NASCAR at New Hampshire: Denny Hamlin dominates second Chase race

Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth were atop the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings for a combined 21 of the 26 weeks during the regular season. And understandably, the Roush Fenway Racing duo entered the Chase harboring realistic hopes they would be contenders.

But following back-to-back weeks where neither driver finished in the top 10 – including Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway where Kenseth finished 14th and Biffle 18th – it’s apparent after just two races the Roush cars are not up to the task of winning this year’s title.

When asked about the upcoming race at Dover – one of Jimmie Johnson’s best tracks – the five-time NASCAR champion said this prior to racing at New Hampshire: “I want to come out of here with the points lead.”

Mission accomplished.

Here are some storylines, notes and drivers to watch for during today’s NASCAR race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway:

Denny Hamlin is fast, but is his team up to the challenge?

Cold front moved through last night which produced a few showers for New Hampshire Motor Speedway overnight, but this morning, the showers have cleared out and the NASCAR race this afternoon will be nice and dry.

Skies will becoming partly to mostly sunny this afternoon and it will feel very much like fall as temperatures will be in the mid to upper 60s. There could be a slight breeze with winds out of the west 10 to 15 mph.

It’s NASCAR race day at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and we’ve got the actual race start time, the starting lineup and some other facts about today’s Sylvania 300 for you below.

What time does the race start today? Most Sunday races in the Chase will begin at 2 p.m., and this weekend is no exception. In today’s race, a Sylvania executive will tell the drivers to start their engines at 2:09 p.m. Eastern. After a few pace laps, the green flag will wave at 2:17 p.m. ET.

In his third full season of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing, and his second on the Cup side with crew chief Paul Wolfe, Brad Keselowski is the leader of the Chase standings after one event this year.

Keselowski, 28, a third-generation racer from Michigan, has been described as relentless in his pursuit of excellence. To be any less committed, Keselowski believes, wouldn’t be fair to his No. 2 Penske Racing team.

Cold front moving out of the Great Lakes today will spread rain showers across New Hampshire Motor Speedway Saturday night into Sunday morning, but should clear out before the Sprint Cup race Sunday afternoon.

Most of the Sprint Cup activity will take place this morning, the skies should be mostly sunny and temperatures will be cool in the 50s and 60s. By the afternoon, temperatures will be in the mid 70s and clouds will increase out ahead of the approaching cold front.

Fall is literally in air this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race. Fall officially arrives Saturday at 10:48 a.m. EDT right before Sprint Cup final practice.

Temperatures will also be comfortably cool as highs will be in the 70s today and Saturday. A cold front moving in from the Great Lakes late Saturday could bring some showers and thunderstorms Saturday night into Sunday morning. The only problem this appears to cause is cleaning off the rubber from the track for the Sprint Cup race Sunday afternoon. There is just a small chance of a lingering shower in the afternoon Sunday but I think the front moves through fast enough keeping Sunday’s race mostly dry, cool and a little breezy.