This article is part of our NASCAR Barometer series.
Martin Truex Jr. was in a class of his own in Monday's rain-delayed Crayon 301 at New Hampshire Speedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver had never won at the track despite leading more than 100 laps in multiple races at the circuit. That trend changed Monday when Truex piloted his car to the lead on lap 2 and almost never had to look in the rearview mirror afterward. He led 254 of the 301 laps, won both stages, and survived multiple late-race restarts to claim his third race victory of the season. It was a statement win from the former champion as the regular season begins to count down toward the championship playoffs.
Monday's challenging race just continued to increase the temperature in the points battle as drivers fight to be in the top 16 at the end of the regular-season schedule. Michael McDowell held station in the 16th and final playoff position. The battle from Bubba Wallace in 15th to Daniel Suarez in 17th is separated by a mere two points, and AJ Allmendinger isn't that far behind in 18th position, too. The final six regular-season races are shaping up to be barn burners as the fight to be part of this season's playoff field rages. Up next is another one-off track appearance at Pocono Raceway. Chase Elliott won last year's visit to the track, and a repeat of that win, or from any other non-winner this season, would only increase the pressure those drivers on the playoff bubble
Martin Truex Jr. was in a class of his own in Monday's rain-delayed Crayon 301 at New Hampshire Speedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver had never won at the track despite leading more than 100 laps in multiple races at the circuit. That trend changed Monday when Truex piloted his car to the lead on lap 2 and almost never had to look in the rearview mirror afterward. He led 254 of the 301 laps, won both stages, and survived multiple late-race restarts to claim his third race victory of the season. It was a statement win from the former champion as the regular season begins to count down toward the championship playoffs.
Monday's challenging race just continued to increase the temperature in the points battle as drivers fight to be in the top 16 at the end of the regular-season schedule. Michael McDowell held station in the 16th and final playoff position. The battle from Bubba Wallace in 15th to Daniel Suarez in 17th is separated by a mere two points, and AJ Allmendinger isn't that far behind in 18th position, too. The final six regular-season races are shaping up to be barn burners as the fight to be part of this season's playoff field rages. Up next is another one-off track appearance at Pocono Raceway. Chase Elliott won last year's visit to the track, and a repeat of that win, or from any other non-winner this season, would only increase the pressure those drivers on the playoff bubble are facing.
UPGRADE
Martin Truex Jr. - Truex started on the front row Monday at New Hampshire and leveraged his speed early in the race, making a pass for the lead on the second lap and taking the stage 1 victory. That strength carried right through the next two stages as he won the second segment and then capped off the day with the race win, too. Truex had led more than 900 laps at the track in his 29 prior starts, but it remained a circuit where he had never visited Victory Lane. That remaining box was checked Monday with the dominant outing. Truex now has three victories in 2023 after going winless in 2022. Making the situation even better is that his points haul from Monday afternoon also puts him atop the season points totals. Looking ahead, he has two career Pocono victories and finished seventh at the track last season.
Kyle Larson - Larson didn't make any waves in qualifying at New Hampshire. A modest 15th-starting position didn't inspire much confidence, and missing out on stage points in the first segment indicated that they had more work to do for the rest of the race. The team made adjustments, and Larson drove his way to second by the end of the second stage, though. The pace they found kept him at the front of the field throughout the final stage, too. His second-place finish was Larson's ninth top-five of the year and fourth top-10 from the last five races. Add his two race victories from the season so far and you have a team that looks like they will be one to beat in the playoffs. The team is brimming with confidence and power, which could be bad news for the competition at Pocono. Larson finished fifth there last season, which was his fourth consecutive top-10 at the track.
Joey Logano - The weekend trip to New Hampshire was a relatively quiet but productive one for Logano and the No. 22 team. First, Logano qualified the car fourth. He then started the race with pace, fell back under the competition caution, but worked back to the front again to claim stage points in both opening segments. The defending series champion then successfully navigated the multiple restarts at the end of the race to claim a runner-up finish. That second-place was Logano's sixth top-five finish of the season and third top-10 in the last five races. Continuing to build consistency at the front of the field as the playoffs approach is exactly what this team is trying to do as they work to defend the 2022 title. Next week will be another opportunity for them to learn and hone their craft before the knockout races arrive. Logano has one prior Pocono victory from 2012. He finished 20th at the track last season.
Chase Elliott - The weekend at New Hampshire did not start the way Elliott would have wanted. The former champion is still seeking the victory that will put him into the championship playoffs, but his qualifying effort didn't give him much confidence. He admitted prior to the race that the car was not where he needed it to be. The team was left to adjust the car during the race. Elliott struggled to start on Monday, but the team kept working and pushed the No. 9 to a 12th-place finish. Those types of recoveries help bring championships. What this team lacks at the moment is the regular-season victory, though. They'll get another chance to get things right this week at Pocono. Elliott will unpack this coming weekend as the defending race winner hoping to replicate that success on Sunday.
Kevin Harvick - Another former series champion seeking a win in 2023 is Harvick. While his position in the points in much better than Elliott's, a regular-season win is still the aim. That win didn't come Monday, but the visit to New Hampshire was a productive one. Harvick worked on his handling throughout Monday's race and found his way into the top 10 to grab stage points in the second segment. In the final stage he was able to maintain that positive track position, too. Harvick's fourth-place finish was his fifth top-five of the season and his first top-10 in the last five races. His veteran approach enables him to be in the mix at the end of many races, and continuing to do so will give him the chance to win, and Pocono is a venue where that type of approach can pay off. Harvick has one victory at the track and was on a run of five consecutive top-10s at the track until last year's finish of 27th.
DOWNGRADE
Christopher Bell - Racing is a team sport, and Bell suffered the consequences of that Monday at New Hampshire. He put himself in good standing for the race by qualifying on pole, but his race got underway with lost positions on both of his first two trips to pit road. Bell was forced to play catch up because of that and ended up missing out on stage points in the second segment as a result. Bell continued to dig throughout the final stage, but then suffered a crash with less than 10 laps remaining. The late incident meant he lost a lap with no chance to recover. Bell finished the day with a 29th-place finish, which was a promising day that completely fell to shambles. His win from earlier in the season keeps him in the playoffs, but this streak is not how the team will want to enter the championship fight. It has now been three consecutive races where they've missed the top 15.
Kyle Busch - Not much went right for Busch and the No. 8 team at New Hampshire. First, a spin in qualifying led to unapproved adjustments that sent him to the back of the field for the start. Even with those fixes Busch struggled with his car's handling from the start. He hit the wall again at the end of the first stage, and the result of that contact precipitated the premature end to his race on Monday. The result was Busch's worst finish since Kansas, which was back in early May. He and the team exit the weekend now fifth in points, 74 points behind Truex. Busch has four Pocono wins on his resume, though. He was disqualified from last year's race at the circuit after unapproved tape was discovered inside the nose and front wheel wells of his and then teammate Denny Hamlin's cars. However, Busch led 13 of his last 14 series starts at the track.
Aric Almirola - A crash and DNF was not the result Almirola needed at New Hampshire. The veteran has largely struggled this season after deciding to return to full-time competition in 2023 despite announcing 2022 would be his last. Leaving New Hampshire, Almirola sits just 27th in points with only one top-10 finish. There are some bright spots, though. Two consecutive races of qualifying inside the top five indicate the team has found single-lap pace in the car. They now need to convert that speed into race finishes, which is easier said than done. Unfortunately, Pocono is not one of Almirola's better tracks. He has four top-10 finishes there from 20 career starts and brings an average finish of 15.0 from the last three races there into this weekend's contest. Almirola is losing ground in the playoff battle and needs a very quick turnaround, or a win, to salvage the season.
Ty Gibbs - Momentum seems to have abandoned Gibbs just when he may need it the most. The first full season for the young driver has been impressive, but he has dropped out of the playoff positions by virtue of his current string of finishes. His car was off the mark Monday at New Hampshire, and a few incidents caused him to lose even more ground on top of those handling challenges. When fighting a razor-thin margin in the points there is little room for error, and that is what we are seeing at this point from the No. 54. Monday's 27th-place finish was his second finish in a row outside of the top 20 and third finish from the last five outside of the top 15. Consistent top-15 finishes with top-10s and top-fives thrown in is what Gibbs needs, though. The gap to the playoffs widened as a result of his New Hampshire struggles and now Gibbs heads to Pocono with a 41-point gap to Michael McDowell in the playoff positions.
BIGGEST SURPRISE
Chase Briscoe - The current season started well for Briscoe. The team scored four top-10s and was making a case for the playoff positions before NASCAR levied a gargantuan penalty that effectively ended their hopes for the year. Since that infraction, Briscoe and the team have largely struggled. Aside from a fourth-place finish in the All-Star Race, Briscoe spent nine straight races finishing outside of the top 15. That all changed Monday at New Hampshire when Briscoe navigated his way from 27th at the start to 10th at the finish. The top-10 is a much-needed boost, and it should be a signal to the team that, despite their deficit in the points, they can still fight for glory in the individual races. Fantasy players will want to pay close attention to see how this driver and team leverage that 10th-place finish to build for the remainder of the season. Briscoe finished 15th at Pocono last season, and another top-15 result would be a welcome result.
