Before getting a couple of weeks off for the Olympics, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend for the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301. New Hampshire, which is also known simply as Loudon, is a 1.058-mile flat track that compares best to Phoenix and Richmond (where we have raced at earlier this year already). You can also add in Martinsville and possibly Nashville as other smaller flat tracks, but the best comp tracks to Loudon are Phoenix and Richmond. Last season, Brad Keselowski went to victory lane here and it was Kevin Harvick winning the previous two races at New Hampshire, so Ford is on a little streak at this track heading into this weekend’s event.
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How the algorithm works: There are quite a few statistics that go into the Power Index formula, including recent performance both overall and at this week’s track specifically, similar track performance, projected strength of the car, practice speeds (when applicable), starting position, and a few other variables.
Before We Get To The Algorithm Results…Thoughts On A Couple Drivers
Kyle Larson – Take this 7th-place predicted finish by the algorithm for Kyle Larson with a big grain of salt. Historically, shorter flat tracks haven’t been the venues where Larson excelled at when he was with Chip Ganassi Racing, and we only have two races this season while he was with Hendrick on this track type: Phoenix (finished 7th but had a great car) and Richmond (finished 18th). Larson has put up some great numbers in the 750hp package this year, and he has four top 3 finishes here at Loudon in ten career starts with Ganassi. He has race-winning potential even though the algorithm is a bit down on him this week.
Christopher Bell – Keep in mind that most of the loop data we have for Christopher Bell in the Cup Series was from when he was in that Leavine Family Racing #95 Toyota. This year on the shorter flat tracks and in the #20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, Christopher Bell finished 9th at Phoenix and 4th at Richmond, and he has similar upside here at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday. Even with that Leavine car last year, Bell started back in 35th but was a top 5 contender before having two flat tires. Don’t sleep on CBell this weekend. He won both races he ran here at Loudon when in the Xfinity Series.
Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at Loudon Algorithm Predicted Finishing Order
| Rank | Driver | Power Index |
| 1. | Truex, Jr., Martin | 41.61 |
| 2. | Hamlin, Denny | 39.07 |
| 3. | Logano, Joey | 39.06 |
| 4. | Busch, Kyle | 37.74 |
| 5. | Keselowski, Brad | 35.67 |
| 6. | Harvick, Kevin | 33.89 |
| 7. | Larson, Kyle | 33.83 |
| 8. | Busch, Kurt | 29.61 |
| 9. | Blaney, Ryan | 29.56 |
| 10. | Elliott, Chase | 28.62 |
| 11. | Bowman, Alex | 24.80 |
| 12. | Byron, William | 22.63 |
| 13. | Almirola, Aric | 21.66 |
| 14. | Bell, Christopher | 20.92 |
| 15. | DiBenedetto, Matt | 16.06 |
| 16. | Reddick, Tyler | 15.82 |
| 17. | Dillon, Austin | 08.33 |
| 18. | Suarez, Daniel | 01.65 |
| 19. | Chastain, Ross | -03.83 |
| 20. | Custer, Cole | -04.17 |
| 21. | Stenhouse, Jr., Ricky | -07.62 |
| 22. | Wallace, Bubba | -09.38 |
| 23. | Jones, Erik | -10.20 |
| 24. | Briscoe, Chase | -15.71 |
| 25. | Newman, Ryan | -19.44 |
| 26. | Buescher, Chris | -20.18 |
| 27. | Preece, Ryan | -24.12 |
| 28. | LaJoie, Corey | -24.66 |
| 29. | McDowell, Michael | -25.72 |
| 30. | Alfredo, Anthony | -29.55 |
| 31. | Ware, Cody | -33.65 |
| 32. | Haley, Justin | -33.68 |
| 33. | Bilicki, Josh | -35.22 |
| 34. | McLeod, BJ | -36.75 |
| 35. | Smithley, Garrett | -38.50 |
| 36. | Davison, James | -39.90 |
| 37. | Houff, Quin | -40.08 |
