Beat The Experts: Sylvania 300 At New Hampshire
By Cole Mentzel
After a thrilling opener to the Chase at Chicagoland, the Sprint Cup Series has moved to New Hampshire for the second race of the Challenger 16. Last weekend, Denny Hamlin was able to punch his ticket to the next round after winning on a late re-start. This weekend, things will get a little crazier as some drivers who are at the bottom of the Chase standings, like Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick, will try to rebound with either a nice finish or a win to keep their Championship hopes alive.
Staff writer John Harlow correctly picked race winner Denny Hamlin to score 47 points in week one of the “Beat The Experts” Chase game, and is the new leader as the series heads to New Hampshire. John was followed by BTF editor Christopher Olmstead (37 points), staff writer Cole Mentzel (36 points), staff writer Mike Hutton (27 points) and staff writer Joseph Shelton with 3 points.
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Among the BTF readers involved in the game, Chris Losurdo leads with 40 points, followed by Linda Lopez Gearst Gerhardt (33 points), readers Tammy Hemminger and Rita Stout are tied (32 points) and Mary Jo Korp also picked Kevin Harvick last weekend to earn 3 points.
Here are the BTF staff picks for New Hampshire:
Cole Mentzel – Jeff Gordon – Last weekend at Chicagoland, Gordon led 41 laps and was in 2nd place on the last re-start of the race. Due to a bad start, he ended up dropping and finishing 14th but he looked like the Jeff Gordon we saw from 2014. Gordon has 3 wins at New Hampshire and always seems to run well. Look for him to break through and clinch his spot in the next round on Sunday.
Joseph Shelton – Kyle Busch – Busch has two wins at NHIS, so he is no slouch there but the main weapon is the power of the JGR Toyotas. They’ve won the last three races, and considering Busch isn’t done winning this season, he’ll likely pull off the season sweep here.
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John Harlow – Joey Logano – Logano views New Hampshire as his home track. Last fall he locked his spot in the contender round with a win at the Magic Mile and I expect him to repeat.
Mike Hutton – Ryan Newman – He always runs well on flat tracks. Newman has the most poles at New Hampshire with 7. Also, he has won 3 times here in 27 starts, which is one every nine races, and this weekend will be the 9th race since his last win.
After this weekend, we will probably have a good idea of who is moving on and who is going to be eliminated since Dover will be the only race left until the contender round. Keep an eye on who wrecks this week because it could put them in a big whole just like what Kevin Harvick is facing. Short track racing provides NASCAR fans with plenty of entertainment and this weekend will be no different.
Who do you think will win at New Hampshire? Let us know in the comments below!