Clean Sweep Christopher

USA Today 301:

Christopher Bell took the checkered flag at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) for the USA Today 301 on Sunday evening taking his third NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season. Bell's victory on Sunday came the day after he won his fourth race at New Hampshire in the Xfinity Series Saturday afternoon. Bell is now four for four in the Xfinity Series at New Hampshire and the USA Today 301 win gives him his second Cup win at the track. Bell also has a Craftsman Truck Series win at the 1-mile flat track in the Granite State. All in all, Bell is seven of eleven at the track with an impressive 63 percent win percentage at NHMS. Might as well rename it CBell Motor Speedway at this point.

While CBell dominated the race leading 149 of the eventual 305 laps when the race went to overtime, the win did come easy or as assured as it appears on the post-race rundown. The field got shuffled around near the end of Stage 2 as drivers started to alter up a strategy implicated race. Up to this point, even with a few varying strategies, it looked like it was for sure CBell's race to lose after he had stormed to the lead earlier in the race taking the top spot from Chase Elliott on lap 42. But as the race was getting deep into Stage 2 it was clear the race was going to be weather impacted and possibly end early depending on how bad and how long the rain and storms lasted. At this point, it was looking like Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr, Tyler Reddick, or maybe even a new winner on the year like Josh Berry or Todd Gilliand could steal a win. And as a lot of races go, when the teams know rain is on the way the racing on track ratchets up. Sunday did not disappoint there as we had a spat of cautions shortly before the rain blew in to Loudon.

Of course when the weather started to impact the race many fans were hopeful that we would get to see racing on the Goodyear wet weather tires. But we didn't...and we didn't receive clarity on why that wasn't happening for far too long. By the time I saw a clear answer of to why we didn't have the cars already on track with the wet weather tires, lighting delays had but put in place, fans evacuated, and and it was a downpour all around the track. Being at NHMS with no lights, daylight hours shortening, and what I presumed would be a bit of a difficult effort to get the track race ready (weather tires or not), I assumed we were in for a Tyler Reddick victory. No qualms with that, but was bummed that a fairly good race to this point with the anticipation of some racing in adverse track conditions, would end in a cloud of "what could have been" and some disappoint.

But, much to my surprise at the time, NASCAR didn't call the race. The 45 car did not get the win. We actually waited it out; we actually waited to see if the weather cooperated; we actually waited to give the fans, both in the stands and at home, a show. And boy did we get a damn good show once NASCAR had the teams slap on the Goodyear wet weather tires and turned the drivers loose. The racing did not disappoint. Drivers were all over the track trying to find moisture and grip, they were routinely 3-and-4-wide, and I swear to the racing gods I saw them 7-wide at one point.

Drivers were going all out, battling hard to get in position, and doing whatever necessary to protect the tires and get to the front. As no shock to me: Reddick held on and stayed up front, but Bell was able to regain the lead and was at that point unbeatable. Larson also got in the mix at one point, as did Berry and Briscoe towards the end. The drivers with the most pure talent and tire preservation, grip finding, and the best car control skills rose to the occasion and put on a decent battle for the win at the end. My only grip over the last 82 laps was NASCAR mandating the pit stops for tires. I fully agree that non-competitive was the way to go for the safety of everyone on pit road, but let the teams and drivers determine what tires and when to put them on coming out of wet weather conditions.

Overall, I think we had a good race. Yes, Bell dominated and ended up winning. But c'mon, it's New Hampshire, we should not be that surprised at this point. But there was plenty of action and excitement. The tires, both wet weather and traditional slicks, made the racing compelling. There was passing, multi-grooves, and strategy. We got to see some drivers leave it all out for a chance at a win or even just a good day by their team's standards. Again, my only major gripe from the weekend was NASCAR determining the tire strategy. I'd give the USA Today 301 a good 7/10 for the race it did provide.

Now NASCAR heads to Music City and the Nashville Superspeedway for all three series and an action packed weekend of racing. We welcome the Craftsman Truck Series back from their hiatus on Friday night at 8 p.m. on FS2 for the Rackley Roofing 200. The Xfinity Series follows that up Saturday evening at 5 p.m. on USA for the Tennessee Lottery 250. The Cup Series headlines the weekend on Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. on NBC with the Ally 400.

Nashville Picks:

Cup = Hamlin

Xfinity = Sam Mayer

Truck = Clint Bowyer

Header Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography