2006 LENOX Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway

This weekend the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup stars head north to New Hampshire International Speedway for the 2006 LENOX Industrial Tools 300. For teams near that critical tenth place points spot this is a key race to assure a spot in the top ten. For teams that are already solidly in the chase this week is a valuable practice session. When drivers return in two months it will be for the first race of the Chase For The NEXTEL Cup.

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The 1.058 mile perfect oval that is New Hampshire International Speedway has only 12 degrees of banking in the corners. The straightaways measure 1,500 feet each to make this a true symmetrical oval. The flat corners can make passing difficult as there is usually only one groove.

300 laps = 317.4 miles

Matt Kenseth would have taken over the point last week lead if not for that late race bump.

Jeff Gordon's win slipped him back inside the top ten in points. Rookie Denny Hamlin finished fourteenth in the race but dropped out of the top ten to twelfth.

The current top ten in points are:

1. Jimmie Johnson -0
2. Matt Kenseth -48
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -257
4. Jeff Burton -324
5. Kasey Kahne -348
6. Mark Martin -360
7. Tony Stewart -377
8. Kyle Busch -386
9. Kevin Harvick -398
10. Jeff Gordon -432

Last week Jeff Gordon got into the back of Matt Kenseth and spun him out to take the win. Expect plenty of review and discussion with Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth about the closing laps of last week's race.

Plus, since last week's announcement that Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya would be coming to NASCAR rumors have circulated that IRL star Danica Patrick is interested in jumping over to NASCAR. This would be huge news for NASCAR if Danica Patrick crossed over.

TV: TNT Sunday, July 16th, 1:30PM Eastern.

Radio: MRN and XM Satellite

Actual Race: 2:10PM Eastern

$5,204,946

In 2005 Tony Stewart utterly dominated this race leading 232 of the 300 laps.

Mother Nature tried to affect the outcome. Rain delayed the start and then caused another caution later in the event. No matter how track conditions changed or the how the pit strategy played out Tony Stewart always found his way back to the lead.

This race was never in doubt and Tony Stewart took the easy win.

In 2005 Tony Stewart had a 1.5 average finish in the two races at NHIS. He won the first race and finished a very close second in the Fall behind Ryan Newman. His Joe Gibbs team has that flat track dialed in and Tony knows how to get around there.

It is impossible to come to New Hampshire and not consider Tony Stewart the favorite.

For my backup pick this week I'm going to go with Kurt Busch. Kurt had a second place run in this event last year. In addition Kurt is now teammates with last year's Fall winner Ryan Newman. Take the combination of a proven race winner and put him in a powerful Penske Dodge and you've got a team with a good shot at the win.