Sylvania 300 Nascar 

Sylvania 300: New Hampshire Int'l Speedway

Cup Qualifying Record
Ryan Newman, Dodge, 133.357 mph; September 12, 2003

Cup Race Record
Jeff Burton, Ford, 117.134 mph; July 13, 1997

Track Length: 1.058-miles (300 laps = 317.4 miles)
Race Length: 317.4 Miles Miles
Grandstand Seating Capacity: 91,000
First Race: July 11, 1993 - Slick 50 300
Banking in Corners: 12 degrees
Banking on Straights: 2 degrees
Frontstrech: 1,500 feet
Backstretch: 1,500 feet

History
When the NASCAR Cup Series visited the New Hampshire International Speedway in July, 1993, it was the first time the series competed in the state. Additionally, it was the first time the series had run on a track that was completely new to the drivers in nearly 30 years.

The NASCAR Busch Series first appearance was in 1990. Needless to say, many Cup Series drivers were interested in trying out the course before the track was officially added to the schedule.

In addition to the Busch Series, New Hampshire also hosted the Featherlite Modified Series, NASCAR Touring Division and the Busch North Series, NASCAR Touring Division, as well as American Motorcycle Association events.

Built on the site of a former motorcycle road circuit, New Hampshire is a low-banked oval with tight-radius turns which proved to be very challenging. The walls needed a lot of repainting after the initial practice session from both series.

That first race at New Hampshire was completed in 100-degree temperatures, unusual for the region. Mark Martin was the first polewinner with a lap of 126.871 mph, but Rusty Wallace won the inaugural event starting in the 33rd position leaving Martin the runner-up. Davey Allison finished third in what tragically ended up being his final Cup race. Allison was fatally injured in a helicopter crash the next week at Talladega Super Speedway.

In 1997, New Hampshire gained a second date removing North Wilkesboro Speedway from the circuit.

MICHAEL WALTRIP: Busch Race from Texas Motor Speedway

Michael Waltrip and the No. 99 Aaron's/University of Texas National Champions race car started the NASCAR Busch Series race at Texas Motor Speedway from the 39th position. The leaders were able to catch the No. 99 and put Waltrip a lap down.

As the race progressed Waltrip was running at speeds comparable to the leaders and was fighting to get the "Lucky Dog" and back on the lead lap. A late brake problem forced Waltrip to pit putting the special-edition Aaron's Dream Machine two laps down.

When Kurt Busch took the checkered flag, Michael Waltrip was in the 25th position.

It is no rest for the weary as the NASCAR Busch Series heads to Nashville Superspeedway on April 15.

NBC owes a major thank-you to Tony Stewart for creating interest

If it's true that fans watch racing only for the wrecks, then Sunday's Daytona 500 has all the makings of a ratings bonanza.
And the folks at NBC owe it all to Tony Stewart.
You might recall it was Stewart who delivered this ominous warning after last weekend's Budweiser Shootout: "Yeah, we're going to kill somebody. Somebody else is going to die at Talladega or Daytona with what we're doing here."
The 2005 Nextel Cup champion was referring to the not-so-fine art of bump-drafting around the high banks at Daytona International Speedway, the site of Sunday's 48th annual Great American Race.
Obviously, no one ever wants to see anyone get injured or killed in any race. But NBC knows the element of danger involved in stock-car racing is key to drawing fans.
"A lot of people tune in for the wrecks," acknowledged Wally Dallenbach, race analyst for NBC, which will be broadcasting its third and final Daytona 500 on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. EST.
"You can't argue that restrictor-plate racing is a lot of fun to watch from a fan's perspective. It's close racing, and you're on the edge of your seat every single lap."
Said co-analyst Benny Parsons, "Fans tune in for that great, close action. And obviously, if there's a crash, they don't tune out."
Or do they?
There's no question some of the 35 million people who will be watching Sunday are in front of their televisions to catch a good crash or two. But true fans know a wreck leads to one thing: laps and laps of yellow-flag racing. And nothing this side of a Roman Polanski film is more boring than that.
NBC race announcer Bill Weber says real race fans don't need crashes. "If you're just watching the wrecks, you're not paying attention," said Weber, who will be calling his first 500.
He has a point. What truly makes this sport so great - aside from cars traveling at speeds of 190 mph on a crowded racetrack - s the rivalries and story lines.
There are some who would argue the good ol' days of rivalries such as Petty vs. Pearson, Yarborough vs. the Allison Bros. and Earnhardt vs. Waltrip are gone.
But that's nonsense. NASCAR still has plenty of rivalries and story lines.
Stewart vs. Jeff Gordon. These two don't like each other and always are threatening to run one another off the track.
Robby Gordon vs. Michael Waltrip. OK, Gordon deserves most of the credit for this one. No matter how many times you see the replay of Gordon's throwing his helmet at Waltrip's car in the middle of New Hampshire International Speedway, it's comical.
Kasey Kahne vs. Kyle Busch. In another incident at last September's Sylvania 300, Kahne, looking to repay Busch for wrecking him, puttered around on the bottom of the track until Busch came by under caution, then veered 90 degrees and crashed into him.
NBC will spend a good deal of its broadcast tracking these and other story lines, as well as explaining the finer points of the sport such as aerodynamic drag and weight jacking. But it also will devote a lot of time to discussing safety issues.
Not only will the bump-drafting controversy be watched closely, but there will be plenty of reminders that this is the five-year anniversary of Dale Earnhardt's death.
Since that dark day, NASCAR has taken great strides toward improving track safety_most notably mandating that all drivers wear the HANS head-and-neck restraint system_but some say the sport simply has been lucky, and that sooner or later, there will be another tragedy.
"We talk about a five-year tribute to Dale Earnhardt," Stewart said. "Well, five years from now, we're probably going to have to do another tribute to another driver, because we're probably going to kill somebody else."
No one at NBC would be caught dead acknowledging they root for crashes, but it's interesting to note the network will do a piece on major wrecks at Daytona during its pre-race show. The segment will feature a look at the greatest crash in NASCAR history, a 38-car pileup that occurred Feb. 13, 1960, during the Sportsman 250.
This is NBC's sixth and final season of sharing NASCAR broadcast rights with Fox and TNT. Next year, ESPN and ABC re-enter the fray with Fox and TNT.
NBC will use 76 cameras around the 2.5-mile track, including "Crew Cam," a helmet-cam worn by a jackman in Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew. The network also will have "Squash-Cam," a small camera buried in the grass in the tri-oval that gives viewers the effect of being "squashed" by the cars speeding by. Ten drivers, including Terry Labonte, Dale Jarrett and Jeff Burton, will ride with in-car cameras.
Weber, Dallenbach and Parsons will be in the booth. Allen Bestwick, Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Matt Yocum will cover pit road.

Past Races: Sylvania 300

Ryan Newman picked a good time to grab his first win of the season.

Newman, who barely squeezed into the Chase for the championship, got off to a fast start in NASCAR's 10-race playoff Sunday by outdueling points leader Tony Stewart down the stretch.

Stewart, who started from the pole, dominated through much of the race, leading 173 of the 300 laps in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. But Newman won a late battle with Stewart, passing him on lap 199 and holding the top spot by two car-lengths.

Following the final pit stops by the leaders, Newman found himself just ahead of Stewart when the green flag waved with 16 lap to go after the last of 10 caution flags.

NASCAR opens with a Bang

The snicker goes that NASCAR, which starts the season with its version of the Super Bowl instead of ending the year with it, is a backward sport.
After Sunday's Daytona 500, NASCAR's detractors were handed additional ammunition. Jimmie Johnson, the race winner, was doused with champagne, and his No. 48 Chevrolet was put on display at Daytona yesterday just a little more than a week after the same car failed postqualifying inspection. Chad Knaus, the No. 48 team's crew chief and a repeat offender, was booted for cheating, reduced to a congratulatory off-site phone call to his driver Sunday.

Tony Stewart, who decried aggressive driving during the Bud Shootout exhibition race and whose concerns persuaded NASCAR to police the tactic of bump-drafting during the Daytona 500, was one of the more hot-headed drivers, punting Matt Kenseth -- intentionally, according to the driver of the No. 17 Ford.

While the veterans were expected to dominate, rookie Clint Bowyer drafted behind Dale Earnhardt Jr., the 2004 Daytona 500 winner, and scored a sixth-place finish. Three-time Daytona 500 winner Jeff Gordon finished 26th after a bump with Stewart and a late-race collision with Kurt Busch. Race officials, who often call for cautions at the first sight of debris, didn't drop the yellow flag despite the raindrops that were falling on the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

Upside-down. Inside-out. But that's what makes the Daytona 500, like most Nextel Cup races, the circus-like spectacle that enchants its followers. As in last fall's Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway, when Robby Gordon flung his helmet at Michael Waltrip's door and Kasey Kahne defiantly parked his car in the path of Kyle Busch, there were feuds -- Stewart vs. Kenseth, Jeff Green vs. Dale Jarrett, Jamie McMurray vs. Kurt Busch -- between the sport's stars that would make pro wrestlers scramble to take notes.

There was a junior version of the Big One, the kind of multi-car wreck that often takes place in restrictor-plate races, when the No. 99 Ford of Carl Edwards ended up front wheels-first on top of the No. 45 of Kyle Petty, giving the Roush Racing driver a last-place showing.

Amid the drama, a race actually took place, featuring the 190-mile-per-hour decisions, strategy, and teamwork that make the Daytona 500, as in Spanish, an upside-down exclamation point that kicks off the season. At Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway, the fastest of NASCAR's tracks, cars must work together in the draft. A driver who takes off without a partner quickly gets left with exhaust fumes in his face.

Leading up to the race, Stewart explained how a driver must earn trust to be successful at Daytona.

''When I started in this series, I couldn't get people to draft with me either," Stewart said last Friday. ''You have to trust the people you're around, especially when it's the biggest race of the year. You're not just going to go out there if you see somebody with yellow stripes [required of rookies on their rear bumpers] and think, 'OK, I'm going to trust this kid that doesn't have a lot of experience here with my racecar.' "
Such is the fate that befell Kyle Busch, the younger brother of the 2004 Cup champion, who finished 23d. The Hendrick Motorsports pilot has been criticized by fellow drivers for his aggressive driving -- he tangled with Stewart late in Sunday's race -- and as a result, was often left hanging when he was seeking a drafting partner.

''I didn't have much help out there today except for my brother Kurt," said the second-year driver. ''In fact, he was my only help."

Ryan Newman, the second-place finisher, tried to overtake Johnson on the last lap by taking the high line. Newman thought he'd get a push from Casey Mears, but the third-place driver stayed on the bottom to block a charging Elliott Sadler. Without help up high, Newman didn't have enough momentum to catch Johnson.

''Unfortunately, Casey didn't decide to follow through with that," Newman said. ''He gave me a good shove to get me out of the way but didn't go with us."

Newman had to try the high line because Johnson, with team engineer Darian Grubb taking Knaus's seat atop the pit box, was blocking down low, the left-side tires of the No. 48 Chevy hugging the yellow line. Johnson said that staking a claim to the bottom groove was the key to winning the race, his first Daytona 500 victory and sixth for team owner Rick Hendrick, who placed two of his vehicles in the top 10.

Meanwhile, the Roush Racing powerhouse, which placed all five cars in the Chase for the Cup last season, had a rotten day. Mark Martin had the best performance for team owner Jack Roush, a 12th-place finish. Edwards, last year's third-place driver in the points standings, completed only 78 laps Sunday and is already 151 points behind Johnson as the series travels to Fontana, Calif., for Sunday's Auto Club 500.

And so the Cup transporters roll on, steaming their way to and from their shops in the greater Charlotte area, arriving in New Hampshire in five months for the New England 300 at NHIS. Between now and then, as the Daytona 500 proved, there's only one thing race fans can expect: the unexpected.