Catch 22: Is This The Year For A Repeat Winner At NHMS?
Some might call it an anomaly, but the string of 22 different winners in 22 NASCAR Nationwide Series races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway stands as the longest such streak at active tracks in each of NASCAR’s national series.
When the 2009 season started, four NASCAR Nationwide tracks had no multiple winners — Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (two); Kansas Speedway (eight); Kentucky Speedway (eight) and New Hampshire. But Joey Logano (No. 20 GameStop Toyota) knocked Kentucky off the list earlier this month with his second consecutive win at the 1.5-mile track.
There has been at least one repeat winner in each of the races on the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule. There are four tracks on this year’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule where there has yet to be a repeat winner, but the longest streak at any of them is 10 races.
Seven drivers have a shot to become the first to repeat at Loudon — Jason Keller (No. 27 Kleenex Ford), Kenny Wallace (No. 28 U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet), Kevin Harvick (No. 33 Copart.com Chevrolet), Carl Edwards (No. 60 Scotts/Ortho Ford), Derrike Cope (No. 73 Derrike Cope Inc. Dodge), Bobby Hamilton Jr. (No. 81 MacDonald Motorsports Dodge) and Joe Nemechek (No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet).
Technically, there is one repeat winner at New Hampshire — Roush Fenway Racing team owner Jack Roush. His victories came in 2004 with drivers Matt Kenseth and ‘06 with Edwards.
Six former series champions are also entered for this event — Harvick, Edwards, Nemechek, Greg Biffle (No. 16 CitiFinancial Ford), Brian Vickers (No. 32 Dollar General Toyota) and Clint Bowyer (No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet).
Former NCWSE Rivals Caisse, Logano Return Home To Battle
Athletes relish competing — and winning — in front of family and friends and this weekend, New Englanders Joey Logano and Sean Caisse (No. 2 Richard Childress Chevrolet) are no exception.
Logano is a native of Middletown, Conn., and has long considered NHMS his home track. Caisse, however, can truly lay claim. He’s from Pelham, N.H., 55 miles south of Loudon.
The two met for the first time in NASCAR Nationwide Series competition at the track where they last battled in the NASCAR Camping World Series East in 2007.
They raced against each other twice that season. In the first event, Logano started on the pole while Caisse started second. Logano went on to win; Caisse finished 24th due to a cut tire. They met again six races later with Caisse in the third starting position, Logano sixth. Caisse led 31 laps and was chasing Logano during the final 10 laps, but Logano won again. Caisse settled for runner-up.
Logano’s quick trek up the NASCAR ladder is well-documented. Caisse, on the other hand, has had a steeper climb. In 2005, he put his New Hampshire Technical Institute education on hold and moved to Charlotte to compete in the NASCAR Camping World Series East where he won series rookie of the year honors and finished seventh in the standings. He was runner-up in the rankings in 2006-07, with seven wins and 10 poles during that span. He made his NASCAR Nationwide debut in 2006 for Kevin Harvick Inc. and was signed by RCR last May. He made his 2009 season debut at Nashville Superspeedway earlier this month.
“It gives me confidence heading back home to a track that I’m familiar with and have had some success,” said Caisse. “I think I’m the only New Hampshire driver in the field, so we’ll have the fans on our side for sure.”
“It’s funny that I have a NASCAR Sprint Cup start at Loudon, but this will be my first NASCAR Nationwide race,” his counterpart, Logano, said. “It’s a little bit of a homecoming for me. Loudon is the only race in the New England area and it would be cool to get a win up there because they have great fans that have supported me for a long time.” Logano has won twice this year in NASCAR Nationwide competition — at Nashville Superspeedway in April and three weeks ago at Kentucky.
Nemechek, Harvick Also Shining As Owner/Drivers
As an owner/driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Tony Stewart has made headlines this season due to the impressive showing by his teams.
A couple of owner/drivers in the NASCAR Nationwide Series have been plugging along well past the time frame Stewart has served in that capacity, and also have successful resumes to show for it.
Former series champions — and New Hampshire winners — Joe Nemechek and Kevin Harvick, have served as owner/drivers for their teams for 20 and six years, respectively. Nemechek earned the 1992 series championship under his own banner. He has 16 wins and 18 poles with NEMCO Motorsports, and all but two of the 289 races the team has run have been with NEMCO.
Nemechek will be back in the No. 87 Chevrolet at New Hampshire after a three-week absence that saw Kevin Conway and Chad Blount share the load while the boss was doing double duty on the NASCAR Sprint Cup side where he also is an owner/driver. Nemechek’s team is 23rd in the NASCAR Nationwide owner standings.
Harvick’s No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet is sixth in the owner standings with six different drivers contributing to its success — Harvick, Kelly Bires, Ron Hornaday Jr., Stewart, Ryan Newman and Cale Gale.
Entering 2009, KHI had three wins and four poles in NASCAR Nationwide competition, all earned by drivers other than Harvick. But he’s gotten into the act this year by winning his first pole (Daytona International Speedway) and race (Bristol Motor Speedway) for KHI. The team as a whole has seven top fives and 10 top 10s in the first 15 races this year. Harvick, who has the most starts for the team this year (eight), leads all series drivers with three poles at New Hampshire.
Harvick also is a champion owner, winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title with driver Ron Hornaday Jr. in 2007.
Nemechek has the most starts this year in the No. 87 with 11. His best finishes have been at the superspeedways, where he was 11th at Daytona and 13th at Talladega.
Independence Day Comes Early For Series Organizations
Independent teams in the NASCAR Nationwide Series are not only holding their own this year; some are expanding.
For example, Mike Bliss (No. 1 Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet), who won earlier this year at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, is the biggest mover in the driver standings this week from ninth to sixth and has his Phoenix Racing team 11th in the owner standings.
Jason Keller, the series’ all-time leader in starts (he’ll rack up No. 472 this weekend), is ninth in the driver rankings, while his Baker Curb Racing organization is 14th in the car owner standings.
This weekend at New Hampshire, J-D Motorsports, which has run three cars twice this year — at Talladega in April and last week at The Milwaukee Mile — unveils what owner Johnny Davis hopes to have as his set trio of drivers for the bulk of the remaining season.
Danny O’Quinn Jr., the 2006 series Raybestos Rookie of the Year, drives the flagship No. 01 Chevrolet. Davis’ son, Kertus, returned to the team last week at Milwaukee after a one-year hiatus to manage and drive the No. 04 Chevrolet.
Last week, veteran Mike Wallace — who has driven twice for J-DM this year (Daytona and Talladega) was announced as the driver of the No. 0 Chevy beginning this weekend at New Hampshire and also for the July 3 event at Daytona. More races are expected to be scheduled for Wallace under the J-DM umbrella.
In The Loop
Stats: Continued Streak Seems Possible
The unbelievable stretch of 22 different winners in the 22 different New Hampshire Motor Speedway races could certainly become 23-out-of-23.
In fact, the statistics suggest it’s likely.
A number of non-NHMS winners are statistically strong at Loudon. Chief among them is series points leader Kyle Busch (No. 18 Z-Line Designs Toyota).
Busch finished third last year, leading 63 laps and posting a superb Driver Rating of 131.1. In his last two New Hampshire races — in 2006 and 2008 — Busch has combined for a Driver Rating 117.5, an Average Running Position of 5.2, 52 Fastest Laps Run and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 86.8.
Then there’s 2008 series champion Clint Bowyer, who will run in the No. 29 Chevrolet this weekend. Bowyer won a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire (and scored a perfect Driver Rating of 150.0 in the process), but his best NASCAR Nationwide Series finish there is fifth (2006).
Bowyer, who has three consecutive top 10s at New Hampshire, has strong stats there. In his four-race NHMS career, he has a Driver Rating of 112.1, an Average Running Position of 6.4, 125 Fastest Laps Run, 163 Laps Led and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 96.6.
Another threat to continue the unique winners streak is series-only veteran Mike Bliss, who finished eighth last season and in the top 15 the last two years.
Over that two-race span, Bliss posted a Driver Rating of 91.2, an Average Running Position of 12.0, four Fastest Laps Run and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 84.8.
Brad Keselowski (No. 88 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet) has only one New Hampshire series start, but it was a good one. Last season, he finished ninth.
Keselowski, who has proven he can run well when competing with double-duty drivers (see Bristol and Dover International Speedway victories), had a Driver Rating of 87.5, an Average Running Position of 13.1 and a laps in the Top 15 percentage of 81.5 last year.
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