Top 5 and 5 to watch: New Hampshire

Top 5 and 5 to watch: New Hampshire


Here's a look at the top five drivers in the Sprint Cup Series standings and five drivers to watch in Sunday's race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. All statistical references are for Sprint Cup races at New Hampshire unless otherwise indicated. Driver rating is based on the past 11 races at the track.

1. Denny Hamlin, 99.8 driver rating. Hamlin has one win and six top 10s in nine starts; he finished second in this race last year. Those numbers coupled with his big win last week indicate Hamlin is likely to get off to a good start in the Chase.
2. Jimmie Johnson, 107.9. Johnson has reason for optimism, too. He has three wins, including earlier this summer, and he has finished third in each of the past two weeks. In the past 10 races at Loudon, Johnson has finished outside the top 10 once.
3. Kevin Harvick, 93.0. Harvick finished fifth in June and has 10 top 10s, two fewer than Johnson. He also has one win. In other words, Harvick knows his away around New Hampshire , too. Which leads us to …
4. Kyle Busch, 91.1. ... another driver who excels at the 1.058-mile track. Busch has one win, and even though he finished 11th in June, he led 46 laps. He finished fifth in this race last year. Last week, Busch drove through the field at Richmond to finish second. He is locked in.
5. Kurt Busch, 93.6. Hamlin, Johnson, Harvick, Kyle Busch. All impressive. Kurt Busch gives away nothing at Loudon. He has three wins and hasn't finished worse than sixth since 2007. Every driver wants to start the Chase with a statement. Sunday's race should be a shootout.

Five to watch:

6. Tony Stewart, 114.1. There is no drop-off outside the top five drivers. Stewart has two wins and 10 other top fives in his 14 top 10s. He won two weeks ago at Atlanta but was an also-ran at Richmond , so it's difficult to gauge what's going on with the No. 14. He finished second in June and has led laps in 10 of the past 12 races at Loudon.
9. Carl Edwards, 85.9. Edwards' record at Loudon is nothing special: two top 10s in 12 starts, although both were top fives. He didn't distinguish himself in June, finishing a track career-worst 25th. But ... Edwards is the hottest driver over the past 10 races with eight top 10s, including two seconds. He is peaking at the right time.
12. Clint Bowyer, 90.7. Forced to protect his slim edge over the past three races as the 12th-place driver, Bowyer responded with finishes of fourth, seventh and sixth. So he enters the Chase on a roll. He won this race three years ago, leading 222 laps, and went on to finish third in the Chase. That is his only top five in nine starts.
16. Juan Pablo Montoya, 86.3. Montoya missed the Chase, but no driver has a longer current top-10 streak than Montoya's five. He has won the pole for the past two races at Loudon and led significant laps in each. He finished third last September but crashed and finished 34th in June. If he stays out of trouble, look out.
24. Marcos Ambrose, 67.4. Ambrose finished fifth last week to give him consecutive top 10s for the first time in his Cup career. He is driving with renewed confidence. Ambrose finished 23rd in his first start at Loudon in June 2009 and has improved to 20th and 13th in his subsequent starts. A third top 10 in a row is not out of the question.

By Bill Marx

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service