-10 car and we had the jack-stop break and had to go to the back and then a miscommunication with the No. 78 (Regan Smith) on pit that cost us a half of a lap under green, just battling back from that stuff. Track position was what we needed at the end, we didn’t have it.”

While Earnhardt’s points situation is now a moot-point, he did improve one position to the 18th points position, trailing 13th place Ryan Newman by 153 points.

New Hampshire was a nice rebound for Earnhardt, who finished a disappointing 38th at Richmond two weeks ago. Earnhardt’s teammate, Jimmie Johnson, will be looking for a similar rebound next weekend.

After Johnson battled up from a 25th place starting position, he was involved in a spin with the Busch brothers — Kyle and Kurt — on lap 223, receiving minor damage to his car.

A few laps later, a loose wheel would force Johnson to pit again and lose two laps to take him and his No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet out of race contention. Johnson, who entered the race second in points, dropped to seventh and will need to stay out of trouble at Dover and in the coming weeks to stay alive in the title hunt.

“We showed up today, we did what we could,” Johnson said. “We had a decent car today and ran in the top-five and top-ten but just didn’t end up finishing there. We’ll go home and get back to work and go after it again next week.”

In Johnson’s defense, he and his team are arguably the best team in the sport when it comes to digging themselves out of adversity. Which is exactly the supporting evidence used by Clint Bowyer, who said after the race that Johnson’s team is certainly not out of the championship discussion.

“Teams like the No. 48 are so good at rebounding; you can’t ever count those guys out,” Bowyer said. “For us, our strengths are how consistent we are. And we haven’t won a race yet this year. So while we’re trying to win races in these final 10, we can’t necessarily just expect it to happen; maybe like some other guys might be feeling. So we can’t afford to go out there and have a 25th place finish today.”

Johnson now trails points leader Denny Hamlin by 92 points heading into Chase race No. 2 next weekend at Dover. Johnson was the worst finishing chaser of the day and was one of three that finished outside of the top-20.

Tony Stewart appeared to be on his way to victory — until he ran out of fuel with one lap to go. By the time Stewart had coasted around to the checkered flag, he was scored 24th.

“I’m not happy, that’s for sure, but we went down swinging,” Stewart said. “It’s hard to lose one that way but at the same time it was fun racing Clint like that. He was definitely the fastest car and congratulations to those guys. It’s a tough way to start the Chase but I’m proud of my guys. Darian (Grubb, crew chief) kept swinging at it all day and finally on that last set of tires we got it halfway decent.”

Stewart dropped five points positions to 11th in points, trailing Hamlin by 124 points.

Matt Kenseth was the other chaser to finish outside of the top-20 on Sunday. He recorded a 23rd place finish and dropped one spot to 12th in the Chase standings. He is now faced with a 136-point deficit.

“Our Crown Royal Ford was just tight in the middle and needed help turning in the front today,” Kenseth said. “The guys made adjustments all race long but we just didn’t run very well. We got caught up in that wreck, had a lot of damage to the car, and it was just a really long day for us.”

26 races down and now the Chase begins. With the points for those in the top dozen reset, it essentially comes down to who will get hot over these last ten events and claim the season crown.

Denny Hamlin leads Jimmie Johnson by ten as they venture to New Hampshire on Sunday. Sure, neither have exactly been blazing a trail to the title just yet, though Hamlin thawed out to win last week and both have done very well at the Loudon track.

Carl Edwards has been the hot hand in recent weeks, but he has never won at the New England venue. Tony Stewart and every other Chaser, with the exception of Matt Kenseth, have visited that Victory Lane at least once. Jeff Burton has been there four times. It would be a good time for the invisible man to take off the bandages and be seen.

Clint Bowyer has sure been noticed in recent weeks, and for good reason. Kyle Busch seems to be waking from his slumber, while brother Kurt has six top tens in ten weeks. His misfortune is that when he isn’t up front, he is somewhere near the back of the pack.

Then there are those previewing for 2011. Juan Pablo Montoya, Jamie McMurray, and David Reutimann have been among our best in recent weeks. Can they go from being considered pretenders to potential contenders by the time we go into winter hibernation?

As they begin the Chase, here are our top 20 over the past ten events…

1 (2) Carl Edwards – 1495 pts – 5 Top Fives, 8 Top Tens
Some cousins are kissin’, some are flippin’

2 (1) Tony Stewart – 1434 pts – 1 Win, 4 Top Fives, 7 Top Tens
Does this make Tony the under dog?

6 (4) Jeff Gordon – 1351 pts – 3 Top Fives, 5 Top Tens
Number 5 is alive, but can he keep it that way?
    
7 (12) Juan Pablo Montoya – 1346 pts – 1 Win, 1 Top Five, 5 Top Tens
Too late for this year, but this fall could be a preview of the spring

9 (7) Jamie McMurray – 1260 pts – 1 Win, 3 Top Fives, 4 Top Tens
Maybe this year was just a sneak preview of what is to come.

10 (14) Matt Kenseth – 1254 pts – 1 Top Five, 2 Top Tens
He is here thanks to being no worse than 18th over the past ten.

11 (11) David Reutimann – 1234 pts – 1 Win, 2 Top Fives, 2 Top Tens
See above for an idea as to why, and toss in a win for good measure.

13 (13) Ryan Newman – 1229 pts – 3 Top Tens
Not in their Top 12, but could wind up in our’s before the season ends.

16 (22) Denny Hamlin – 1159 pts – 1 Win, 3 Top Fives, 4 Top Tens
Could another trip to the bottled shower be coming up at Loudon?

17 (10) Kasey Kahne – 1151 pts – 2 Top Fives, 3 Top Tens
I miss the girls, I miss the good hands guy from 24

18 (20) A.J. Allmendinger – 1109 pts – 1 Top Five, 3 Top Tens
Anagrams of his name include “renal melding” and “gnarled me nil.”

18 (21) Martin Truex Jr – 1109 pts – 2 Top Tens
The only Martin, Truex, or Junior to be found on the list this week

20 (18) Marcos Ambrose – 1096 pts – 2 Top Fives, 3 Top Tens
Down under on the list this week with six of last ten outside the top twenty

While the twelve drivers set to compete in NASCAR’s Chase may share the dream of being the sport’s champion, reaping the benefits of being “top dog” for the year, each one of them comes to the Chase with their own individual hopes, dreams, and motivations.

Denny Hamlin currently sits in the cat bird’s seat, with the most wins and the most bonus points giving him top seed. But there is no doubt that the motivation and the will for Hamlin’s championship run was born in March when he had to succumb to knee surgery to repair the damage he did in the off season playing basketball.

Despite incredible pain, Hamlin got right back into his car and soldiered on, demonstrating to himself and his team that he had the fortitude to compete, for that race and now for the championship. He continues to exude that toughness and confidence, which is no doubt his motivation as he prepares do to battle to keep that top seed to the end.

“We’re tough right now,” Hamlin said. “We’ve got the most wins and hopefully that will carry us for the rest of the season. At this point, I’d say we could win all of them.”

The motivation for the number two driver coming into the first Chase race is simple. Jimmie Johnson just wants to make history….again. Johnson conquered that feat last year when he was the first NASCAR driver ever to win four consecutive championships. He would make history again with a fifth in a row.

“It’s been awfully tough to win four in a row, but we’ll show up and give 100 percent,” Johnson said. “We just want to do our best.”

The third seed was first throughout most of season and Kevin Harvick, living up to his nickname, is just ‘happy’ to be there. After a miserable year last year when he not only missed the Chase but was close to leaving Richard Childress Racing, Kevin Harvick is back with a vengeance and his motivation is no doubt to prove that he truly is now at the top of the game.

“I think it’s the most competitive that we have ever been,” Harvick said. “We are competitive as far as speed and the things that you need to race for wins and win the championship.”

Kyle Busch may not be known as necessarily ‘happy’ but he seems almost elated to be in the Chase, especially after being on the outside looking in last year. For Busch, his championship motivation is to show the world and all of the fans that love to hate him that he is the real deal and can actually seal the deal.

“You fight every day of your year to make the Chase,” Busch said. “This is all part of the fighting to get to the point where you can fight some more through the last ten weeks against the best in racing.”

Busch’s older brother Kurt is just nipping at the heels of his baby brother in this year’s Chase in the fifth starting position. So, perhaps Kurt Busch’s motivation is just that…to show his sibling just who is king of the hill in the world of NASCAR.

But Busch has another Chase motivation and dream. He wants to be the one who survives the fray, finally bringing home the NASCAR Sprint Cup to his ‘captain’ Roger Penske for the first time in the sport.

“I know from experience that you can get it going in the right direction,” Busch said. “You can keep the momentum growing and sort of build some insurance for something bad happening later on during the ten-race stretch.”

Sixth seed Tony Stewart only has to look at his uniform for his Chase motivation, sporting ‘Stewart-Haas Racing’ on his chest. Stewart would be the first owner driver since Alan Kulwicki to claim the championship.

“You do what it takes and you do what you have to do, but I feel like we’ve got a lot of momentum right now,” Stewart said. “It’s just been a lot of hard work with our organization and the results are starting to show.”

For seventh seed Greg Biffle, ninth seed Carl Edwards, and eleventh seed Matt Kenseth, there is simply one motivation to claim the Cup, that of honoring team leader Jack Roush who has been through so much this year, surviving yet another plane crash and losing sight in one eye. These three drivers will have one similar mantra, “Win it for Jack.”

Jeff Gordon, who has been so consistent this season yet gone winless, is motivated to show he still has what it takes, even in the waning years of his career. Like his teammate Johnson, the ‘original four time’ champ is also hoping to continue his ‘drive for five’ effort.

“When it comes to championships, I always like to lean toward experience,” Gordon said. “I think we are really solid. I think we’ve got an awesome shot at the championship.”

The ‘other’ Jeff, with the last name of Burton, currently heads into the Chase for the Championship in the tenth spot. His motivation is that he is desperate to be at the head table of the NASCAR banquet before he ends his racing career.

“It’s going to be intense,” Burton said. “When you waited your whole life for something and it’s in front of you, it’s going to be intense, it’s going to be full of emotion, and as it should be.”

The final Chase driver, Clint Bowyer, hung on to make it in and is bringing up the Chase rear. His whole motivation is to prove that he has every right to be in the championship hunt.

“You kind of go in as the underdog under the radar,” Bowyer said. “The good thing is that we do have a lot of momentum right now. That’s what got us in this thing.”

Regardless of their motivations, hopes or dreams, twelve drivers will now officially start the competition for the coveted Cup. Their Chase will begin with the first race this weekend at Loudon, New Hampshire, continuing on to the final showdown in Homestead, where one of these twelve will be crowned as the best in this year’s class.