From the July, 2007 issue of Stock Car Insider
Lenox Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway Recap
New Hampshire, along with other low-banked tracks like Martinsville, has a lot of similarities to road course races like the one raced last week at Sonoma. To win at a low-banked track, a driver doesn't necessarily have to have the best equipment; instead he has to have the best strategy.Strategy is what earned Denny Hamlin his first win of 2007 yesterday in the Lenox Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway.
Mired back in 6th position most of the day, Hamlin struggled to keep up with the other top cars of the day. Electing in the final pit stop of the day to take two tires as opposed to the four that every other contender took, Hamlin found himself out in front and having to hang on for the ride his life to win.
It all came down to the closing two laps with Jeff Gordon charging hard. Denny was driving franticly doing all he could to keep his car out in front. If the race had gone for just one more lap, Hamlin would have finished second. Instead, he edged Gordon out by .068 seconds (about 1/2 car length) and took the checkered flag.
Other top drivers faired as follows:
Dale Earnhardt Jr continued his bid to qualify for the Chase for the Championship. Jr finished 4th yesterday at New Hampshire and currently sits 12th in points (127pts ahead of 13th). Could Jr win a championship his last year racing for DEI?!?!?
Martin Truex Jr is starting to emerge as a true competitor week in and week out. Since winning at Dover, Truex has an average finish of 6th including his 3rd place finish yesterday at New Hampshire. More importantly, it seems the fire has been ignited deep down in Truex once again; yesterday's 3rd place finish just wasn't good enough for him. Truex now sits 10th in points.
Reigning champion, Jimmie Johnson, had a typical day finishing in 5th place. It seems the 100 point deduction and loss of crew chief Chad Knaus did little to slow down Jimmie's bid for a championship repeat.
Tony Stewart had a quiet 12th place finish. The two-time former champion now sits securely in 6th position in points.
| See complete 2007 NASCAR Schedule |
