Jimmie Johnson – The top seed in the Chase with six wins, Johnson won both NHIS Cup races in 2003 and is averaging an 11th-place finish here after 11 starts.
Jeff Gordon – Gordon has won three times at New Hampshire. He’s also finished second here three times, including his runner-up result here this summer – ironic, considering Gordon comes into the event having dropped from first to second in points. After 25 Cup races at NHIS, Gordon is averaging a 12th-place finish.
Tony Stewart – In the last five NHIS Cup races, Stewart has won once and finished second twice. He also won here back in 2000.
Carl Edwards – Edwards finished second here in 2006, but that was his only top-10 result in the six NHIS Cup races he’s run.
Kurt Busch – Busch swept both races at NHIS in 2004, his championship season – but since then, he’s got just one top-five finish, with nothing better than 19th to show for his last four starts at the track.
Denny Hamlin – Hamlin won here this summer and finished fourth and sixth in last year’s two Cup NHIS events. Thus, after three starts Hamlin is averaging better than a fourth-place finish.
Matt Kenseth – Kenseth has top-10 finishes in 10 of the 15 Cup races he’s run here.
Jeff Burton – Burton has earned four of his 19 career Cup victories right here in New Hampshire. In a statistical quirk, Burton has finished seventh in the last three Cup races here.
Kyle Busch – Busch won here last summer, but finished 38th at NHIS in the fall. He’s averaging a 16th-place finish at the track after five career starts.
Martin Truex Jr. – Truex had a pair of lackluster runs here last year, but did finish third in this year’s previous NHIS race.
Kevin Harvick – The defending champ of this race, Harvick knows how to get around the 1-mile oval; he has a total of eight top 10s in 13 career starts at the track.
Clint Bowyer – In three Cup starts at NHIS, Bowyer has yet to post a finish better than 24th. Not the way to start the playoffs off right!
Dale Earnhardt Jr. – Junior comes into New Hampshire having led 64 laps in the spring race, coming home seventh to give him seven career top 10s in 16 starts at the track.
Ryan Newman – With eight career top 10s in 11 NHIS starts, this has been proven to be one of Newman’s better tracks. It’s also the site of his last win; Newman took the checkered flag first at this fall race here two years ago.
Greg Biffle – In his last two starts on this 1-mile oval, Biffle’s average finish is a mediocre 22.5.
Casey Mears – In nine career starts at this track, Mears has yet to post anything better than a 16th-place finish.
Bobby Labonte – Labonte has nine career top-10 finishes in 25 NHIS starts, but just one of those has been recorded here since 2003.
Jamie McMurray – In his last five races, the average finish for McMurray at New Hampshire is an awful 26th place. Not exactly a shining moment in his career…
JJ Yeley – This is one of Yeley’s better career tracks; he holds an average finish here of 19th place after four starts at the Speedway.
Juan Pablo Montoya – Montoya was 19th in his first Cup start on the NHIS oval back in July.
About the author
The author of Did You Notice? (Wednesdays) Tom spends his time overseeing Frontstretch’s 40+ staff members as its majority owner and Editor-in-Chief. Based outside Philadelphia, Bowles is a two-time Emmy winner in NASCAR television and has worked in racing production with FOX, TNT, and ESPN while appearing on-air for SIRIUS XM Radio and FOX Sports 1's former show, the Crowd Goes Wild. He most recently consulted with SRX Racing, helping manage cutting-edge technology and graphics that appeared on their CBS broadcasts during 2021 and 2022.
You can find Tom’s writing here, at CBSSports.com and Athlonsports.com, where he’s been an editorial consultant for the annual racing magazine for 15 years.
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