The cliche that is often used is “It looks good on TV, but nothing beats seeing it live.” Well, for this weekend’s Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, I got that opportunity. Not only that, but I had the media credentials to be on pit road, in the garage, and in the media center. It was the ultimate “All Access” experience, and for this edition of the Parks Pit Report, it will be extensive coverage, interviews with drivers and post-race reactions.
The driver all weekend that had everyone worried was pole sitter Juan Pablo Montoya. Not only did he qualify at the top of the charts, but set the track qualifying record and led all three practice sessions. No doubt, when the green flag fell shortly after 2:00 in the afternoon on Sunday, all eyes focused on the No. 42 Target Chevrolet.
Outside pole sitter Tony Stewart got the early jump on Montoya heading into the first turn, and managed to lead the first lap, but coming out of the second turn on lap two, Montoya gained the upper hand and began to pull away by about three-tenths of a second per lap.
Montoya’s lead began to shrink and the fuel began to burn off, with his car becoming loser with each passing lap. This allowed Stewart to get right back up to the rear bumper and make the pass for the lead on lap 37.
Stewart would hold position until the first caution flag on lap 68. The fifth-place seat in the Chase, Kasey Kahne, came out of the fourth turn and his engine blew in a huge cloud of smoke.. The issue would put the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge in the garage for the afternoon, leaving him with a 38th-place finish and dropping him to 12th in the Chase standings.
“I felt it start to run a little bit rough down the backstretch and it broke on the frontstretch,” Kahne said after climbing from his car. Kahne also pointed out that despite the problem, it was only the first race in the championship hunt, and anything could happen.
“You never know in the Chase if you can have a mulligan or not. This team is doing a nice job. We’ll be 12th when we leave here. Hopefully, we can make gains in those final nine (races).”
The first round of pit stops shook things up in the front of the field as it was Montoya getting out front because of a quick stop and great pit selection. He would chose the outside lane for the lap 75 restart. This time, the Target car got out front through the first corner and cleared his competition. After only seven laps, Montoya again got his lead out to nearly two seconds over Stewart.
The second caution came out on lap 85 for debris on the backstretch. Very few leaders decided to pit having few laps on their tires, so Montoya kept his position when the green came back out on lap 91. This time, he went for the inside lane to see if that strategy would work out.
It would, but for different reasons as behind him Denny Hamlin got into Stewart, which opened the door for Kurt Busch to make a move into second followed by Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson. Stewart would be pushed back to fifth before getting back into line.
The contact gave Montoya another opening to get his car out front by a distance as by lap 103, he was out by 1.3 seconds on Busch. Soon, that lead would begin to shrink as traffic cause the lead to dwindle, bringing the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge right to the bumper of Montoya. Busch would make the pass for the lad on lap 124 and would hold his position until the third caution came out, which was for debris in turn 3.
Pit stops again shook up the running order as it was Montoya once again getting the lead with a fast pit stop.. The restart came on lap 147 with Montoya taking the inside line, with Hamlin on his right side.
This time, Hamlin was able to stay door-to-door with the No. 42 car, and was able to get his first lead of the afternoon on lap 148. Hamlin would lead until Montoya came charging pack around on lap 153 to get his fourth lead of the day. Much like the previous runs, the car lost the handle later in the run, as it was Tony Stewart getting the lead just as the fourth caution came out for Erik Darnell’s spin in the second turn.
This time, pit strategy became a factor as some cars decided to come in for only fuel or two tires compared to four. Meanwhile, six cars decided to stay out and get track position. This put Montoya back in the pack as he would restart 12th.
The restart came on lap 166 with Stewart out front and Johnson on his outside. Stewart held his lead, but the car making the charge to the front was Montoya. In only one lap, he moved up to seventh. He would have made up more positions, but the caution flag came out again.
This time, a big accident heading into turn 3 took out a total of seven cars. Rookie Joey Logano got into the rear of Elliott Sadler, sending him spinning. The ensuing smoke blocked the view of the track, and collected Robby Gordon, Paul Menard, Scott Speed, Michael Waltrip, John Andretti and Reed Sorenson. Some cars had very heavy damage, and elected to go behind the wall for service and repairs.
Out front, no changes were in order for the leaders as the field restarted on lap 175. Just as quickly, the caution came out again on lap 177 when Jeff Burton spun out in turn 2 after contact with David Reutimann.
The field would restart on lap 181, and this time it was Johnson getting the jump on Stewart as he took the lead through the second corner. Meanwhile, Montoya was getting risky by going three-wide for position. By lap 187, the No. 42 had cracked the top five for the first time since his pit stop.
Out front, Johnson was pulling away by three seconds over second and third place Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. One lap later, Junior got the run on Stewart and got the position, moving him to second. Montoya soon followed suit and moved into third.
The race’s seventh caution flew on lap 194 when David Stremme spun out in turn two after David Reutimann got loose and slid up.
Some of the leaders came in for service for new tires. Stewart had an extended stop as the axle shaft cover became loose and the crew was forced to tighten it down. Meanwhile, seven cars decided to stay out and gain track position. This gave Busch the lead with Mark Martin right behind him followed by Sadler.
Shortly after the restart, Martin was challenging for the lead and would get the top spot on lap 204. Still, the issue at hand would be when and if the caution flag would come out and negate Martin’s lead. Because he and others stayed out, they would have to pit sooner and be put a lap down. If the caution came out afterwards, they would be stuck a lap down or at the least, at the tail end of the lead lap.
Martin decided to stretch his lead out to as far as he could over the field. With about 70 laps to go, the lead was stable at just over two seconds. Martin and crew would be pitting with around 55 laps remaining, hoping the caution doesn’t come out.
Finally, on lap 243, Martin came down pit road, handing the lead over to Busch. The fast stop got him back out on the track. Meanwhile, a few laps later, Busch came in for service, handing the lead to Hamlin. Hamlin had the advantage of having newer tires, meaning he didn’t have to pit until later on in the run.
As the field cycled through, Martin took advantage of his newer tires and passed leader Hamlin, putting himself back on the lead lap. Hamlin would come down on lap 265 for service, handing the lead to Ryan Newman.
Newman pitted a lap later, handing over the lead himself to Edwards. The field would cycle through with Bobby Labonte being the last car to pit for service, and the lead was handed back to Martin on lap 273 with a 2.4 second advantage on second place Busch.
A few laps later, the caution came out for debris in turn 3. However, the front cars were not planning on returning to pit road any time. There was enough fuel in the tank to complete the race, and track position was so key at this point.
Martin would choose the outside line for the lap 282 restart with Busch to his left. However, the field could not get up to speed before the caution flew again. This time, it was Earnhardt Jr. who got hit on the inside by Reutimann, sending the No. 88 Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet hard into the outside wall.
In the garage area, Earnhardt Jr. was direct in how he felt about the incident.
“The No. 00 can’t hold his line and went down in the bottom of the corner and lost it and run up the side of my car and spun me out,” Earnhardt Jr. said looking at his mangled car.
“We had a real good car. A fabulous car all day long. Probably one of the best car here. Working real hard all day just trying to run the best we can. David (Reutimann) just run out of talent there.”
The field would restart on lap 288 with Martin again on the outside lane. Right away, fifth place Montoya made it three wide going into the third turn, gaining the upper hand and getting into the third position. One lap later, he got second place from Hamlin. All that was left for Montoya to complete a dominant weekend was to get past Martin, who was over a second ahead.
Fortunately for Montoya, but unfortunately for Martin, a late caution came out on lap 295 when A.J. Allmendinger spun out exiting turn two following contact with Marcos Ambrose.
For Martin, it was go time as he knew Montoya would be superb on the start. The No. 5 car opted for the outside lane, pinning Montoya on the inside for the final restart on lap 297. Martin got the advantage early, but the two cars ran door-to-door for three corners and one straightaway. Finally, exiting the fourth turn, Martin got the upper hand with two laps remaining.
Montoya then made a dive for the inside as they headed into turn 1, but Martin was able to block the move, keeping the No. 42 at bay. The move gave Hamlin the opportunity to get the chance to go into second as he pulled alongside Montoya. While this was going on, Martin stepped out and got a lead as the white flag came out.
The No. 5 was a corner ahead of the competition as the No. 44 of Allmendinger again spun coming out of turn 4. The race stayed green as he tried to re-fire the car, and NASCAR gave him all the time they could with the leaders coming into turn 3 and hitting the smoke. Finally, they had to post the yellow as the car would not start and the leaders were closing. As dominant as Montoya was all weekend, it was experience and savvy that won the race as Mark Martin took the checkered flag, his fifth of the year, winning the Sylvania 300.
The win was Martin’s first at New Hampshire, and in victory lane, he quickly pointed out that his crew chief, Alan Gustafson, was the one who won the race. “Alan (Gustafson) is the man…I can’t drive this place worth a lick,” Martin said in victory lane.
In the media center, Montoya said that the move by Martin “screwed” him, but if he was in the same position, he probably would have done the same thing. Martin was quick to echo that statement.
“I thought that he would do the right thing, and if it didn’t turn out to be the right thing, I think it would’ve been a mistake,” Martin said. “Sometimes it’s overlooked the fact that you get what you give.”
The win now gives Martin a 35-point lead in the Chase standings heading into Dover next weekend. Coverage will be on ABC starting at 1 p.m.
In closing, the experience I had at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway was unbelievable. When you walk in the garage, and hear those 800-horsepower cars fire up for a run on the dyno, and then go full throttle just sitting still, it’s indescribable. I met some of the biggest names in NASCAR Media. Guys like Marty Smith from ESPN, David Caraviello of NASCAR.com, and then to be sitting mere feet from Mark Martin and getting to hear him speak of his win, no words can explain.
But by far, the greatest moment I had while in either the garage or media center was getting to meet the 1983 NASCAR Winston, now Sprint, Cup champion Bobby Allison. To be sitting next to a legend such as he, who could possibly be in the first inducted class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, is an honor.
A big thank you to the staff at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. You treated this rookie reporter as if he was a seasoned veteran. I hope the opportunity comes that I can return.
RESULTS: 1-Martin 2-Hamlin 3-Montoya 4-Johnson 5-Kyle Busch* 6-Kurt Busch 7-Newman 8-Sadler 9-Biffle 10-Bowyer
*Car was too low on the LF corner in post-race inspection. Penalties could be levied later this week.
NOTABLE FINISHES: 11-Vickers 14-Stewart 15-Gordon 17-Edwards 21-Logano (R) 35-Earnhardt Jr. 38-Kahne
CAUTIONS: 11 for 48 laps. Lap 68-74 (fluid), 87-91 (debris-frontstretch), 142-146 (debris-turn 3), 162-165 (No. 96 spin-turn 2), 169-174 (No. 7, 19, 20, 34, 43, 55, 98 wreck-backstretch), 177-180 (No. 00, 31 wreck-turn 2), 277-282 (debris-turn 3), 284-287 (No. 00, 88 wreck-turn 4), 295-297 (No. 44, 47 spin turn 2), 300 (44 spin-frontstretch)
LEADERS: 20 lead changes among 10 drivers. Montoya POLE, Stewart 1, Montoya 2-36, Stewart 37-68, Montoya 69-123, Kurt Busch 124-142, Montoya 143-147, Hamlin 148-152, Montoya 153-162, Stewart 163-180, Johnson 181-194, Kurt Busch 195-203, Martin 204-242, Kurt Busch 243-247, Hamlin 248-264, Newman 265, Edwards 266-267, Stewart 268, Ambrose 269-270, Labonte 271, Martin 272-300
CHASE STANDINGS: 1-Martin, 5230 points 2-Johnson, -35 3-Hamlin, -35, 4-Montoya, -55 5-Kurt Busch, -65 6-Stewart, -74 7-Newman, -79 8-Vickers, -90 9-BIffle, -92 10-Gordon, -102 11-Edwards, -113 12-Kahne, -161
Time of Race: 3 hrs, 9 mins, 4 secs.
Average Speed: 100.760 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.159 seconds