Just two more race remain in the Cup Series regular season starting with the Dollar Tree 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.
Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, and Tyler Reddick have locked in spots for the playoffs.
On an early Saturday morning, 36 drivers take to the track for a 50-minute practice session. The teams have two sets of tires for practice before making a qualifying run.
With possible bad weather on Sunday, NASCAR has moved the starting time for the race to 2pm.
Race sponsor Dollar Tree is celebrating 40 years of business and in honour of that NASCAR has allowed Legacy Motor Club to change the number on John Hunter Nemechek’s car from 42 to 40 for this race only.
Rubber build up is an issue at New Hampshire. During practice Chase Elliott had a big chunk of rubber from the tires come out of his car.
Shane van Gisbergen’s car has a starter issue that will have to be changed. NASSCAR has confirmed that making a starter change is not on the approved adjustment list and van Gisbergen will have to start the race from the back of the field.
Tyler Reddick reports that he can’t get anything out of the car, saying that it is “miserable out here”.
At the end of the practice session, Erik Jones topped the leaderboard in single lap times with 29.242 seconds around the just over a mile track.
The first car on the track to make a qualifying run is Cody Ware who posted a time of 29.822 seconds.
Shane van Gisbergen’s team reports that the starter issue “fixed itself”.
With a time of 29.054 seconds Tyler Reddick puts his 45 car on the pole with Josh Berry alongside on the front row. Reddick’s pole time is the fastest ever at New Hampshire in a Next Gen car.
The starting lineup for the Dollar Tree 301:
Tyler Reddick
Josh Berry
William Byron
Denny Hamlin
Shane van Gisbergen
Christopher Bell
Ty Gibbs
Ryan Blaney
Kyle Larson
Alex Bowman
Erik Jones
Ross Chastain
Todd Gilliland
Zane Smith
Michael McDowell
Chris Buescher
Chasse Briscoe
Ryan Preece
Noah Gragson
Connor Zilisch
Joey Logano
Carson Hocevar
Bubba Wallace
AJ Allmendinger
Brad Keselowski
Austin Cindric
Riley Herbst
Austin Hill
Chase Elliott
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
John Hunter Nemechek
Cole Custer
Ty Dillon
Austin Dillon
Daniel Suarez
Cody Ware
Stage one is 70 laps, stage two is 115, and stage three is 116 laps for a total of 301 laps around the one mile track. The drivers can run 90 to 95 laps on a single load of fuel.
Race control has instructed the teams to put the wet weather tires on the cars as a light rain falls as the drivers prepare to race for the giant lobster.
NASCAR determines the condition of the track and whether the drivers will race on wet weather or dry racing slicks. The biggest problem for the drivers will be visibility with the spray from the water on the track.
Carson Hocevar gets turned around on the pace laps.
NASCAR has brought the cars down pit road to wait out the current downpour. The drivers remain in their cars but the teams are covering the cars to keep things dry.
Track drying equipment is on the track to remove the excess water and puddles.
Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbss, Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe, Chase Elliott, and Chrisotpher Bell have all secured spots in the playoffs.
The rain has stopped and the track dryers are continuing to get rid of the excess water. Some of the teams have begun removing the car covers.
NASCAR has told the teams to take the covers off the cars.
NASCAR has given the command for the drivers to refire the engines and move out on the track so that the track dryers can come down pit road.
Unlike the road course races, the cars are not equipped with wipers.
The caution car driver reports that his windshield is dry.
NASCAR brings the cars down pit road to make another track dryer run on the front stretch.
On Friday NASCAR made the announcement that the start of the race would be moved up one hour due to possible bad weather. The bad weather arrived early and the race is going to start closer to the original race start.
The number 10 car of Ty Dillon and 51 car of Cody Ware will start the race from the back of the field after crews made unapproved adjustments to the cars.
Tyler Reddick brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with Josh Berry alongside. At 3:06 the green flag finally drops and the race is on. Drivers sspread out quickly and are four and five wide.
The first caution flag of the race comes out on lap one when leader Tyler Reddick spins out. Chris Buscher and Denny Hamlin were also involved.
William Byron is the new leader with Shane van Gisbergen in second.
William Byron brings the field down for the green flag restart with Shane van Gisbergen alongside on lap seven. Tyler Reddick restarts the race from last place. Byron takes the lead from the high line.
The top five are William Byron, Shane van Gisbergen, Ty Gibbs, Josh Berry, and Chrisotpher Bell.
Lap 10, William Byron has a near half second lead on Shane van Gisbergen; Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs, and Josh Berry round out the top five.
Lap 12, Christopher Bell passes Shane van Gisbergen for second.
Lap 14, the track is beginning to dry.
William Byron has a near one second lead on Christopher Bell; Shane van Gisbergen, Ty Gibbs, and Josh Berry round out the top five.
Lap 17, William Byron has pulled out to a lead of over a second on Christopher Bell.
Lap 21, the track is beginning to dry out and cause damage to the tires.
Shane van Gissbergen passes Christopher Bell for seconds.
John Hunter Nemechek gets loose but the track stays green.
Lap 25, Shane van Gisbergen battles with William Byron for the lead.
Lap 26, Shane van Gisbergen leads the race and begins to pull away.
Lap 28, Shane van Gisbergen has a lead of nearly three seconds on William Byron; Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs, and Josh Berry round out the top five.
Lap 30, Shane van Gisbergen has increased hiss lead to four seconds on William Byron and begun to lap slower cars.
Lap 32, Shane van Gisbergen now has a five second lead on William Byron; Josh Berry, Christopher Bell, and Kyle Larson round out the top five with 30 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 35, “Driving it like he stole it”, Shane van Gisbergen’s lead is now over seven seconds on William Byron.
NASCAR has called for a non-competitive caution on lap 40 for the drivers to come down pit road and change to the racing slicks.
Ross Chastain has some smoke coming out of the right side of his car.
Lap 41, NASCAR puts out the caution flag for a tire change to the dry racing slicks. Drivers will return to the track in the order they entered pit road.
The drivers are changing to the dry track tires but reports are the corners are still rather wet.
Ross Chastain has taken his car to the garage for repairs.
John Hunter Nemechek will have to restart the race from the back of the field after coming down pit road while it was still closed.
Ross Chastain’s crew reports they are out of the race with a drive trane issue.
Shane van Gisbergen brings the field down for the green flag restart with Josh Berry alongside on lap 50. Getting a push from William Byron, Shane van Gisbergen takes the lead with William Byron in second; Kyle Larson, Josh Berry, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.
The caution flag comes out on lap 51 when Ricky Stenhouse Jr gets into the wall.
Pit road is open for a quicky yellow (all drivers may pit at the same time – lead lap and non-lead lap drivers.
Shane van Gisbergen brings the field down for the green flag restart with William Byron alongside on lap 56. Driverss get three wide. Shane van Gisbergen takes the lead with Kyle Larson in second; Christopher Bell, Carson Hocevar, and William Byron round out the top five.
Lap 57, Kyle Larson passes Shane van Gisbergen for the lead.
Lap 59, Connor Zilisch has moved up 13 spots since the start of the race.
Lap 60, Shane van Gisbergen has dropped to eighth place since losing the lead.
Lap 62, Kyle Larson has a one second lead on Christopher Bell; Carson Hocevar, William Byron, and Ty Gibbs round out the top five.
With eight laps to go in stage one, Shane van Gisbergen battles with Connor Zilissch; Ryan Blaney comes up on the outside and passes both Trackhouse drivers.
Four to go, Josh Berry passes Ty Gibbs for fifth.
Ryan Preece passes Shane van Gisbergen for eighth.
Kyle Larson wins stage one for his sixth stage win of the seasson.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Kyle Larson
Christopher Bell
Carson Hocevar
William Byron
Josh Berry
Ryan Blaney
Ty Gibbs
Ruam Preece
Shane van Gisbergen
Chase Briscoe
Tyler Reddick is the “lucky dog” and back on the lead lap.
Pit road is open and most of the field comes down for service with some of the teams having issues during their stops.
William Byron was charged with leaving his pit box with equipment and will have to restart the race from the back of the field.
After staying out on the track, Ryan Preece is the race leader.
Ryan Preece brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 79.
Ryan Preece leads the race with Zane Smith in second; Chris Buescher, Kyle Larson, and Josh Berry round out the top five.
Lap 81, Josh Berry and Kyle Larson battle for fourth.
The caution flag comes out on lap 83 for a wreck involving Carson Hocevar, Joey Logano, and Brad Keselowsski. Connor Zilisch makes contact with Hocevar and spins around. Logano and Austin Dillon make contact and Logano gets spun around.
Some of the drivers come down pit road for service. At some point in the stage all of the drivers will have to make a pit stop to have enough fuel to make it to the end of the stage.
Ryan Preece brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 90 and holds on to the lead.
The top five are Ryan Preece, Josh Berry, Zane Smith, Bubba Wallace, and Ryan Blaney.
Bubba Wallace passes Zane Smith for third. Ryan Blaney passes Zane Smith for fourth.
Lap 92, Josh Berry passes Ryan Preece for the lead.
The drivers gets three and four wide across the track.
Lap 93, Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney battle for third.
Lap 98, Josh Berry has a near two second lead on Ryan Blaney; Ryan Preece, Bubba Wallace, and Chris Buescher round out the top five.
NASCAR has black flagged the three car of Austin Dillon for exceeding his “crash clock” time on pit road. Dillon will have to serve a passthrough penalty.
Lap 103, Denny Hamlin has entered the top 10.
Bubba Wallace passes Ryan Preece for third.
Joey Logano and Carson Hocevar battle for the “lucky dog” spot.
Lap 111, Josh Berry leads the race but Ryan Blaney is coming on fast; Bubba Wallace, Ryan Preece, and Chris Buescher round out the top five. Berry and Blaney are five seconds in front of the remainder of the field.
Two members of Ryan Preece’s crew were discussing when to bring Preece down for a pit stop. Preece told them he was going to keep driving and let him know when they figure it out.
Lap 122, Zane Smith and Austin Cindric begin the cycle of green flag pit stops.
Carson Hocevar and Connor Zilisch encounter each other on the track again.
Lap 123, Ryan Preece makes his pit stop.
Lap 125, green flag pit stops continue.
Josh Berry has led 34 laps so far – the most ever for the Wood Brothers Racing who have never won a race at Loudon.
Lap 132, Bubba Wallace is the first of the top five drivers to make a pit stop.
Lap 133, the top five are Josh Berry, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick and Todd Gilliland as pit stop continue.
Leader Josh Berry make his pit stop. Noah Gragson is the new leader.
Lap 136, Daniel Suarez, Cole Custer, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr are the only drivers in the top 10 who have not made a pit stop. Josh Berry is the leader of the race.
Lap 137, the top five are Josh Berry, Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Preece, and Daniel Suarez.
Lap 140, Josh Berry has less then a two tenths of a second lead on Ryan Blaney.
Lap 142, there are 26 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 145, Josh Berry has led 53 laps so far as he continues to show off why he should be picked up as a driver next season. Earlier in the season the Wood Brothers announced that Josh Berry would not be returning to the number 21 car; but the Wood Brothers have not named a replacement for Berry yet.
Lap 149, after several laps of battling, Ryan Blaney finally passes Josh Berry for the lead.
Lap 150, the top five are Ryan Blaney, Josh Berry, Bubba Walalce, Ryan Preece, and Chris Buescher.
Lap 153, there are just 24 cars on the lead lap with Ross Chastain the only driver out of the race.
The RFK Racing drivers are running 4-5-6 – Ryan Preece, Chris Buescher, and Brad Keselowski.
Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson battle for sixth. Kyle Larson takes the spot.
Ty Gibbs reports he has a “plowing tight car”.
Lap 171, there are just 18 cars on the lead lap.
Ryan Blaney has a lead of less than one second as she battle with slower traffic.
After his lap one crash, Tyler Reddick is up to thirteenth.
Shane van Gisbergen is the last car on the lead lap in 16th.
Just nine laps remain in stage two; Ryan Blaney has a lead of over a second on Josh Berry; Bubba Wallace, Ryan Preece, and Kyle Larson round out the top five.
Five laps remain in stage two, Ryan Blaney holds a second and a half lead on Josh Berry; Bubba Wallace, Ryan Preece, and Kyle Larson round out the top five.
Ryan Blaney wins stage two for his seventh stage win this season – the most of any driver.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Ryan Blaney
Josh Berry
Bubba Wallace
Ryan Preece
Kyle Larson
Brad Keselowski
Chris Buescher
Ty Gibbs
Denny Hamlin
Christopher Bell
Zane Smith is the “lucky dog”.
Drivers come down pit road for service with Bubba Wallace winning the race off of pit road. Ryan Blaney had a slow stop with a tire issue.
Bubba Wallace brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three with Josh Berry alongside on lap 194. Josh Berry jumps out to take the lead but Bubba Wallace comes up on the outside to battle for the lead.
The top five are josh Berry, Bubba Wallace, ryan Preece, Kyle Larson, and Christopher Bell.
Lap 198, Denny Hamlin has entered the top 10, behind Tyler Reddick.
Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin beat and bang each other.
Lap 202, the caution flag comes out for Carson Hocevar who spins out again.
Several drivers come down pit road for service; including drivers that took the wave around at the end of the stage. The drivers can make it to the end of the race on fuel from this point…but will the tires???
Denny Hamlin comes down pit road but his crew wasn’t ready.
Chase Elliott is reporting a water temperature issue.
Josh Berry brings the field down for the green flag restart with Bubba Wallace alongside on lap 209. Josh Berry takes the lead but Bubba Wallace comes up to battle and takes the lead.
The top five are Bubba Wallace, Josh Berry, Ryan Preece, Kyle Larson, and Ty Gibbs.
Drivers are getting three wide as the battles get more aggressive.
With 88 laps to go, Christopher Bell passes Brad Keselowski for sixth.
With 86 laps to go, Josh Berry is just a quarter of a second behind Bubba Wallace.
With 84 laps to go, Josh Berry and Bubba Wallace battle for the lead.
With 80 laps to go, Josh Berry bumped bubba Wallace and took the lead.
Bubba reciprocates and takes the lead back. Ryan Prrece moves up and is on Josh Berry’s bumper.
Ryan Preece moves up on the outside and passes Josh Berry for second.
Riley Herbst gets into the wall hard after contact from Michael McDowell to bring out the caution flag. Connor Zilisch is also involved in a “wrong place, wrong time” situation. Herbst is out of the car and walks to the ambulance.
Drivers are on pit road for tires and fuel to make it to the end of the race. Taking only two tires, Ryan Blaney wins the race off of pit road. Several drivers took only two tires with over 75 laps remaining in the race.
Josh Berry had a slow pit stop with tire issues.
Ryan Blaney brings the field down for the green flag restart with William Byron alongside with 70 laps remaining in the race. Drivers get three wide on the restart with Ryan Blaney in the lead.
The top five are Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, and Zane Smith.
William Byron gets into the wall after losing his left rear tire to bring out the caution flag.
A few drivers come down pit road for service.
There are now 30 cars on the lead lap.
The sun has made an appearance above the track.
Ryan Blaney brings the field down for the green flag restart with 63 laps remaining in the race with Chase Briscoe alongside. Drivers are three and four wide going into turn one. Ryan Blaney and Chasse Briscoe battle for the lead. Bubba Wallace and Ryan Preece battle for third.
Sixty laps to go, Ryan Blaney and Chase Briscoe battle for the lead; Bubba Wallace, Ryan Preece, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.
Ryan Blaney takes the lead and pulls away.
With 59 to go, Ryan Blaney has a lead of over half a second.
The Hurricane Carson Hocevar is running the fastest laps on the track.
With 58 to go, Bubba Wallace passes Chase Briscoe for second.
Just 53 to go, Ryan Blaney has a lead of over a second on Bubba Wallace; Ryan Preece, Christopher Bell, and Josh Berry round out the top five.
Erik Joness is slowed on the track with reported transmission issues. He uses the road course to work his way to pit road.
With 47 to go, Ryan Blaney has a near two second lead on Bubba Wallace; Ryan Preece and Christopher Bell battle for third with Josh Berry rounding out the top five.
Forty to go, the top five are Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Preece, Christopher Bell, and Josh Berry.
Ryan Blaney has a near two second lead on Bubba Wallace but Wallace is running slightly faster laps than the leader.
With 35 to go Christopher Bell, Ryan Preece, and Josh Berry battle for third with Christopher Bell in third followed by Josh Berry and Ryan Preece.
Josh Berry passes Christopher Bell for third.
Josh Berry is running the fastest laps on the track.
Thirty to go, Ryan Blaney has a near two second lead on Bubba Wallace; Josh Berry, Christopher Bell, and Ryan Preece round out the top five.
With 26 laps remaining in the race, leaders are approaching slower traffic.
With 23 laps to go, leader Ryan Blaney is having no trouble passing slower traffic.
Twenty to go! Ryan Blaney has a two second lead on Bubba Wallace; Josh Berry, Christopher Bell, and Kyle Larson round out the top five.
With 16 laps to go, there are 25 cars on the lead lap. Ryan Blaney continues to hold a two second lead on bubba Wallace; Josh Berry, Christopher Bell, and Kyle Larson round out the top five.
Twelve to go, Bubba Wallace has closed the gap on leader Ryan Blaney to under a second and a half.
Eleven to go, Bubba Wallace is less than a second behind leader Ryan Blaney and just two seconds separate the top three.
Seven to go and more traffic for the leader to negotiate. Bubba Wallace is less than a second behind.
Six to go, Ryan Blaney is less than half a second in front of Bubba Wallace; Josh Berry is less than a second and a half behind the leader.
Bubba Wallace locked up the rear tires but has recovered and is just half a second behind leader Ryan Blaney.
Just 19 cars on the lead lap.
Ryan Blaney takes the white flag with Bubba Wallace over half a second behind.
Leading 115 laps, Ryan Blaney goes back to back to win the giant lobster for a second year in a row.
The unofficial results of the Dollar Tree 301:
Ryan Blaney
Bubba Wallace
Josh Berry
Christopher Bell
Kyle Larson
Ty Gibbs
Denny Hamlin
Tyler Reddick
Ryan Preece
Noah Gragson
Brad Keselowski
Austin Cindric
Zane Smith
Joey Logano
Alex Bowman
Michael McDowell
Daniel Suarez
Chris Buescher
Carson Hocevar
Shane van Gisbergen
Todd Gilliland
Cole Custer
AJ Allmendinger
Austin Hill
Chasse Elliott
Chase Briscoe
Ty Dillon
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Cody Ware
William Byron
John Hunter Nemechek
Austin Dillon
Erik Jones
Riley Herbst
Connor Zilisch
Ross Chastain