New Hampshire Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks

Martin Truex Jr. 
New Hampshire Fantasy Spin – Martin Truex Jr. is a super-elite performer at New Hampshire who’ll be tough to beat. He’s never won at his “home track”, but he’s consistently finished well and he’s often been dominant. Truex’s afternoon at New Hampshire went south last year early in the rain, but in races prior to that he ranked among the best default picks you could make. This year at shorter-flat tracks, Truex has been strong, and you could argue he’s been the driver to beat in the last two races on this sub-track type. At Richmond, Truex led 80 laps and was beat on strategy and at Gateway he led 42 laps and finished 6th (was the leader before a late pit stop under caution but left pit road in 7th). Over the combined races at shorter-flat tracks this year, Truex ranks as the 4th Fastest Driver Late In A Run, and his Total Speed Ranking is the 5th best.
New Hampshire Track History – Martin Truex Jr. has a zero in the win column at New Hampshire, but he’s performed at an extremely high-level and in 6 of the last 7 races he’s finished between 3rd to 7th. Also, over that seven-race stretch, Truex has a series best 5.7 average finish. Last year, Truex was damaged in the early rain while running in 2nd, but he rallied to finish 12th when the checkered flag waved. In the six New Hampshire races prior to that, Truex had a series best 4.7 average finish, a series best 5.6 average running position and he averaged leading 78.8 laps per race. In 2020, Truex had a strong showing despite getting a pit penalty. In the race he finished 2nd in Stage #1, 8th in Stage #2 and then 3rd when the checkered flag waved. During the rain caution while he was running in 3rd around lap 95, a tire got away from the #19 team on pit road and that put Truex to the back of the pack. In terms of speed analytics, Truex had the 5th best Total Speed Ranking and was the 8th Fastest Driver Late In A Run. In 2019, Truex had a solid showing, but once again his race wasn’t incident free. In the race he finished 6th and had a 9.6 average running position. Around lap 145, Clint Bowyer spun and had minor contact with Truex which led to a long pit stop which booted him back to the twenties. In terms of speed analytics, Truex ranked as the 2nd Fastest Driver Late In A Run. In the four New Hampshire races prior to that, Truex had results of 6th, 4th, 5th and 3rd.

Ryan Blaney
New Hampshire Fantasy Spin – This year at shorter-flat tracks, nobody has been faster than Ryan Blaney. For the season over the three combined events, Blaney ranks #1 for Total Speed Rankings, and for Speed Late In A Run. Also over the combined events, Blaney has the best average finish (5.0), the best average running position (5.1), the best driver rating and he’s averaged leading a series best 94.3 laps per race. In the results column, Blaney’s finishes are 4th (Phoenix), 4th (Gateway) and 7th (Richmond). At New Hampshire, look for Blaney to be a top five contender who’s a factor to win.
New Hampshire Track History – Ryan Blaney has been elite at New Hampshire and in 4 of the last 5 races he’s finished between 4th to 9th. Over those races since 2017 minus 2020 where he had a misleading result, Blaney has a 6.3 average finish and a 6.6 average running position. Last year, a strong case could be made that Blaney was the best. In the race, Blaney won Stage #1, finished 3rd in Stage #2, had a 3.8 average running position, earned the 2nd best driver rating, led the 2nd most laps (64) and then finished 5th when the checkered flag waved. In terms of speed analytics, Blaney had the 3rd best Total Speed Ranking and was the 5th Fastest Driver Late In A Run. Up until the final pit cycle, Blaney was the race leader. In 2020, Blaney finished 20th, but I’ll note his race wasn’t incident free. In the race he finished 6th in Stage #1, had a 12.5 average running position and had the 15th best Total Speed Ranking. In the first half of the race he ran as high as 2nd and looked great, in the second half he was burned by a caution during the pit cycle. On lap 153 he was running in 9th, but then a little after that Bell brought out a caution (lap 172) and he just came to pit road. Following that on lap 176 he was now back in 23rd in heavy traffic. In 2019, Blaney had his best NH performance. When the checkered flag waved he finished 4th, had a 6.9 average running position, had the 6th best Green Flag Average Speed and ranked as the 9th Fastest Driver Late In A Run. In the two NH races prior to that, Blaney had results of 7th and 9th.

Kyle Busch
New Hampshire Fantasy Spin – Kyle Busch has back-to-back misleading results at New Hampshire but look for him to be a contender. Busch has run extremely well here in the past, and in 2022 on this sub-track type he’s been one of the best. At Gateway the most recent shorter-flat track visited, Busch had the best Total Speed Ranking, was the Fastest Driver Late In A Run and then finished 2nd when the checkered flag waved. Over the combined races held at shorter-flat tracks this year, Busch has the 2nd best average finish (6.0), the 2nd best average running position (7.3), the 2nd best Total Speed Ranking and ranks 7th for long run speed.
New Hampshire Track History – Kyle Busch has back-to-back high-thirty finishes at New Hampshire but there’s no question this 3-time “Magic Mile” winner is one of the best. Last year, there’s really no takeaways for Busch’s afternoon. In the race he started on the pole, led the opening 6 laps but then he crashed in the rain which led to his 37th. In 2020, I also have no takeaways. In that event on lap 16 while running in 6th, Busch had a flat tire and pounded the wall which led to his last place finish. In the three New Hampshire races prior to that which were incident free for him, Busch had a 3.7 average finish, a 4.0 average running position and averaged leading 113.7 laps per race. In 2019, Busch won Stage #1, finished 5th in Stage #2, finished 8th overall, led a race high 118 laps, had the best Green Flag Average Speed and ranked as the 5th Fastest Driver Late In A Run. It’s important to note, Busch didn’t have an incident free race. On lap 214 he slid up into the wall and it brought out a caution. He was running around 7th at the time. In 2018, Busch finished 2nd, had a 5th place average running position, earned the 4th best driver rating and led 36 laps. In fall 2017, Busch had a stellar car and won from the pole. Additionally, Busch earned the best driver rating, had a 1st place average running position, earned a near perfect driver rating and led 187 laps.

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