NEW HAMPSHIRE RACE REVIEW

Granite State of Mind!

Date: 7-17-2022.
Name of the race: Ambetter 301. 
Track: New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Laps: 301. 
Pole winner: Martin Truex Jr.
Outside pole: Chase Elliott.
Stage 1 winner: Martin Truex Jr.
Stage 2 winner: Martin Truex Jr.
Stage 3 winner (won the race): Christopher Bell.
Top 5: Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace Jr, Martin Truex Jr, and Kevin Harvick. 
FYI: The Cup series pulled into New Hampshire Motor Speedway with it being seven races until the playoffs begin, and the start of the race had to be delayed for about twenty minutes due to afternoon showers and lighting that were in the area. When the race finally got going, Martin Truex Jr started the pole for the race with the three-time winner this season Chase Elliott starting right alongside him. Four laps into the race a big crash happened that involved Alex Bowman, Ty Dillon, Josh Bilicki, and BJ McLeod. Old rivalries popped up with Ross Chastain and Denny Hamlin once again getting into one another again and the same goes for Chase Elliott and Joey Logano, and a new rivalry between Austin Dillon and Brad Keselowski emerged when the #3 car hit Brad under caution for no reason, and the #6 car retaliated. Martin won both stages one and two and looked to not only be the dominant car of the day, but also the winner of the race. That all changed when with 100 laps to go when Martin's crew chief James Small decided that his driver takes two tires instead of four for the final stretch of the race which came back to bite him because he dropped outside the top ten for a little while, but like Martin, he climbed back up there. Chase Elliott then took over the lead and held onto it until with forty-two to go when Christopher Bell took the lead. He held onto it until the checkered flag flew and earned his first win of the season, a playoff berth, and the second win of his career. Bell is the fourteenth winner this season which now has Martin Truex Jr on the bubble only sixty-eight points ahead of Kevin Harvick who just like Truex, has not a race in 2022 as well. The series now heads to the Keystone State for the Pocono mountains which have Pocono Raceway or also known as the Tricky Triangle. Will we see a different winner? Repeat winner? It remains to be seen. 
Next race: Pocono Raceway on Sunday afternoon (7-24-2022).