Who… should you be talking about after the checkered flag?
Tyler Reddick started on the pole at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Aug. 23), but a lap 1 spin saw his lead instantly evaporate. Reddick didn’t suffer much damage, but it was enough to cost him a chance at the win.
Meanwhile, defending race winner Ryan Blaney started the day in eighth but quickly made his way forward, winning the second stage after a fierce back-and-forth battle with Josh Berry.
Blaney had trouble on a pit stop, falling back after a miscue forced him to back up to finish his stop.
A two-tire call later on got his track position back, and from there Blaney had the race well in hand. He swapped the lead with Bubba Wallace after the final restart of the day, but once he cleared Wallace, Blaney drove away to win the Dollar Tree 301 handily by .586 seconds.
It’s Blaney’s third win of 2026 and the 20th of his career.
On the other hand…
His day had a promising start after a third-place qualifying effort, but it was downhill from there for William Byron. It first went south on an early round of pit stops when Byron drew a penalty for leaving his pit with a wrench still in the rear window. He had speed afterward, but a wheel issue ended his day when a loose wheel came off the No. 24, causing Byron to slam into the turn four wall, ending his day. Byron finished 30th. If nothing broke on the wheel mount, that will also mean a penalty for the team heading into the final regular season race.
What… is the big question everyone should be asking after the race?
As The Chase looms, Carson Hocevar has positioned himself to run for the NASCAR Cup Series championship. He’ll make The Chase field for Spire Motorsports, an organization that is rapidly becoming more than an occasional contender for wins
Can Hocevar settle down enough to contend for the title?
Hocevar spun on lap 84 after what looked like a retaliatory move on Connor Zilisch. Zilisch rubbed the No. 77 racing for position, and Hocevar swerved abruptly to the left. He didn’t hit Zilisch, but lost control of his car and went around.
Hocevar’s aggression serves him well when he controls it, but too often, he forgets where the line is, and crossing that line has not only made him enemies, it’s cost him track position of his own accord.
He’s a bit reminiscent of a young Joey Logano. Logano made some overly bold moves and threw blocks where he should not have, and it cost him race wins. Logano has learned to corral his aggression for the most part, and knowing where the line is has brought Logano three titles. Hocevar has the skill to contend for wins and championships, but he needs to learn how hard he can push without crossing lines and how to let things go instead of letting his emotions prevail.
It’s not a question of talent, just one of self-control and not being his own worst enemy.
Where… did he come from?
Josh Berry might be in a lame duck situation with Wood Brothers Racing, but he hasn’t run like one recently. Berry led 73 laps on Sunday and posted his fourth straight top-10 finish. Berry started on the front row and waged a fierce back-and-forth battle with Blaney mid-race for the lead. He lost ground on a late pit stop, but raced his way back to third in the final laps to capture his third top-three finish at Loudon.
After a disappointing practice and qualifying run, Bubba Wallace and the No. 23 team turned their day around, making pit calls to maximize track position mid-race. From there, Wallace was able to contend for the win. He led three times for 22 laps and battled both Blaney and Berry for the race lead before coming home second. He enters the final week of the regular season in good shape for a Chase spot and with some momentum heading to Daytona International Speedway, a track where he has had some strong races in the past.
Ryan Preece finished third in Saturday’s Whelen Modified Tour race and he backed it up on Sunday. Preece is still in the Chase hunt after a two-tire stop got him to the front of the field, where he was in the mix for the win before dropping to ninth. Preece, who hails from Connecticut, is a fan-favorite at New Hampshire, and he didn’t disappoint them Sunday.
When… are we going to talk about the points?
Denny Hamlin clinched the regular season title and the No. 1 Chase seed with his seventh-place finish. Blaney remains second, shaving Hamlin’s lead to 77 points as the lone Ford driver in the top five. Ty Gibbs and Reddick held on to third and fourth while teammate Christopher Bell picked up two spots to land in the top five.
The top 13 drivers in points have clinched their Chase spots. 14th-place Wallace needs to score just two points this week to join them.
The battle for 15th and 16th tightened up considerably in Loudon. Austin Cindric can take a spot if he earns 33 total points, and Shane van Gisbergen can lock it down with 46 points, meaning he’ll need stage points if Preece, who’s now just 31 points behind, wins. If fans were worried that eliminating the win-and-in scenario would also eliminate the drama about making the title hunt, that has been out to bed.
Why… should you be paying attention this week?
It seems like the season just started yesterday, but suddenly the next race on the schedule is the final race of the regular season. The Cup teams finish the first 26-race stretch where they started it: Daytona International Speedway.
The last time the Cup Series raced at Daytona, Reddick kicked off 2026 with a historic three-race winning tear.
The defending summer race winner is Blaney.
Rules changes, which include no practice session before qualifying as well as a new tire, will keep teams on their toes. With the elimination of the “win and you’re in” aspect of the playoff format as NASCAR reverts to The Chase, will the race be tamer than in past years when teams approached it as a last-ditch chance to make the championship field?
Hamlin and Byron lead the Cup field with three wins apiece. Blaney, Austin Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. each have a pair of wins.
The superspeedways represent the best chance for some of the smaller and less-funded teams to have a shot at a top finish. Underdog winners are a rarity despite the equality of the field, but top fives and top 10s are attainable for anyone who survives the chaos and makes enough horsepower to run in the lead draft. That makes for some good drama, and the ever-present chance of a crash will keep fans on the edge of their seats.
How… did this race stack up?
If you want door-banging racing all day, this race probably didn’t do it for you. Early on, it highlighted the importance of focus and patience. It’s rare that a driver can fly through the field at Loudon, but if he’s relentless and goes after one driver at a time, he can pick them off. Berry and Blaney’s battle in the second stage illustrated that perfectly: Blaney couldn’t simply blow by Berry, but he could dog him until he had an opportunity.
The thing about Loudon is that the opportunity does often come. But it doesn’t come every lap. That meant that there often wasn’t a ton of action at the front of the field early on.
There was still some interesting strategy to follow. There was a brewing beef between Hocevar and Zilisch. There was a little Chase drama as van Gisbergen struggled on slicks and Preece put everything on the table.
As the race wore on, teams tried different tire strategies, the points race heated up and there was plenty of action in the top 10, if not for the lead. Drivers made bold three- and four-wide moves for position. The Next Gen cars struggle on the flat tracks, but it has been decent at Loudon, and the racing was solid on Sunday. It was one of the best flat-track races of 2026.
Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.
Loudon being a good race is a rare thing. Was it the rain, the increased horsepower, or something else?