Hendrick Motorsports Previews The Overton’s 301 At Louden

NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY (1.058-MILE OVAL)

LOCATION: LOUDON, NEW HAMPSHIRE
EVENT: NASCAR CUP SERIES (RACE 19 OF 36)
TUNE IN: 3 P.M. ET, SUNDAY, JULY 16 (NBCSN/PRN/SIRIUSXM)

No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS / Kasey Kahne

NEW HAMPSHIRE STATS: This weekend, Kahne returns to New Hampshire, where he won his 14th career NASCAR Cup Series race. He took the checkered flag in the July 2012 event with a 2.738-second margin of victory over Denny Hamlin, leading 66 of his 305 total laps led at the Loudon track. Kahne’s average starting position at the 1.058-mile oval is 11.9 and his average finishing position is 16.7. In last year’s fall race at New Hampshire, Kahne finished ninth.

NEW HAMPSHIRE LOOP DATA: According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics since 2005, Kahne is second in green-flag passes with 1,291. The Enumclaw, Washington, native is fourth in quality passes with 671. Quality passes are the number of times a driver passes another car that is running inside the top 15 while under green-flag conditions. He’s fifth in fastest laps with 367 and seventh in laps in the top 15 with 4,672. Kahne has an average driver rating of 90.4, which ranks him 10th among his peers. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes.

SEATTLE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL: For the second year in a row, Great Clips is teaming up with Seattle Children’s Hospital’s Strong Against Cancer program to have a child design one of the No. 5 team’s paint schemes. Kahne has narrowed the entries down to his three favorites and voting is now open on the Kasey Kahne Foundation website for fans to choose their favorite. The design with the most votes will be driven by Kahne at Chicagoland Speedway on Sept. 17.

RACING ROOTS: HendrickMotorsports.com has released a four-part video series on Kasey Kahne titled “Racing Roots.” The videos take you from Kahne’s early beginnings in Enumclaw, Washington, to being part of Hendrick Motorsports today. The video series also looks at his passion away from the asphalt track – his dirt car team, Kasey Kahne Racing. The four-part video series can be viewed here.

GOING HOME: No. 5 team engineer Taylor Moyer is a native of Shoreham, Vermont, which is located almost three hours northwest of the Loudon, New Hampshire, track. After moving to North Carolina to attend college, Moyer originally started at Hendrick Motorsports on the developmental pit crew. After holding various positions throughout the company, he joined the No. 5 team in 2015.

No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS / Chase Elliott

NEW HAMPSHIRE STATS: The 21-year-old driver is set to make his third career Cup start at New Hampshire this weekend. In two previous starts, his best finish of 13th came in September of last season. Elliott also has two starts in the NASCAR XFINITY Series at the 1.058-mile speedway. In those XFINITY starts, he collected a pair of top-10 finishes and averaged a starting position of 7.5 and finishing position of 8.5.

KENTUCKY REWIND: Elliott and the No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS team turned in a third-place run in last Saturday night’s Cup Series event at Kentucky Speedway. The finish marked Elliott’s sixth top-five finish of the season and advanced him to fifth in the point standings through 18 races.

GET BACK AND GIVE BACK CAMPAIGN: NAPA AUTO PARTS has a long history of supporting the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and their families. In March, the company announced that it had raised more than $2.5 million in 2016 for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund (IFHF) through its annual “Get Back and Give Back” campaign. The campaign kicked off in 2012 and gives NAPA AUTO PARTS patrons the opportunity to contribute to the IFHF by purchasing T-shirts at NAPAonline.com. In addition, customers can purchase an IFHF bucket for $3.99 and receive 20 percent off three more items that fit inside with NAPA donating $1 to the IFHF for every bucket sold. The company will also donate $1 for each redeemed mail-in rebate for batteries, alternators and starters purchased in July. Customers also have the ability to donate all or a portion of their mail-in rebates directly to the IFHF. One hundred percent of the donation goes to the IFHF’s mission of building nine Intrepid Spirit centers around the country that will provide the most advanced care possible to military personnel suffering from traumatic brain injury and psychological health conditions.

HOME SWEET HOME: No. 24 team engine tuner Tony Bove hails from Burlington, Vermont. Burlington is approximately 167 miles northwest of New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

INDY VICTORY TOUR RECAP: Prior to racing at Kentucky, Elliott traveled to Indianapolis to promote the upcoming Brickyard 400. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native’s day consisted of a helicopter tour of the historic speedway and city, axe throwing, meeting some USAC quarter midget racers and go-kart racing with track president Doug Boles. For a photo recap of Elliott’s day, click here.

No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS / Jimmie Johnson

LAST TIME AT NEW HAMPSHIRE: One year ago this weekend, Johnson scored his first pole position at the “Magic Mile,” clocking in at a speed of 133.971 mph. Johnson led one lap during the race and finished 12th.

JJ’S LOBSTER COLLECTION: Throughout his 30 starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Johnson and the No. 48 Lowe’s team have earned three trophies and the traditional live lobsters given to the winners in Victory Lane. They swept both events in 2003 and earned another victory in 2010.

NEW HAMPSHIRE DRIVER RATING: According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics since 2005, Johnson has the second-best driver rating at New Hampshire with a score of 101.0. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The driver rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator. In addition, Johnson leads the NASCAR Cup Series in laps in the top 15, spending 78.6 percent of his laps at New Hampshire inside the top 15.

IMPENDING MILESTONES: Johnson needs only one more victory to tie NASCAR Hall of Famers Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip for fourth on the all-time wins list. He currently has 83 and continues to wear the “84 Wins” helmet designed by painter Jason Beam, featuring illustrated photos of Allison and Waltrip.

No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS / Dale Earnhardt Jr.

LOOP DATA: According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics since 2005, Earnhardt has the sixth-best driver rating among active drivers at New Hampshire with an average of 97.4. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. Additionally, the Kannapolis, North Carolina, native tops the chart in green-flag speed (125.183 mph) and ranks third in green-flag passes (1,242), sixth in average running position (11.396) and eighth in fastest laps run (273).

Q&A: The driver of the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS is scheduled to participate in a track question-and-answer session on Sunday, July 16, at 12:30 p.m. local time in the infield. For more information, click here.

PINK GLOVES: Earnhardt will continue to wear gloves accented in pink during the month of July to represent Therapeutic Recreation Week on behalf of 10-year-old Patient Champion Maddie Delaney as part of The Dale Jr. Foundation’s ongoing Driven to Give Gloves program. The driver of the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS reunited with his friend Maddie during his visit to the Nationwide Children’s Hospital last week and she also came to Kentucky Speedway last Saturday to support the No. 88 team, along with the three other Patient Champions – Tristen Cooper, Ailee Gilliland and John Roger Curry. Earnhardt’s race-worn gloves will be auctioned off to raise funds for NCH’s clinical and research programs.

RECAPPING THE VISIT TO NCH: Last Thursday, July 6, Earnhardt and five other members of the No. 88 team – crew chief Greg Ives, Adam Jordan, Cale Johnson, Jason Seitzinger and Doug Wojcik – made a special visit to NCH. While there, the group toured the NICU and rehabilitation floors, met with patients and their families, visited with the Patient Champions and participated in a kids press conference. As America’s largest pediatric hospital and research center, NCH is dedicated to making sure that all patients are given the care they need, regardless of the family’s ability to pay. Families travel from around the nation – and some even come from other countries – to gain access to the Columbus, Ohio-based hospital’s life-saving treatments. In many cases, NCH is the only hospital able to provide that care and is their last hope for treatment. More information is available at www.NationwideChildrens.org.

NATIONWIDE PET PROMOTION: Pet owners can visit www.pawsandracing.com to learn more about Nationwide’s pet insurance and submit a photo of their pet(s) to enter to win a VIP race experience including travel to the Sept. 24 race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a meet-and-greet with Gus and Earnhardt and their pet’s image will be featured on the TV panel of the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS during the Sept. 24 race weekend. Additional first prize winners will receive a Nationwide Pet Accessory Kit plus a No. 88 Nationwide diecast car signed by Earnhardt.

Hendrick Motorsports

ORGANIZATION STATS: To date, Hendrick Motorsports has totals of 12 championships, 248 race victories, 212 pole positions, 1,021 top-five finishes and 1,718 top-10 finishes in points-paying NASCAR Cup Series competition. Its teams have led 66,766 laps since 1984.

QUOTABLE / 

“The track is very challenging. It’s one of the smaller tracks that we go to and that always presents its own challenges. You really have to be careful on how you navigate the traffic because it’s tough to pass there. It’s been a tough few weeks for our team. We’ve had good cars, but just don’t have the results to show for it.”

Kasey Kahne on racing at New Hampshire

“I don’t really know that Loudon really compares to any other place we go, to be honest with you. It’s a pretty unique mile track that is very flat and hard to pass – that’s the first thing that comes to my mind. It’s a tough place.”

Chase Elliott on racing at New Hampshire

“I’m disappointed in our Kentucky finish. We had a really good car and I think we could have ended up in the top five. New Hampshire is a scrappy track – it’s tough. We’ve had some speed there lately but just haven’t challenged for wins. If it’s anything like last race, tires will be really important. I love visiting the area – there are great places to ride bikes and get outdoors.”

Jimmie Johnson on racing at New Hampshire

“I’m looking forward to New Hampshire. It’s a fun little racetrack. Obviously, it’s flat and it’s kind of tricky to get around, but it’s fun. We haven’t been as good as I want to be there. I’ve seen some guys on the last couple of trips there do some things that I want to be doing and we’ve got to figure out how to get our car to work that way. It should be a pretty fun race for us. I heard they’ve been working on the track surface, so it will be interesting to go there and see exactly how the track is.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. on racing at New Hampshire