Martin Truex Jr. and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the second of three playoff races in the Round of 16. Truex is coming off a dominant performance at Chicagoland and will be looking to extend his 27-point lead over second-place Kyle Larson as well as earn more points toward the next two rounds Sunday.
The No. 78 will have some competition this week. Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin clinched a spot in the playoffs with a win at the track earlier this season after leading 54 laps. Larson finished second by .509 seconds with Truex coming in third. Hamlin has three wins in 23 starts at New Hampshire in addition to a series-best 104.0 driver rating there. The No. 11 has been hot just about everywhere else recently too, finishing in the top five in 10 of his last 13 races, including four consecutive top fives leading up to Sunday.
A couple other drivers who could play a role this weekend are Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch. Rowdy has two checkered flags at the track over the course of his career and will be starting on the pole this Sunday for a second straight week. Busch seems to be in contention each and every week and there is no reason to believe he won't be again this time around. Harvick moved up to third in the points with a third-place finish in the playoff opener. The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford driver also claimed this race in the playoffs last year and has produced a top-five result in five of his last six starts at the Magic Mile.
ISM Connect 300 starting lineup
- Kyle Busch (two career wins at NHMS)
- Kyle Larson
- Denny Hamlin (three career wins at NHMS)
- Ryan Blaney
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Kevin Harvick (two career wins at NHMS)
- Kurt Busch (three career wins at NHMS)
- Erik Jones
- Kasey Kahne (one career win at NHMS)
- Matt Kenseth (three career wins at NHMS)
- Jamie McMurray
- Jimmie Johnson (three career wins at NHMS)
- Brad Keselowski (one career win at NHMS)
- Chase Elliott
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Clint Bowyer (two career wins at NHMS)
- Austin Dillon
- Ryan Newman (three career wins at NHMS)
- Paul Menard
- AJ Allmendinger
- David Ragan
- Chris Buescher
- Trevor Bayne
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Daniel Suarez
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Danica Patrick
- Landon Cassill
- Aric Almirola
- Ty Dillon
- Michael McDowell
- Cole Whitt
- Corey LaJoie
- Gray Gaulding
- Reed Sorenson
- Brett Moffitt
- Jeffrey Earnhardt
- Cody Ware
- Joey Logano (two career wins at NHMS)
BOLD - indicates NASCAR playoff driver
How to watch the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series ISM Connect 300
Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Date: Sunday, Sept. 24
Time: 2 p.m. ET
Length: 300 laps/317.4miles
Stage 1: Ends on lap 75
Stage 2: Ends on lap 150
Final stage: Scheduled for lap 300
TV: NBCSN
Live stream: NBC Sports App, Twitter (Kurt Busch dashboard)
How to watch the NASCAR Xfinity Series VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300
Location: Kentucky Speedway
Date: Saturday, Sept. 23
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Length: 200 laps/300 miles
Stage 1: Ends on lap 45
Stage 2: Ends on lap 90
Final stage: Scheduled for lap 200
TV: NBCSN
Live stream: NBC Sports App
How to watch the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 175
Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Date: Saturday, Sept. 23
Time: 1 p.m. ET
Length: 150 laps/225 miles
Stage 1: Ends on lap 55
Stage 2: Ends on lap 110
Final stage: Scheduled for lap 175
TV: FS1
Live stream: FOX Sports GO
2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs standings
POSITION | DRIVER | CAR # | POINTS | BEHIND | WINS |
1. | Martin Truex Jr. | 78 | 2102 | LEADER | 5 |
2. | Kyle Larson | 42 | 2075 | -27 | 4 |
3. | Kevin Harvick | 4 | 2067 | -35 | 1 |
4. | Brad Keselowski | 2 | 2061 | -41 | 2 |
5. | Kyle Busch | 18 | 2061 | -41 | 2 |
6. | Denny Hamlin | 11 | 2058 | -44 | 2 |
7. | Jimmie Johnson | 48 | 2046 | -56 | 3 |
8. | Chase Elliott | 24 | 2044 | -58 | 0 |
9. | Matt Kenseth | 20 | 2039 | -63 | 0 |
10. | Ryan Blaney | 21 | 2034 | -68 | 1 |
11. | Jamie McMurray | 1 | 2031 | -71 | 0 |
12. | Austin Dillon | 3 | 2026 | -76 | 1 |
13. | Kurt Busch | 41 | 2026 | -76 | 1 |
14. | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 17 | 2022 | -80 | 2 |
15. | Kasey Kahne | 5 | 2021 | -81 | 1 |
16. | Ryan Newman | 31 | 2019 | -83 | 1 |
