New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, NH — August 23, 2026
The NASCAR Cup Series heads north to New Hampshire for its northernmost stop on the circuit. New Hampshire Motor Speedway was built at the site of the former Bryar Motorsports Park. It is the largest sporting venue in New England at over 1,100 acres and seating for over 92,000. The track is 75 miles north of Boston, 42 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean and 250 miles from Montreal.
Since 2010, NASCAR Cup Series winners have been presented with a trophy lobster in New Hampshire’s Victory Lane celebration. But this isn’t just your average lobster. It’s gargantuan and ranges in size from 20-26 pounds It takes approximately seven years for a lobster to reach 1 pound in size and can reach a maximum age of 100 years and grow to be 3 feet or more in overall body length.
After this week only one race remains in the regular season, Daytona.
New Hampshire Notes
- New Hampshire has had just one overtime finish in the last 14 races, in 2024.
- The driver starting first won once in the last 21 New Hampshire Cup races: Kyle Busch in September 2017.
- Five of the last six New Hampshire races were won from a top-five starting position.
- The Stage 1 winner went on to win the last three New Hampshire races.
- Five drivers earned their first Cup win at New Hampshire, most recently Joey Logano in June 2009.
- Christopher Bell won two of the last four New Hampshire races.
- Five entered drivers are New Hampshire Cup winners: Denny Hamlin-3, Joey Logano-2, Brad Keselowski-2, Christopher Bell-2 and Ryan Blaney-1.
- Joe Gibbs Racing has finished runner-up 16 times at New Hampshire.
- Thirteen of the last 17 New Hampshire winners are also Cup champions.
Ford Runs Well at “The Magic Mile”
- In 2021, Ford won both stages: Ryan Blaney won Stage 1 and Brad Keselowski won Stage 2. Aric Almirola won the 2021 race, extending Ford’s New Hampshire win streak to four straight races.
- Ford led 228 of 293 laps in 2021, and five of the drivers finishing in the top six were Ford drivers.
- In 2025, Ford started 1-2-3 with Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Josh Berry. Ryan Blaney won Stage 1 and Joey Logano won Stage 2 in 2025. Ryan Blaney won the 2025 race, with Ford leading 275 of 301 laps.
- Three of the top-four finishers in 2025 were Ford drivers.
Today’s Race
Tyler Reddick sits on the pole for the Dollar Tree 301. Josh Berry lines up next to him on the front row. The only other Ford in the top ten is Ryan Blaney firing off from the 8th position on the grid.
Seven drivers have clinched Chase spots: Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe, Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell.
The Chase Bubble Watch is just about decided. To climb above the 17th position is going to take some major drama for those from Shane van Gisbergen(SVG) and above. And Ryan Preece down to Erik Jones.
12 William Byron 113
13 Daniel Suárez 101
14 Bubba Wallace 70
15 Austin Cindric 57
16 Shane van Gisbergen 50
17 Ryan Preece -50
18 Ross Chastain -63
19 Brad Keselowski -78
20 Erik Jones -81
The Dollar Tree 301 is scheduled for 301 laps equaling 318.46 miles around the 1.058 Mile Asphalt Oval. Stages are set for 70/115/116 laps.
Stage One
NASCAR sent the cars out on the track with wet weather tires and rain falling. Carson Hocevar(77) spun in turn four when he tried to accelerate during the pace laps. That caused race control to reconsider the situation and the field was brought back to pit road.
After an hour delay that included the track dryers back on the racing surface, NASCAR finally dropped the green flag. On the first lap, the polesitter Tyler Reddick(45) spun in the same spot Hocevar did in turn four.
Denny Hamlin(11) and Chris Buescher(17) got heavy on the brakes and slid to a stop making just slight contact with Reddick.
After five caution laps the race restarted with drivers tiptoeing around either at the top or bottom of the track. Dry gray patches of asphalt began to appear as drivers experimented with various lines looking for maximum grip. Lap times began to go down as drivers become more comfortable with the condition of the racing surface. John Hunter Nemechek(40) hit the outside wall and spun. Fortunately, he got the car pointed in the right direction and no caution was necessary.
Out front, SVG(97) had driven to the lead. William Byron(24), Christopher Bell(20), Josh Berry(21), and Kyle Larson(5) were the top five. As the track continues to dry the wet weather tires are beginning to heat up. Drivers are having to seek out wet spots to cool the Goodyear specialty tires, until NASCAR makes the decision to have the field come in and put slicks on all race cars.
The competition caution waved on lap 41 and several drivers were complaining of severe tire degradation. Ross Chastain(1) had to come in before pit road open as he was smoking badly in the corners. Unsure of the cause of distress on the #1 car the crew opened the hood checking for debris that might have gotten on the exhaust headers.
Drivers were not allowed to advance their positions under the caution and they returned to the track in the order they were running. Chastain’s crew took their car behind the wall to properly diagnose the issue creating the smoke. His status was quickly updated to out of the race with a powertrain issue.
Racing resumed on lap 50. SVG drove away with a push from Byron. On the second green flag lap, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.(47) spun in turn four and backed his race car into the wall causing considerable damage to the left rear fender.
On this restart, SVG got a push from Larson but could not hold onto the lead. The New Zealander dropped back and was scrambling to hold onto a top ten position. Larson took the lead with Bell, Hocevar, Byron, and Berry giving chase. Larson drove away for his first Stage win at New Hampshire.
Results of Stage One
| Position | Car | Driver | Behind | Stage Points |
|
1 |
5 |
Kyle Larson |
— | 10 |
|
2 |
20 |
Christopher Bell |
1.003 | 9 |
|
3 |
77 |
Carson Hocevar |
1.427 | 8 |
|
4 |
24 |
William Byron |
2.227 | 7 |
|
5 |
21 |
Josh Berry |
5.019 | 6 |
|
6 |
12 |
Ryan Blaney |
5.865 | 5 |
|
7 |
54 |
Ty Gibbs |
5.943 | 4 |
|
8 |
60 |
Ryan Preece |
7.422 | 3 |
|
9 |
97 |
Shane Van Gisbergen |
8.347 | 2 |
|
10 |
19 |
Chase Briscoe |
8.505 | 1 |
Stage Two
Most of the field came to pit road during the Stage break caution. Christopher Bell left early running over the air hose for the lug nut gun and causing his right front tire changer to fall down. William Byron left his pit stall with the wedge adjustment tool still stuck through the hole in the back window. Both cars were penalized and will restart at the rear of the field. A combination of 2 tire and 4 tire stops shuffled the running order. Ryan Preece(60), Zane Smith(38), Chase Elliott(9), Riley Herbst(35), and Cole Custer(41) led the pack back to the green flag.
While fighting for positions Hocevar and Connor Zillish(88) got together at the start/finish line. Hocevar spun, Zillish continued on. Joey Logano(22) and Austin Dillon(3) got tangled up in the chaos with Dillon coming out the worse for wear in the incident. More pit stops allowed some of the two tire guys to get back on four fresh Goodyears and more new faces came to the front. Berry ascended to the lead, followed by Preece, Ryan Blaney(12), Bubba Wallace(23) and Buescher.
Green flag pit stops began just before the halfway point of the race. Berry and Blaney pitted on lap 64 with Berry exiting pit road first. The two Ford Mustang Dark Horse drivers run within a car length of each other. Wallace in third is three seconds back, Preece is eight seconds off the leader, and Buescher in fifth trails by 11 seconds.
Finally on lap 149, Blaney drives below Berry to take over the top spot. The same order these two cars finished this race last year. Once out front, Blaney pulled away from Berry as the laps wound down in Stage Two.
Results of Stage Two
| Position | Car | Driver | Stage Points |
|
1 |
12 |
Ryan Blaney |
10 |
|
2 |
21 |
Josh Berry |
9 |
|
3 |
23 |
Bubba Wallace |
8 |
|
4 |
60 |
Ryan Preece |
7 |
|
5 |
5 |
Kyle Larson |
6 |
|
6 |
6 |
Brad Keselowski |
5 |
|
7 |
17 |
Chris Buescher |
4 |
|
8 |
54 |
Ty Gibbs |
3 |
|
9 |
11 |
Denny Hamlin |
2 |
|
10 |
20 |
Christopher Bell |
1 |
The Final Stage
Wallace was first off pit road followed by Berry. Blaney had a bad stop and dropped out of the top ten. On the restart Wallace and Berry fought for the top spot. Josh Berry prevailed and began to build an interval over Wallace. Preece, Larson, and Bell finished off the top five.
The caution came out on lap 203 as Carson Hocevar spun for the third time on the afternoon.
Berry and Wallace line up on row one for the restart. Berry moves in front heading into turn one. A lap later Bubba takes the top spot. Preece, Larson, and Gibbs watch the battle up front. Wallace and Berry trade body shots and positions. The fight brings Preece and Larson into the mix for the top spot. Preece passes Berry for second just before a wicked crash brings out the yellow flag.
With 77 laps to go Herbst and and Michael McDowell get together. Herbst spins and crashes into the outside wall. Connor Zilisch cannot get slowed up and plows into Herbst car. Both racers are eliminated with severe damage.
Pit stops again scramble the running order. Blaney and Byron line up on the front row. Briscoe and Logano sit behind the leaders.
Byron loses the left rear wheel. The interesting thing is he did not pit during the last caution. The bad news is his team will face suspensions for the next two weeks and be taken out of contention today with a two-lap penalty.
For this restart it’s Blaney and Briscoe on the front row. With Wallace and Zane Smith behind them. Preece sits fifth. Briscoe and Blaney go side-by-side for three laps before Blaney pulls away. Berry sits back in eighth after suffering slip up fighting for positions.
Bubba Wallace seems to have taken over as the second fastest car on the track. He gets the better of Briscoe for the second position. But, Blaney is pulling away. Briscoe fades fast and drops out of the top five as Berry moves into the spot.
With 50 laps to go it’s Blaney, Wallace, Preece, Bell and Berry. The closest battle on the track is for third as Preece, Bell, and Berry are all within a half second of each other with 35 laps to go. Berry takes it three wide as both he and Bell make the pass on Preece.
Three laps later Berry passes Bell and sets his sights on Wallace. With 25 laps to go, Blaney catches lapped traffic. How well the three leaders navigate the lappers could decide the race.
With 10 laps to go, Wallace has closed to within less than a second behind Blaney. Berry is another half second back. With 5 laps to go Bubba locks up the brakes as he is working his way through lappers and Blaney increases the interval. Blaney holds on for the win and Wallace finishes ahead of Berry.
Ford placed eight drivers in the top 15.
1st – Ryan Blaney
3rd – Josh Berry
9th – Ryan Preece
10th – Noah Gragson
11th – Brad Keselowski
12th – Austin Cindric
13th – Zane Smith
14th – Joey Logano
NASCAR Cup Series Points Standings
| POSITION | CAR # | DRIVER | POINTS | BEHIND | STAGE POINTS |
| 1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | 1001 | 0 | 199 |
| 2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | 924 | -77 | 204 |
| 3 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | 880 | -121 | 202 |
| 4 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 860 | -141 | 154 |
| 5 | 20 | Christopher Bell | 738 | -263 | 162 |
| 6 | 19 | Chase Briscoe | 727 | -274 | 146 |
| 7 | 5 | Kyle Larson | 708 | -293 | 193 |
| 8 | 9 | Chase Elliott | 707 | -294 | 102 |
| 9 | 22 | Joey Logano | 682 | -319 | 140 |
| 10 | 17 | Chris Buescher | 676 | -325 | 98 |
| 11 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | 672 | -329 | 121 |
| 12 | 24 | William Byron | 644 | -357 | 116 |
| 13 | 7 | Daniel Suárez | 638 | -363 | 74 |
| 14 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 630 | -371 | 112 |
| 15 | 2 | Austin Cindric | 599 | -402 | 112 |
| 16 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | 586 | -415 | 70 |
| NASCAR Cup Series Postseason Cut Line | |||||
| 17 | 60 | Ryan Preece | 555 | -446 | 85 |
| 18 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | 520 | -481 | 63 |
| 19 | 1 | Ross Chastain | 505 | -496 | 69 |
| 20 | 43 | Erik Jones | 490 | -511 | 43 |
Results of the Dollar Tree 301
| Position | Car | Driver | Laps | Behind |
|
1 |
12 |
Ryan Blaney |
301 | — |
|
2 |
23 |
Bubba Wallace |
301 | 0.586 |
|
3 |
21 |
Josh Berry |
301 | 1.964 |
|
4 |
20 |
Christopher Bell |
301 | 7.645 |
|
5 |
5 |
Kyle Larson |
301 | 9.618 |
|
6 |
54 |
Ty Gibbs |
301 | 10.651 |
|
7 |
11 |
Denny Hamlin |
301 | 12.321 |
|
8 |
45 |
Tyler Reddick |
301 | 12.379 |
|
9 |
60 |
Ryan Preece |
301 | 13.586 |
|
10 |
4 |
Noah Gragson |
301 | 16.404 |
|
11 |
6 |
Brad Keselowski |
301 | 17.190 |
|
12 |
2 |
Austin Cindric |
301 | 19.172 |
|
13 |
38 |
Zane Smith |
301 | 27.473 |
|
14 |
22 |
Joey Logano |
301 | 27.847 |
|
15 |
48 |
Alex Bowman |
301 | 28.030 |
|
16 |
71 |
Michael McDowell |
301 | 29.088 |
|
17 |
7 |
Daniel Suarez |
301 | 29.961 |
|
18 |
17 |
Chris Buescher |
301 | 31.224 |
|
19 |
77 |
Carson Hocevar |
300 | 1 lap |
|
20 |
97 |
Shane Van Gisbergen |
300 | 1 lap |
|
21 |
34 |
Todd Gilliland |
300 | 1 lap |
|
22 |
41 |
Cole Custer |
300 | 1 lap |
|
23 |
16 |
AJ Allmendinger |
300 | 1 lap |
|
24 |
33 |
Austin Hill(i) |
300 | 1 lap |
|
25 |
9 |
Chase Elliott |
300 | 1 lap |
|
26 |
19 |
Chase Briscoe |
300 | 1 lap |
|
27 |
10 |
Ty Dillon |
300 | 1 lap |
|
28 |
47 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
300 | 1 lap |
|
29 |
51 |
Cody Ware |
300 | 1 lap |
|
30 |
24 |
William Byron |
296 | 5 laps |
|
31 |
40 |
John Hunter Nemechek |
296 | 5 laps |
|
32 |
3 |
Austin Dillon |
282 | 19 laps |
|
33 |
43 |
Erik Jones |
251 | OUT |
|
34 |
35 |
Riley Herbst |
222 | OUT |
|
35 |
88 |
Connor Zilisch |
222 | OUT |
|
36 |
1 |
Ross Chastain |
41 | OUT |
