Scouting Report: New Hampshire Sylvania 300

How to make an informed pick for the New Hampshire Sylvania 300

1) The most important thing I would really focus on this week in the process of making an informed fantasy pick is to really study New Hampshire track history. New Hampshire is a “skill track”. The driver is the most important variable this week, not a teams aero department. Since this is a skill track drivers average finishes are extremely valuable fantasy information.

2) For New Hampshire I would strongly suggest you study recent results/ performances at similar tracks. The two similar tracks I would study are Phoenix and Richmond. Both of these tracks have data that can cross over for this weekends race at the Magic Mile.

3) Practice is important every week. In practice you really want a driver who says their car drives good. A good driving car at New Hampshire is a fast car.

4) Qualifying is important but it’s not the most important variable this week. During pit stops at New Hampshire lots of pit strategy will be taking place as drivers seek to get precious track position. Look for gas and goes and two tire pit stops to be frequent. The bottom line at New Hampshire is that the strong always get to the front.

Racing.YouNeed.Us –> Who will win at New Hampshire

Drivers to watch in the New Hampshire Sylvania 300:

Jimmie Johnson – Johnson is a three time winner who last won at New Hampshire in 2010. Earlier this year Johnson finished 5th and led 19 laps. Johnson started 28th and passed more cars then anyone (93). Jimmie has an average finish of 10th and a average start of 11th. This is Chase time and that means it’s “Jimmie time”.

Tony Stewart – Tony Stewart is a two time winner at New Hampshire. In July he finished second in what was Stewart- Haas Racing’s first one-two finish. Stewart has been extremely competitive here recently. In two out of the last three New Hampshire races he’s finished second. In the one race he didn’t finish second he was in the lead until he ran out of gas in the closing laps relegating him to a 24th place finish (led 100 laps). Stewart has led laps in the last eight consecutive races at New Hampshire (414 laps over last eight races).

Jeff Gordon – Now’s not the time to hop off the Jeff Gordon momentum bandwagon. He’s a three time New Hampshire winner (last in 1998) who’s only finished outside the top fifteen once since 2004. He should’ve won the 2009 race but Logano was aided by rain. Richmond (best car) and Phoenix (won) are similar tracks so there’s no question he’ll be one of the drivers to beat in the Sylvania 300.

Kevin Harvick – All RCR cars missed the setup at New Hampshire earlier this year. That really concerns me. His Richmond win was huge though in terms of inspiring fantasy NASCAR confidence for me. He also performed admirably at Phoenix in February and finished 4th with a damaged car. Before his 21st place finish in July Harvick had two consecutive 5th place finishes. Harvick won the New Hampshire Chase opening race in 2006.

Kurt Busch – Earlier this year Kurt Busch led 66 laps and finished 10th. On the last lap of the regular season race he was running in fifth before he ran out of gas. Since 2008 Kurt Busch has an average finish of 6th, a mid race average running position of 6th, and an average running position of 7th. The bottom line about Kurt Busch is that he’s always near the front of the pack.

VegasInsider.com odds to win at Loudon:

Jimmie Johnson 4/1, Denny Hamlin 5/1, Kyle Busch 6/1, Kevin Harvick 7/1, Tony Stewart 7/1, Jeff Gordon 7/1, Brad Keselowski 8/1, Carl Edwards 10/1, Ryan Newman 14/1, Kurt Busch 16/1

FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com momentum over the last five races:

1)Brad Keselowski 2)Jeff Gordon 3)Tony Stewart 4)Jimmie Johnson 5)Ryan Newman 6)Kevin Harvick 7)Carl Edwards 8)Kyle Busch 9)Kurt Busch 10)Matt Kenseth

Racing4Glory.com Stat Center:

• Sylvania 300 Pre Race Loop Data Book
• 5 Year New Hampshire Averages
• Similar Track Averages
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