One and Done: Lenox Industrial Tools 301

by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2011 NASCAR schedule, video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

I do weekly Fantasy Pick'Em columns here at OPR, as well as the occasional opinion and analysis piece. I also provide the IZOD IndyCar Series coverage. For more on that, head to my site, OpenWheelAmerica.com. My Twitter handle is @christopherlion.

June 25, 2009 1:43 am CDT 2 Comments

The Sprint Cup Series traverses the entire country this weekend, making the long trek to New Hampshire Motor Speedway after racing in California last weekend. The 1-mile oval is often maligned for boring racing and the two deaths that occurred in turns 3 and 4 in 2000 – Adam Petty in the spring, and Kenny Irwin Jr. in the summer. However, the track is one of the best-attended in the sport, the fans come in droves from all around New England, and Bruton Smith’s makeover of the facility has turned it into a first-rate spectator experience.

Last year’s June race featured one of the oddest top threes in recent memory, as Kurt Busch (in a Penske car that was, at the time, underperforming), Michael Waltrip, and J.J. Yeley topped the field in a rain-shortened event. Although we up in New England have been getting a lot of rain lately, don’t expect two consecutive rain-shortened events that are won by staying out of the pits. Instead, look to these guys to run near the front:

Martin Truex Jr.: The TomTom paint scheme he’s running this weekend is pretty ugly, but one can’t say the same for Truex’s record on the Magic Mile. He used to run on this track a few times a year as a part of the old Busch North Series, so he knows his way around. His last four finishes are 3rd, 5th, 4th, and 7th, consecutively, and he led as many laps – 46 as eventual winner Denny Hamlin in the June 2007 race.

Jeff Burton: Yes, it’s been a while since he led all 300 laps and won at NHMS. No, he hasn’t won since 2000. But you’d have to go all the way back to 2003 to find a race in which Burton finished worse than 18th, and that was due to engine failure. He’s been a great driver at New Hampshire ever since he joined Roush Racing in 1996, and has performed just as solidly with RCR.

Mark Martin: This is one of six tracks at which Martin has never won, but it sure isn’t for lack of trying. He has an average finish of 11.0 with 13 top-10s in 24 starts. The only issue with picking Martin is that Loudon is one of the tracks he always skipped during his limited schedule runs in 2007 and 2008, so he hasn’t hit the track since the fall of 2006. The cars and track have both changed, and it’ll be interesting to see how he adapts.

Denny Hamlin: Hamlin tops all drivers with an average finish of 7.2. His worst finish is 15th in six starts. He’s won at New Hampshire before, leading 46 laps in this race in 2007. The one drawback to Hamlin is that he hasn’t led any laps at the track since winning in 2007.

Kurt Busch: He won this race last year, but again, it was due to a smart call on the part of Pat Tryson. This time around, the Blue Deuce is competitive on a weekly basis, and could’ve won last weekend at Sonoma if not for Jimmie Johnson. Be warned, though: At NHMS, Busch is often feast or famine. His 16-3-5-7 record doesn’t tell the whole story: six finishes outside of the top 20 complete the picture.

Filed under: One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing

Tagged with: Lenox 301, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, One and Done NASCAR Fantasy Racing

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Comments

2 Responses to “One and Done: Lenox Industrial Tools 301”

Steve Wronkowicz on June 25th, 2009 6:29 am

Chris–
When was the last time Jimmy Johnson, Kyle Busch or Jeff Gordon weren’t part of the top five? Either New Hampshire Motor Speedway has shifted way south into the Bermuda Triangle or there is a changing of the guard beginning. I would like to watch your fab five fight for the finish–quite entertaining I’d think. But Smoke would have to be part of the equation because he is my One and Done pick of the week.
kelseymudd on August 13th, 2009 1:08 am

I think the track is one of the best-attended in the sport, the fans come in droves from all around .

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