23XI Racing — Good news: Tyler Reddick has finished sixth in the last two New Hampshire races. … Bubba Wallace has finished in the top 10 in two of the last three New Hampshire races. … Wallace has scored the most stage points among playoff drivers in the postseason at 35. … Riley Herbst was 18th at Bristol for his best finish since the Chicago Street Race in July. Bad news: Wallace has placed 28th or worse in three of the last five races. … Reddick has finished 15th or worse in six of the last eight races.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Zane Smith finished a season-best third at Bristol. … Said Smith this week of that Bristol finish: “I think it was a great result for myself and our whole team, and I think it will allow us to really just build some good momentum.” … Todd Gilliland finished 12th at New Hampshire last year. Bad news: Noah Gragson has placed 27th or worse in eight of the last 11 races. … Gilliland has placed outside the top 20 in 14 of the last 16 races.
Haas Factory Team — Good news: Cole Custer’s best finish at New Hampshire is eighth in August 2020. … Custer won the Truck race at New Hampshire in September, becoming the youngest winner in series history. Bad News: Custer has finished 24th or worse in six of the last seven races.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: Kyle Larson has three runner-up finishes at New Hampshire. … Larson has led 939 laps this year, most in the series. … Larson has six top-five finishes in 14 Cup starts at New Hampshire. Bad news: Hendrick Motorsports last won at New Hampshire in July 2012 with Kasey Kahne. … New Hampshire is the only track William Byron does not have a top-10 finish in Cup (his best finish there is 11th in seven Cup starts). … Alex Bowman’s best finish there in 13 starts is ninth. … Chase Elliott only has three top-10 finishes in 11 Cup starts at New Hampshire. … Elliott scored four stage points in the first round, only Josh Berry and Shane van Gisbergen scored fewer (both had zero) among the playoff drivers and both of them were eliminated. … Larson has led 22 laps in 14 starts at New Hampshire, the fewest laps he’s led at an active oval track.
Hyak Motorsports — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished seventh at New Hampshire last year, his best result there in 17 starts. Bad news: Stenhouse has placed 30th or worse in six of the last 11 races.
Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: The organization swept the first round with Chase Briscoe winning at Darlington, Denny Hamlin winning at Gateway and Christopher Bell winning at Bristol. … Briscoe scored eight playoff points in the first round, nearly doubling the total he had in the regular season (10). … Briscoe was the only driver to finish in the top 10 in all three of the first-round playoff races. … Briscoe finished second in last year’s race at New Hampshire. … Joe Gibbs Racing has won the past three races at New Hampshire. … The organization has had at least one car finish in the top two in the last 13 races at New Hampshire. … Bell, the defending winner, took part in the Goodyear tire test at New Hampshire earlier this summer. … Bell has finished in the top three in nine of 29 races this year. … Hamlin is the points leader entering the second round. … Hamlin has three wins and six runner-up finishes at New Hampshire. … Ty Gibbs has three top 10s in the last four races. … Gibbs led a career-high 201 laps last weekend at Bristol. Bad news: Hamlin will be without two pit crew members for the next two races as a penalty for a wheel coming off his car last weekend at Bristol.
Denny Hamlin’s crew penalized for a wheel coming off his car at Bristol
Kaulig Racing — Good news: AJ Allmendinger won the pole at Bristol, his first Cup pole since 2015. Bad news: Allmendinger has six finishes of 22nd or worse in the last nine races. … Ty Dillon has four finishes of 30th or worse in the last seven races.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: John Hunter Nemechek had the second-best average finish (8.0) in the first round of the playoffs. … Nemechek scored three consecutive top-15 finishes. … Nemechek placed eighth at New Hampshire last year. Bad news: Erik Jones has finished 20th or worse in seven of the last 11 races.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Kyle Busch has three Cup wins at New Hampshire. … Busch ranks fourth all-time in laps led at New Hampshire with 1,134, trailing only Jeff Gordon (1,373 laps led), Tony Stewart (1,302) and Martin Truex Jr. (1,170). Bad news: Busch has an average finish of 27.7 at New Hampshire in three starts in the Next Gen car, his worst average finish at a track since 2022. … Austin Dillon was eliminated from the playoffs last weekend at Bristol. … Dillon has finished 18th or worst in each of the last four races.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Cody Ware has finished inside the top 30 in three of the last four races. Bad news: Ware has not finished better than 30th in three Cup starts at New Hampshire.
RFK Racing — Good news: Brad Keselowski is coming off a runner-up finish last weekend at Bristol. … Keselowski’s average finish of 10.5 at New Hampshire is his second best among active tracks. … Keselowski has two wins at New Hampshire (July 2014 and August 2020). … Chris Buescher had the fourth best average finish (10.0) in the first round of the playoffs. … Buescher has placed 11th or better in five of the last six races. … Buescher finished fifth at New Hampshire last year. … Ryan Preece finished 11th last year at New Hampshire, his best result in six Cup starts there. Bad news: Buescher has led 38 laps this season, his fewest in a season since 2020.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: Carson Hocevar is coming off a seventh-place finish at Bristol, his best result in the last 15 races. … Hocevar has six top-15 finishes in the last eight races. … Michael McDowell has five top-20 finishes in the last six races. Bad news: Justin Haley has four finishes of 27th or worse in the last six races. … McDowell’s average finish of 30.8 at New Hampshire is his worst among all active tracks.
Team Penske — Good news: Ryan Blaney has scored eight top 10s in the last nine races. … Blaney is tied for first in the series in top 10s with 16 (tied with Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell) and tied for first in the series in top fives with 12 (tied with Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin). … Blaney has ranked in the top three in average running position in the last two races at New Hampshire. … Joey Logano has three top-five finishes in the last five races. … Logano, a two-time New Hampshire winner, has six top 10s in the last eight races there. … Logano took part in the Goodyear tire test at New Hampshire this summer. … Logano’s 15 playoff victories are the most among active drivers. … Austin Cindric has led 323 laps this season, most in his Cup career. Bad news: Cindric has not finished better than 13th in three Cup starts there. … Blaney, who has not had a top-15 finish in his last three starts at New Hampshire, said: “I feel like New Hampshire has been one of those tracks to where we have run well and just not really finished where we deserved.”
Ryan Blaney’s 4-year-old nephew provided an unexpected pep talk in the final stage at Bristol.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Ross Chastain, who took part in the Goodyear tire test at New Hampshire this summer, has finished in the top 10 in three of the last four races there. Bad news: Shane van Gisbergen was the only driver who started the playoffs above the cutline who failed to advance to the second round. … Daniel Suarez has one top-15 finish in the last seven New Hampshire starts. … Chastain has only four top-10 finishes in the last 18 races.
Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Josh Berry finished third at New Hampshire last year. Bad news: Berry finished last in each of the three first-round playoff races.
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