Brad Keselowski is coming off a win that seemed improbable, as when he took the white flag at Kentucky, he slowed way down, and reported that he was out of fuel. That gave second-place Carl Edwards hope, but just as Edwards closed the gap, Keselowski's car found a second wind and suddenly sped up to take the checkered flag. Here is the weekend schedule and notebook for this weekend's race at New Hampshire, where there are sure to be fireworks as well.
Weekend Schedule (all times eastern)
Friday, July 15
First Practice: 11:30 a.m. - 12:55 p.m.
Qualifying: 4:45 p.m.
Saturday, July 16
Second Practice: 10:00 a.m. - 10:55 a.m.
Final Practice: 12:30 p.m. - 1:25 p.m.
Sunday, July 17
Race - 1:30 p.m. (301 Laps / 318.46 Miles)
Weekend Notebook
- Hendrick Motorsports made a big announcement on Thursday evening, as they announced that fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. would not race this weekend due to concussion-like symptoms. According to a statement, Alex Bowman will fill in this weekend, and there is no timetable for Earnhardt Jr. to return.
- Keselowski will look to pick up his third straight win this weekend, as he has won the Daytona and Kentucky races. Historically, New Hampshire hasn't been his strongest track, as he has just one career win, but he does have five top-five finishes along with three poles.
- There are eight races left until the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins, and there are only five spots left available. In order to make the Chase, a driver must finish in the top-30 in points. After that, he either needs to have a win, or he has to be one of the top finishers without a win. There are a maximum of 16 Chase spots available.
- There is one underlying favorite this weekend, with that being Ryan Newman. He is coming off a season-best 3rd place finish at Kentucky and has three career wins at New Hampshire. His finish last week puts him in 13th position on the Chase grid, 34 points above the cutoff line. He will try to get Richard Childress Racing their first win since July 2013, which was 106 races ago.
- Most tracks have one driver who just dominates at that track, but New Hampshire lacks that driver. In the last 16 races, there have been 14 different winners, with only Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano having multiple wins at the track during that stretch.
- Speaking of Logano, the 26-year-old driver is leading a youth movement in the sport, as he has 15 career wins, with six of those coming last season. He is returning to his home track this weekend, where he picked up his first career win in 2009. When he won that race, he also became the youngest winner at the track, as he was just 19 years old.