New Hampshire Mobil 1 301 Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings

Ryan Preece
New Hampshire Fantasy Outlook – Ryan Preece is running well and is often at his best at shorter-flat tracks, so look for Preece to have a strong showing at his home track. This year at shorter-flat tracks minus Richmond where he ran well until his brakes went south, Preece has an 11.0 average finish. At Gateway just a few weeks ago, Preece finished 13th. Heading into the weekend, I would view Preece as a low double-digit driver who’ll flirt with a top ten.
New Hampshire History – At New Hampshire, Preece doesn’t have a great overall track record (21.7 average finish over his six starts), but he had his best race last year and that’s ultimately the most important race, even though he was aided by wet condition wildness and was realistically likely about a 20th place driver. Last year, Preece started 31st, finished about 20th in Stage #2, had a 22.4 average running position and then finished 11th overall. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Preece ranked 18th. In 2023, Preece was a disappointment. In the race, Preece finished 28th, had a 21st place average running position and his Total Speed Ranking ranked 25th. It just wasn’t a good showing. In 2021 when he next most recently competed, Preece finished 22nd. In his two races prior to that, Preece had finishes of 16th and 21st.

Alex Bowman
New Hampshire Fantasy Outlook – Now that Alex Bowman is eliminated from the Playoffs, hopefully the good times can resume at The Magic Mile. At New Hampshire, Bowman is frequently a high single-digit to low double-digit driver and in 6 of the last 8 races, he’s finished between 9th to 15th, with the other two results needing asterisk mark results. Over the last three races, Bowman has two asterisk mark results in the 30’s and ranks 17th in terms of Next Gen Speed Rankings. This year at shorter-flat tracks minus Gateway, Bowman has a 5.3 average finish and is 3 for 3 at finishing in the top ten. Heading into the weekend if he can avoid trouble, look for Bowman to be a high-single digit to mid-teens driver.
New Hampshire History – Alex Bowman has historically been solid at New Hampshire and in 6 of the last 8 races, he’s finished between 9th to 15th. Over that stretch minus 2024 (engine blew up) and 2022 (crash), Bowman has a 12.6 average finish. Last year, Bowman looked respectable and was likely a top ten contender but finished a misleading 36th. In the race, Bowman started 5th, finished 10th in Stage #1, was running in 9th on lap 120 but then during a caution around lap 140, the #48 was smoking and Bowman was pushed to the garage which marked the end of his race. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Bowman ranked 10th. In 2023, Bowman had a solid showing. In the race, Bowman finished 14th and had the 18th best Total Speed Ranking. I’ll note, Bowman was involved in a late accident on lap 281 while running around the mid-teens, but he never lost track position and it didn’t seem to really impact him. In 2022, I have no takeaways for his afternoon. In the race, Bowman qualified 27th and then on lap 30 he was caught up in an early accident back in the pack which marked the end of his race and led to his 35th. In the four New Hampshire races prior to that, Bowman had a 12.3 average finish with results of 9th, 15th, 14th and 11th.

Josh Berry
New Hampshire Fantasy Outlook – Josh Berry is frequently at his best at shorter-flat tracks, and he had a great performance last summer en route to a 3rd, so he’ll be a quality dark horse option after three straight DNF’s heading into the weekend. This year at shorter-flat tracks, Berry’s tied for the 6th best Track Type Total Speed Ranking and his average finish minus Gateway is 8.3. Now that Berry has been eliminated, hopefully the good times can resume, and I would view him as a risky top ten contender.
New Hampshire History – Last year in his only New Hampshire Cup start, Josh Berry had a great performance. In the race, Berry started 10th, finished 5th in Stage #1, finished 8th in Stage #2, had a 7.1 average running position and then finished 3rd overall. In terms of Total Speed Rankings, Berry ranked 3rd.

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