Speed may thrill again at NHIS

By Fluto Shinzawa, Globe Staff  |  July 1, 2007

LOUDON, N.H. -- New Hampshire International Speedway always has been a wild-card track. Consider:

On Sept. 17, 2000, Jeff Burton led every lap of the Dura Lube 300. On Nov. 23, 2001, when the Sept. 11 attacks pushed the New Hampshire 300 back practically into winter, Jeff Gordon tangled with race winner Robby Gordon. Two years ago, during the Sylvania 300 on Sept. 18, Robby Gordon chucked his helmet at the driver's-side door of Michael Waltrip's No. 99 car under caution.

Today's Lenox Industrial Tools 300 could be even wilder.

The Car of Tomorrow will make its NHIS debut before a full house, rendering irrelevant the information and experience dominant Loudon drivers -- think Burton, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman -- have compiled in recent seasons while piloting the old Nextel Cup model.

"It's going to be a different weekend than what we're accustomed to here from the past with the new COT and everything at Loudon," said Kyle Busch, winner of last July's NHIS race. "It's always been a tough place to pass. So I think it's going to be even tougher to pass now with this car, because we seem to have a tough time with it at Phoenix. And Phoenix and Loudon somewhat resemble each other, so it's going to be a daunting task to try to pass out there."

The COT, the first-year vehicle phased into competition this season, has been a work in progress for drivers and crew chiefs to master. Most recently, it's resulted in fines, points penalties, and suspensions for Jeff Gordon's No. 24 team and Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 ride, as crew chiefs Steve Letarte and Chad Knaus will begin their six-week sitdowns today for fiddling with their cars before last week's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway.

"NASCAR has made it very clear that they're not going to tolerate anything," Burton said. "It was a very, very harsh penalty. More severe than I would have anticipated. On the other hand, NASCAR has made it clear about their intentions with this car. They sent a very clear message to the garage area. It's gotten everybody nervous. Everybody is on pins and needles. That's what they want."

Surprisingly, Dave Blaney, 37th in the points chase, turned the hottest qualifying lap (129.437 miles per hour) Friday, putting his No. 22 Toyota on the pole. Blaney was one of only three Toyota drivers (David Reutimann and Jeremy Mayfield were the others) to make the 43-car field, as Brian Vickers's time was disqualified after his No. 83 Camry failed inspection.

Blaney's sprint to the pole (the first for Toyota) proved that many of his fellow competitors have yet to figure out how to make the COT turn on the flat 1.058-mile track.

"It's real easy, with these new cars, to overdrive the corners," said Stewart after posting a 128.135-m.p.h. lap in qualifying. "I just probably overdrove it a little bit trying to go a little quicker for qualifying and slowed down instead."

Blaney will be joined on the front row by Kurt Busch, who had to deal with some anxiety during qualifying. Busch was slated to be the second car to qualify, but his team had to replace the brakes on the No. 2 Dodge. Busch has three career Cup wins at NHIS and a pair of second-place finishes.

A leading candidate for the checkered flag is Denny Hamlin, second in the standings. In five previous events at NHIS (three Busch Series events and two Cup races), Hamlin has five top-10 finishes. Hamlin will start on the sixth row.

Also in the mix is Juan Pablo Montoya, the celebrated rookie who won his first Cup race last weekend at Infineon. Montoya was the fastest rookie Friday, recording the fifth-fastest lap (128.411 m.p.h.). Montoya was second fastest in yesterday's final practice, with Johnson's Chevrolet the only quicker car.

Martin Truex Jr., who won two NHIS races while competing in the Busch East Series (then Busch North), is 11th in points and will start on the fifth row.

While Newman will start 12th, the No. 12 Dodge was fast in final practice (126.505 m.p.h.) and should be able to advance through the field today.

"I'm pretty sure we have a top-5 racecar right now," Newman said after practice. "It's just a matter of having track position."

There's also pit stops. And pit strategy. And steering clear of incidents. All that, combined with the COT's NHIS introduction, should make this race yet another example of unpredictability.

Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com.