What’s Happening?

NASCAR heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend for the circuit’s annual trek to New England. Here is everything you need to know about the upcoming weekend.

• New Hampshire Motor Speedway, in its current form, was built in 1990 after Bob Bahre bought and renovated the Bryar Motorsports Park Road Course. The Cup Series has been at the track since 1993, hosting two races per year from 1997 through 2017 before scaling back to one race per season.
• The Xfinity Series and Whelen Modified Tour join for the weekend. Both Series have raced at the track since it opened in 1990. NHMS has become a huge race for the Modifieds, as most Modified Tour races occur in the Northeast.
• Fans love seeing NASCAR in New Hampshire. Now that the track has only one date per year, it’s become a must-see event for race fans in the Northeast.

Weekend Schedule (All Times ET)

Friday, June 21st – Xfinity Series Practice and Qualifying

• 2:30-3:30 PM – Modified Practice (No TV)
• 4:00-5:30 PM – Xfinity Series Practice/Qualifying on USA
• 5:45 PM – Modified Qualifying (No TV)

Saturday, June 22nd – Xfinity Series RACE

• 10:30 AM – Modified Tour Mohegan Sun 100 on FloRacing*
• 12:30-2:30 PM – Cup Series Practice/Qualifying on USA
• 3:00-3:30 PM – Xfinity Series Countdown to Green on USA
• 3:30 PM – Xfinity Series SciAps 200 on USA

*The race moved up from 6:30 PM due to the inclement weather forecast.

Sunday, June 23rd – Cup Series RACE

• 2:00-2:30 PM – Cup Series Countdown to Green on USA
• 2:30 PM – Cup Series USA Today 301 on USA

Race Facts

New Hampshire Motor Speedway

• Year Built: 1990
• Length: 1.058 Miles
• Shape: Oval
• Banking: 2-7 Degrees in Turns, 1 Degree on Sraights
• Surface: Asphalt
• Lights?: No
• Rain Tires?: Yes

Whelen Modified Tour

• Race Length: 100 Laps (105.8 Miles)
• Stages: None
• 2023 Winner: Justin Bonsignore

Xfinity Series

• Race Length: 200 Laps (211.6 Miles)
• Stages: 45 Laps (Stages 1 and 2), 110 Laps (Stage 3)
• Purse: $1,270,055
• 2023 Winner: John Hunter Nemechek
• Former New Hampshire Winners in the Field: Christopher Bell (3 Wins), and Justin Allgaier (2022)

Cup Series

• Race Length: 301 Laps (318.458 Miles)
• Stages: 70 Laps (Stage 1), 115 Laps (Stage 2), 116 Laps (Stage 3)
• Purse: $7,786,911
• 2023 Winner: Martin Truex Jr.
• Former New Hampshire Winners in the Field: Denny Hamlin (3 Wins), Kyle Busch (3 Wins), Brad Keselowski (2 Wins), Joey Logano (2 Wins), Martin Truex Jr. (2023), and Christopher Bell (2022)

Entry Lists

WHELEN Modified Tour

There are 33 cars on the entry list for the Modified Tour race at New Hampshire. Notables include full-time Cup Series driver Ryan Preece (No. 40), six-time winner Bobby Santos III (No. 114), four-time winner Doug Coby (No. 7), and 2023 winner Justin Bonsignore (No. 51).

View the Full Entry List HERE

Xfinity Series

A total of 39 cars are entered for 38 spots meaning one car will go home. Notable entries include Patrick Emerling (No. 07), Logan Bearden (No. 14), Alex Bowman (No. 17), Justin Bonsignore (No. 19), Christopher Bell (No. 20), Corey Heim (No. 26), Jade Buford (No. 74), Carson Kvapil (No. 88), and Nathan Byrd (No. 92). Every team has a driver announced on the entry list.

Cup Series

The Cup Series has 36 cars entered for 40 spots, meaning no drivers will go home and there will be no open entries. Notable entrants include Kaz Grala (No. 15) and Ty Dillon (No. 16).

What to Watch For

Whelen Modified Tour

New Hampshire is routinely one of the most entertaining modified races of the season. The relatively large size of the track compared to other tracks the series races on means that there is a big draft effect. This leads to a lot of slingshot passes, and the cars tend to stay very close together.

Xfinity Series

The 2023 race was all John Hunter Nemechek as the Joe Gibbs Racing driver led an astounding 137 of 206 laps to beat polesitter Chandler Smith. Sam Mayer won at Iowa last week to break the JGR stranglehold on short tracks. Can JGR drivers like Chandler Smith or Sheldon Creed reclaim that dominance?

Cup Series

The Cup Series race at New Hampshire in 2023 was postponed to Monday due to rain, and Martin Truex Jr. dominated, leading 254 laps. Just like the Xfinity Series, JGR previously had a stranglehold on short-track races this season before Iowa, where Ryan Blaney won. Chevy has not won at the track since 2016, and that’s the only win since 2012. It could be Ford vs Toyota this weekend.

This article will be updated as more news about the race this week comes out.