NASCAR completes two-day test at New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Twelve drivers participated in the exercise at the Magic Mile in anticipation of the New Hampshire 301 on July 17.

And with Loudon figuring prominently as the second race in the first round of the playoffs, teams were hoping to gain an advantage on the competition by developing a baseline for their cars before the tour returns to the track.

"A big Martinsville"

“It’s a big Martinsville, so we have something to compare it to,” Ryan Newman said. “It used to be if you were good at Phoenix and Richmond, you could be good at Loudon — and if you were good at Loudon and Richmond — you could be good at Phoenix. But it doesn’t seem to make sense like that any more.

“Having said that, we won Phoenix, and I wish it was. Just in general, it’s so unique now, the way the cars are set up and what we do to make them go fast.”

Newman won his first career Cup race from the pole at Loudon in 2002. And he enjoys running the modified races as well. Despite being an Indiana native, Newman says he has “a sense of home” at the New Hampshire track. While he understands the reasons behind NHMS losing a race in 2018, the track will always be special to the driver of the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevy.

“There are a lot of die-hard dedicated up here,” Newman said. “It’s tough to see that second event go away but they see the numbers. Bruton (Smith, SMI chairman) sees those numbers and know why they’re making that move it is what it is.”

Busch looking for more

Of the 12 drivers participating in the test, Kyle Busch was the most recent winner at Loudon with his victory in July 2015. Although Busch had one of the fastest cars during the test, he didn’t see the improvements the team was hoping for.

“We started out pretty fast, felt like we had really good speed, and as (Tuesday) kind of progressed we really didn’t make any gains,” Busch said. “A couple of the other guys, they made some gains … so hopefully we can figure some better things out.” 

Joe Gibbs Racing has won three of the last four races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. In addition to Busch’s 2015 win in the summer race, Matt Kenseth won the following events in September and last July.

Busch, who earned his first win at Loudon in July 2006, has always enjoyed racing in New England. He believes the key to success at NHMS is tire set up.

“Tires is the name of the game,” Busch added. “That’s what we all rely on and what connects the car to the ground, so you got to make the tires last. The biggest thing here is over the course of the run you either get really tight or you get really loose, so trying to maintain that balance and maintain the air pressure and tire temperatures throughout an 80-lap run is big.

“Just trying to make the tires happier and last longer, that’s what we are working on.”

Larson sees decent speed

Kyle Larson, who led 14 laps and finished third in his Loudon debut in 2014, is looking to regain some of the magic he enjoyed in his rookie season. Larson raced to a career-high second-place finish in the fall race that same year. The No. 42 Ganassi Racing Chevy finished 10th last fall.

“I was good here in the K&N (Series) and then my first year of Cup, but other than that

we’ve been struggling,” Larson said. “I don’t know if we’ve gotten within a top-20 finish really since those races, I struggle pretty bad here.

“I feel like we got some decent speed, but obviously it’s tough because the track conditions are way different and the weather outside is obviously really cool. It’s been fun to go fast, so hopefully we can have speed when we come back with all of the other cars.”

Other drivers participating in the test included: 

Brad Keselowski – Team Penske

Kasey Kahne – Hendrick Motorsports

Trevor Bayne – Roush Fenway Racing

Ty Dillon – Germain Racing

Clint Bowyer – Stewart-Haas Racing

Ryan Blaney – Wood Brothers Racing

Ryan Newman – Richard Childress Racing

Alex Bowman – Chevrolet

David Ragan – Ford

Drew Herring – Toyota