Nascar Weekend in New England

Sprint Cup and Nationwide drivers are at New Hampshire this weekend while Camping World Trucks are at Iowa Speedway.

Just eight races are left before the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship and drivers are battling to put themselves in a playoff spot. The top-10 drivers after the September 8th race at Richmond get in along with two wild cards. The wild cards go to the drivers ranked 11 thru 20 with the most wins.

Tony Stewart stands fifth and Brad Keselowski is ninth in the standings and both are in real good shape even if they don’t finish in the Top-10 because both have three victories this season.

Stewart had two great efforts at New Hampshire last year. He finished second to teammate Ryan Newman in the July race and then won the fall event. It was the second of five victories in last season's Chase. Stewart has won three times at New Hampshire.

If the Chase were to start this weekend, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano would be the wild card drivers. Both have one win this season, but lots can change over the next two months.

Carl Edwards can only hope it does. After challenging for the season championship last year, Edwards has yet to win a race this year. Right now he’s out of the running for a repeat try.

Notes from New Hampshire – Jeff Burton led all 300 laps in winning this race back in 2000.

Denny Hamlin is the only active driver with an average finish at New Hampshire in the Top-10.