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Merrimack’s Magic MileOur journey further through New England continues with a stop atone of the more underrated tracks on the Cup Series schedule: the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.i miss the days of full house New Hampshire with more grandstandsOverview and HistoryLocated smack dab in the middle of New Hampshire south of the White Mountain National Forest, the New Hampshire Motor Speedway opened its doors to NASCAR racing in June 1990. The successor to the demolished Bryar Motorsports Park that had stood since 1964, Bob Bahre redeveloped the site into a 1-mile long flat oval that became the largest racetrack in all of New England. In keeping with tradition on the site, a longer 1.6 mile infield road course was built within the oval in the spirit of the previous BMP track.the fall foliage in New Hampshire makes for a pretty backdrop when it's not pouring rainThe NASCAR Busch Series aided its New England tour with a pair of New Hampshire dates in 1990, with the Cup Series joining them in 1993 following the success of the Busch races at the facility. The overwhelming support for stock car racing in the northeast compelled Bahre to seek a second date for his racetrack. Unfortunately, where it came from may have tainted the perception of New Hampshire slightly, not more so than the Texas Motor Speedway however; the second race date came from North Wilkesboro’s autumn date that had been on the calendar since October 1949. Along with Bruton Smith, he purchased the North Wilkesboro Speedway and gave the fall date to his New England facility for 1997.https://ift.tt/Rjf6et2 despite the questionable acquisition of the date, the track still churned along into the new century. Unfortunately, this is where the racing aspect gets put on pause, for 2 major incidents happened at New Hampshire that affect the nature of stock car racing to this very day. In May of 2000, fourth generation racer Adam Petty, grandson of Richard, was killed in practice for the Busch Series race after his throttle hung into turn 3; later in July, Kenny Irwin Jr was killed in virtually the same way, also during practice but for the Cup Series’ summer race. Both deaths were a worrisome sight for NASCAR, and the first half of the 4 major red flags in a year’s time surrounding safety in stock cars. Their deaths led to kill switches being installed on every racecar in the event of a hung throttle.The speedway was caught in the midst of tragedy yet again the following year, with the fall race being postponed in the wake of 9/11 and being rescheduled just past Thanksgiving as an impromptu season finale, the only time the track has ever held this distinction in its history. The occasion was historical all around; Robby Gordon, driving in a substitute role for Richard Childress, moved champion-elect Jeff out of the way late in the race (to the ire of the new 4-time champion) and got some redemption for his wacky and wild 2001 season to win his first Winston Cup race in his 62nd start, and became the season’s 19th different winner in 36 races, tied with 2022 for the most in a NASCAR Cup Series season in the modern era.\"who would have thought his first win would come on an oval\"After a rain-shortened rookie Ryan Newman victory in the 2002 fall race, accompanied by Ward Burton’s final Winston Cup win earlier in July at the speedway, the 2003 race also marked a major turning point in the sport’s history, as Dale Jarrett crashed on the frontstretch after a restart and was left stranded in the middle of the track as cars swarmed all around the helpless Yates driver while racing back to the yellow flag; it was banned immediately afterwards after years of contentious debate.and so ended the undefined, not clear, and very vague \"Gentlemen's Agreement\"The following year, the fall race became the opening race of the Chase for the Nextel Cup, remaining in this capacity for 7 years before Chicagoland took over as the playoff opener in 2011. New Hampshire remained with 2 dates on the calendar until 2017; the speedway moved to a single race date for the 2018 season, and remains with only 1 weekend into the present day. In the Next Gen era, the track has become one of the better races on the schedule, producing exciting natural racing in both the dry AND the wet.who would have thought we'd have racing on wet ovals AND have it be good?Did You Know?- Jeff Burton led every lap of 300 at New Hampshire in September 2000, in the only 1-mile restrictor plate race in Cup Series history done in response to the tragic deaths of Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin Jr. Burton is the last to accomplish the feat of leading every lap in a race- Davey Allison’s final race came in the inaugural New Hampshire Winston Cup race on July 11th, 1993 with a 3rd place finish behind Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin; 2 days later, Allison passed away after a helicopter crash at Talladega the day after the New Hampshire race.- The 2014 summer race marked Turner Sports’ most recent race broadcasted, in what was slated to end a 32-year run of covering live NASCAR races beginning with TBS in February 1983.- Along with stock cars, New Hampshire is a popular race track for modifieds, hosting a race every year since the track opened in 1990 and remains arguably one of the most popular races on the Whelen Modified Tour schedule.- The trophy given to winners here isn’t so much a trophy as it is seafood; winners are handed a large live lobster for their troubles on the day.Look at Christopher Bell man... so inspirationalHow Do You Win Here?The flat nature of the New Hampshire Motor Speedway lends itself to being a track where drivers from dirt backgrounds thrive; just ask Christopher Bell, he practically owns thee place now. But in reality, the name of the game is tire management to make sure the grip you feel in the racetrack doesn’t go away completely by the end of a long green flag run typical of New Hampshire. Rain is also quite a big factor, with numerous first time winners at the track owing to rain and many more postponements to go with. The trick with the turns is to diamond the corner and use a slight bit of the apron on corner exit to get good runs onto the straightaways.New Hampshire is set to return to its fall date in the playoffs for 2025, and will serve as the opening race of the Round of 12 on USA Network.with how good the Next Gen car races here, it should make for a damn good opener to the 2nd round of the playoffsOn the next episode of 2025 Daytona 500 Countdown...The New England short track tour continues with a track that gave rise to some of the greatest commentators known to stock cars...
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