As New Hampshire Motor Speedway re-enters the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for the first time in eight years, it seems appropriate to revisit one of the track’s September traditions, especially given that this year’s Round of 12 opener lands on the eve of autumn.
Few rituals are as synonymous with the fall season as a New England-style Thanksgiving meal, and playoff race day at New Hampshire Motor Speedway once featured an annual nod to one of the region’s most celebrated culinary customs.
Catered by a nearby farmhouse restaurant, an enormous spread of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, squash and gravy would be laid out in the media center a few hours before the green flag.
RELATED: Weekend schedule | Paint Scheme Preview: New Hampshire
With apologies to the pilgrims, this buffet had little to do with conjuring the historical significance of a harvest.
It was a bounty that signified the meat of the NASCAR schedule was about to begin.
The Cup playoffs are always accompanied by a spike in tempers, tension, and turning points as the temperatures drop. Amid the brisk weather that heralds the famous foliage of the surrounding area, the 1.058-mile oval nestled in the bucolic countryside of Loudon, New Hampshire, has been the site of many flashpoints and definitive developments in the NASCAR championship.
The “Magic Mile” opened the inaugural Cup Series Playoffs — then known as “The Chase” — on Sept. 19, 2004, with a victory for Kurt Busch, who would capture the championship without scoring another win that year and solidify the track’s importance in setting the tone for a title.
For seven consecutive seasons, New Hampshire kicked off the playoffs — and often in memorable fashion.
The 2005 race was among the most contentious in playoff history, with Busch stridently marching into Scott Riggs’ pit stall after being spun on the third lap, and Robby Gordon angrily tossing his helmet into Michael Waltrip’s car under caution (and then hurling a vulgarity in a nationally televised interview).
In 2007, Clint Bowyer stunningly earned the first victory of his Cup career in his playoff debut. Three years later, he beat Tony Stewart in a dramatic battle that ended with both cars running out of fuel at the checkered flag. When Bowyer’s car failed post-race inspection, Richard Childress Racing appealed its case with the testimony of a former NASA engineer who worked on the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. (The team still lost its case after arguing that a push to Victory Lane by a tow truck knocked the car out of compliance.)
MORE: Memorable Loudon moments | All-time New Hampshire winners
That marked the last time New Hampshire held the opener, but there were seven more playoff races and several other impactful moments leading up to the championship.
En route to his third title, Tony Stewart turned his New Hampshire victory in 2011 into an endless dissection of his reference to the “dead weight” that he shook free to win the first two races of the playoffs after a winless regular season.
Because of an air pressure mistake in qualifying, Denny Hamlin started 32nd with a dominant Toyota and breathtakingly swept through traffic to lead the final 193 of 207 laps (he might have lapped the field from the pole) during the 2012 New England running.
In 2015, Matt Kenseth snatched a victory from Kevin Harvick, who ran out of fuel while leading with three laps remaining. A year later, Harvick took revenge by forcefully seizing the lead from Kenseth on a restart with six laps remaining.
In other words, NASCAR has rarely gone hungry for stoking the playoff drama at New Hampshire.
Thankfully, it’s once again time to feast.
Read the full article here
