With the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs officially kicking off the Round of 12 this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the focus will surely be on the championship fight. Additionally, a significant portion of the Playoff field is very skilled at the 1.058-mile oval in Loudon, NH, which means that a Playoff contender, such as Denny Hamlin or Christopher Bell, is likely to roll into victory lane in Sunday’s Mobil 1 301.
That being said, some non-Playoff contenders have been in the conversation for a victory this season, and even a recently eliminated Playoff contender, who could play Playoff spoiler this weekend and surprise them all by winning the race.
Here are five drivers who are not current Playoff contenders who could snag a victory in Sunday’s Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Josh Berry
Josh Berry, who won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to secure his berth in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, is now a non-Playoff contender once again following a dreadful opening round of the Playoffs, where he finished dead last in all three races for a variety of different reasons.
It all started with a crash in Turn 1 on Lap 1 of the Playoff-opening race at Darlington Raceway, continued with a crash not of his doing at Gateway, and ended with a massive right-front tire fire at Bristol.
With an average finish of 37.667 over his last three starts, New Hampshire Motor Speedway could serve as the perfect track for Berry to bounce back at.
Last year, while driving for the now-defunct Stewart-Haas Racing, Berry scored an impressive third-place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing team is heavily aligned with Team Penske, which excels at the shorter, flat tracks in NASCAR. New Hampshire fits the bill, and it should be no surprise if Berry comes out on top on Sunday.
Chris Buescher
Chris Buescher sits at 15 top-10 finishes this season, which trails the series lead by just one. It’s already unfathomable that he missed the Playoff field, but it feels even more unfathomable that the driver, who has been so close to winning this year, could end the season without a win.
Buescher has an active three-year winning streak in the NASCAR Cup Series, and he’d love to extend that to four consecutive years with a victory. New Hampshire Motor Speedway could be where he breaks through.
The driver of the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse finished fifth in this event a season ago, and while that is his only top-10 at the 1.058-mile oval in NASCAR Cup Series competition, his RFK Racing team only started turning the corner into a race-winning, contending team late in the 2022 season.
While it hasn’t been to the level of Team Penske’s performance at flat, shorter tracks, Ford Racing as a whole has been really good at this style of track the last few years. Buescher was fifth at Phoenix and ninth at Gateway this season, which are tracks that stack up similarly to New Hampshire.
Buescher could very well surprise on Sunday.
John Hunter Nemechek
What a season it has been for John Hunter Nemechek and the No. 42 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team. With seven races left this year, Nemechek has already doubled his career-high mark for top-10s in a season as he’s up to eight, and he comes into Sunday’s Mobil 1 301 with an average finish of 10.25 over his last four starts.
Last year, New Hampshire Motor Speedway was one of the bright spots for Nemechek as he nabbed an eighth-place finish.
Call me crazy, but when you factor in that the Toyota contingent, obviously led by Joe Gibbs Racing, has been really strong to start the Playoffs, and New Hampshire is another good track for the Toyota teams, Nemechek pops out as a driver to watch for on Sunday.
Nemechek won at this track in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2023, and he registered three top-10 finishes at the 1.058-mile oval in four NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts. Nemechek seemingly likes this track and shouldn’t be overlooked heading into Sunday’s contest.
Carson Hocevar
Carson Hocevar has been flirting with his first career victory for essentially all of the season. To this point, Hocevar has come up short in a three-wide last-lap battle at Atlanta, he’s blown an engine while leading in the Coca-Cola 600, and he’s had pit strategies and mistakes of his own, which have eliminated other shots at victory.
Could this be the week when he finally pulls through?
It’s possible. Like Gateway, a track, where he essentially earned his ride in the NASCAR Cup Series, New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a flat, shorter track, and while Hocevar has just one start in NASCAR’s premier series at this facility, which resulted in a 17th-place finish, it shouldn’t be surprising if Hocevar finds himself near the front at some point on Sunday.
Hocevar has already led laps in 12 races through the opening 29 races of his Sophomore season. If he’s in contention for a win in the closing laps, we all know Hocevar will be willing to do whatever it takes to pull into victory lane.
Ryan Preece
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is competing alongside the NASCAR National Series this week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The fact that the mods run at New Hampshire should tell you all you need to know about whether Preece could contend for a win.
Don’t let Preece’s career-best finish of 11th at this track in NASCAR Cup Series competition distract you from his potential this weekend. The driver will be making his first start at NHMS for RFK Racing, a team that has given Preece the tools he needs to showcase the talent we all knew was there all along.
With 19% of the season left, Preece has already doubled his previous career-high mark in top-10s (5) as he has 10 top-10s heading into this weekend.
In two NASCAR Xfinity Series starts for Joe Gibbs Racing, a top-tier team, Preece had finishes of second and third at the 1.058-mile track.
While many may not have Preece on their radar going into Sunday’s race, he very well could end up being a surprise contender for the race win.
