NASCAR Cup Series Kicks Off Round of 12 This Weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Saturday, September 20 – NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Noon ET (FS1)

Sunday, September 21 – NASCAR Cup Series, 2 p.m. ET (USA)

The Round of 12 kicks off in the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway while the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will see its 10-driver postseason field cut to eight after the checkered flag. Ford still has seven drivers alive in the two series combined, including three champions in Joey Logano (Cup 2018, ’22, ’24), Ryan Blaney (Cup 2023) and Ty Majeski (NCTS 2024).

TEAM PENSKE MOVING ON

All three Team Penske drivers advanced to the Round of 12 after last weekend’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway. This marks the third time in the last four years the trio of Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric have all advanced out of the Round of 16. As the organization continues on its goal for a fourth straight series championship, Blaney begins this three-race stretch 19 points above the cut line while Cindric and Logano are one and two points below, respectively.

HOME SWEET HOME

New Hampshire Motor Speedway is the home track for New England native Joey Logano and he’s definitely had his share of success with two NASCAR Cup Series victories, including the first of his career in 2009. Logano added another win in 2014 with Ford and in 26 starts has an average finishing position of 14.8. He’s been particularly consistent in recent years, entering Sunday’s race with six top-10 runs in the last eight Loudon events.

FORD DRIVERS IN THE CUP PLAYOFFS

DRIVER – POINTS POSITION

Ryan Blaney – 5th (+19 above the cut line)

Austin Cindric – 9th (-1 below the cut line)

Joey Logano – 10th (-2)

Note: Top 8 advance after Charlotte

FORD PLAYOFF DRIVERS AT NEW HAMPSHIRE

Joey Logano: 26 starts, 2 wins, 9 top-5, 14 top-10

Ryan Blaney: 12 starts, 0 wins, 2 top-5, 4 top-10

Austin Cindric: 3 starts, 0 wins, 0 top-5, 0 top-10

AUSTIN CINDRIC: HAS JOEY TOLD YOU ANYTHING ABOUT HIS TIRE TEST AT NEW HAMPSHIRE? “I think the team definitely got some good data from being able to go to the tire test. It’s obviously a similar tire to what we raced at Richmond and have some good notes from there and Martinsville, where we’ve run that tire, so I think from a notebook standpoint we should be in really good shape. Doing that and being able to go out and execute the weekend is a whole other thing.”

JOEY LOGANO: HOW BIG OF A GAUGE IS NEW HAMPSHIRE FOR PHOENIX? “Loudon has those big bumps and transitions. It’s kind of a unique track and more fall off as well, so Loudon is a unique one, similar, like setup-wise you’re probably not that different, but just the way you drive the track for a driver is quite a bit different. But just because you’re good at those tracks, you’ve got to get there still. Just because we’re good at Phoenix most of the time we’ve got to still get there. I look forward to Loudon. I love that place. It’s home and it’s a great track for us. I always look forward to getting up there for many reasons.”

RYAN BLANEY: HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT GOING BACK TO THE LOUDON TRACK? “We’ll see. I don’t know. It was a pretty decent track for us before. There’s a new tire, so we’ll figure out what happens there as well. There’s only one way to find out.”

WEEKEND SWEEP

Brad Keselowski had a weekend to remember as he became the first driver to sweep a NASCAR Xfinity and NASCAR Cup Series race weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, achieving the feat on July 12-13, 2014. Keselowski led 138-of-305 laps, including the final two under a green-white-checkered finish to beat Kyle Busch to the finish line. The win was Ford’s fourth straight series win, marking the first time that had happened since 2001.

BURTON LEADS EVERY LAP

Jeff Burton is the last driver to lead every lap of a NASCAR Cup Series race when he did it on Sept. 17, 2000 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Bobby Labonte started from the pole, but Burton grabbed the lead after starting on the outside of the front row. Even though Labonte and Dale Earnhardt challenged him throughout the day, Burton never gave up the lead, becoming the first driver to lead every lap of a series race since Cale Yarborough did it in the Music City USA 420 at Nashville Speedway on June 3, 1978. The race, which was run with the use of restrictor plates, ended under caution after Sterling Marlin was involved in an accident with three laps remaining. It was Burton’s fourth win at the speedway and concluded a stretch that saw him win four consecutive seasons at the Magic Mile.

OWNER/DRIVER FIRST

Ford’s first NASCAR Cup Series win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway came in the track’s second year of hosting events in 1994. That’s when Ricky Rudd outdueled Dale Earnhardt in the closing laps to post his 15th career win. Rudd led 55 laps on the day, but won it after a memorable side-by-side battle with seven laps to go in which he passed Earnhardt on the inside, only to see the black No. 3 crossover and pull alongside for the next lap. Rudd eventually pulled in front and held on to take the Slick 50 300 on July 10, 1994. Rudd went on to post 23 NCS wins in his career and had at least one victory in 16 consecutive seasons (1983-98), but none may have been as satisfying as this one because it marked his first triumph as an owner/driver.

RIGGS TO MAKE 50TH CAREER TRUCK SERIES START

Fresh off his third win of the season and fifth of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career, Layne Riggs heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for his 50th career start with a spot in the Round of 8 secure. Riggs has been on a roll of late, winning three times in the last seven events while also registering two poles. The North Carolina native has led 446 laps this season, compared to 161 a year ago in his rookie season, and has an average finishing position of 9.6 through the first 20 races.

FIRST TRUCK RACE AT NHMS SINCE 2017

This weekend will mark the return of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the first time since 2017. As a result, many current Ford drivers have never competed on the flat one-mile oval. That includes all four of Ford’s playoff drivers – Layne Riggs, Ty Majeski, Jack Garcia and Chandler Smith. In fact, the only two current F-150 drivers with experience at NHMS are Matt Crafton (15 starts) and Ben Rhodes (2 starts). Ford has won three times in the series at NHMS with Kurt Busch (2000), Terry Cook (2002) and Rick Crawford (2005).

FORD DRIVERS IN THE NCTS PLAYOFFS

DRIVER – POINTS POSITION

Layne Riggs – Bristol Winner (Clinched Round of 8)

Ty Majeski – 4th (+46)

Jake Garcia – 9th (-14 below cut line)

Chandler Smith – 9th (-24)

Note: Top 8 advance after New Hampshire

FORD’S NASCAR CUP SERIES WINNERS

AT NHMS

1994 – Ricky Rudd

1996 – Ernie Irvan

1997 – Jeff Burton (1)

1998 – Jeff Burton (1)

1999 – Jeff Burton (1)

2000 – Jeff Burton (2)

2001 – Dale Jarrett (1)

2002 – Ryan Newman (2)

2004 – Kurt Busch (Sweep)

2008 – Greg Biffle (2)

2014 – Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano

2018 – Kevin Harvick

2019 – Kevin Harvick

2020 – Brad Keselowski

2021 – Aric Almirola

FORD’S NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES WINNERS AT NHMS

2000 – Kurt Busch

2002 – Terry Cook

2005 – Rick Crawford

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