2007 SYLVANIA 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway

The 2007 Sylvania 300 in New Hampshire is the first race of the 2007 Chase For The Cup. Jeff Gordon's big point lead is gone and now twelve drivers are within 60 points of the lead with only ten races remaining in the NEXTEL Cup season.

This is the most exciting part of the NASCAR season. NASCAR's playoffs begin this Sunday in New Hampshire with the 2007 Sylvania 300.

Speedway ticket office (603) 783-4931

Buy online from TicketsNow (direct link)

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

Each driver in the Chase now has 5,000 points plus ten points for each win so far this season.

Because of the new Chase points Jimmie Johnson is now the point leader by twenty over former leader Jeff Gordon. Johnson is the defending NEXTEL Cup Champion and has won the last two races. He comes into the Chase with a lot of momentum.

The top twelve are now:

1. Jimmie Johnson -0
2. Jeff Gordon -20
3. Tony Stewart -30
4. Carl Edwards -40
5. Kurt Busch -40
6. Denny Hamlin -50
7. Martin Truex Jr. -50
8. Matt Kenseth -50
9. Kyle Busch -50
10. Jeff Burton -50
11. Kevin Harvick -50
12. Clint Bowyer -60

The 2007 Chase for the Cup is the biggest story of the week. Twelve drivers are now within 60 points of new leader Jimmie Johnson. Jeff Gordon has dominated the points all year long but now drops to second place overall. Gordon only has four season victories compared to Jimmie Johnson's six wins.

This week we will hear a lot about what it takes to win the Championship. Running up front, scoring a couple of wins and avoiding those costly bad finishes are the keys that will make one of these twelve drivers the 2007 NEXTEL Cup champion in ten more races.

TV: ABC Sunday, September 16th, 1:00PM Eastern.

Radio: MRN and SIRIUS Satellite

Actual Race: 2:10PM Eastern

$5,319,880

Chaser Kevin Harvick picked up the win and the point lead last year.

Eventual 2006 NEXTEL Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson proved that you don't have to start your Chase off all that well. Johnson dropped a cylinder in his engine around lap 45. Then on lap 89 Jimmie Johnson was the victim of bad track position as he got caught in someone else's incident. Johnson finished the race in 39th position and had dug himself a deep hole to climb out of.

When the NEXTEL Cup series visited New Hampshire International Speedway earlier this year Denny Hamlin held off a hard-charging Jeff Gordon by just one car length to pick up the win. I expect that Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports drivers will again dominate the race.

Jeff Gordon came up just 10 feet short in July. I think Jeff could improve on that run and pick up the win this weekend. Gordon has all of the tools he needs to run away and hide from the field this weekend and put himself back on top of the NEXTEL Cup points to stay.

Tony Stewart has a knack for this race track. He won in 2005 and backed that up with a second place finish later in the year. In 2006 Stewart finished second in one race and crashed while leading the other. Although Stewart wasn't a factor in the July race this year I still believe that he makes a great backup pick for the 2007 Sylvania 300.