Judge Richard McNamara has thrown out a verdict that would have required New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) to pay almost a million to cancel its contract with Motor Racing Network (MRN). McNamara ruling was because the jury based its award on MRN’s projected lost profits. Project lost profits can not be a basis for [...]]]>

Judge Richard McNamara has thrown out a verdict that would have required New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) to pay almost a million to cancel its contract with Motor Racing Network (MRN). McNamara ruling was because the jury based its award on MRN’s projected lost profits. Project lost profits can not be a basis for damages. The case start due to NHMS canceling it contract with MRN without giving the necessary termination notice. NHMS owned by SMI wanted “The performance Racing Network” to cover it’s events instead of MRN. SMI also owns the “The performance Racing Network”. MRN plans to appeal the ruling.

“We haven’t seen [...]]]> LOUDON, N.H. (January 23, 2012) – The new year is off to a fast start at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. As the deadline for season ticket renewals closed, “The Magic Mile” has seen a spike in sales from 2011 for both the July and September NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in 2012.

“We haven’t seen this level of sales activity this early in quite some time. We are up an average of double digits between the two races,” explains Jerry Gappens, executive vice president and general manager of the speedway. “Our fans and our families have been struggling for quite a while in this economy. I take this as a sign that the recovery is underway.”

According to Susan Colby, the vice president of guest services at NHMS, ticket sales for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 for July are up 4% from last year. Sales for the SYLVANIA 300 in September are up 19%.

“When times are tight for fans, one of the first things people cut from their budget is vacations and summertime extras. We are thrilled to see them coming back in big numbers,” said Colby.

Colby noted sales for camping spaces and pre-race pit passes are a good sign that fans have more discretionary funds this year than in the previous few seasons.

The encouraging stats are also a result of the harder work being done at venues like NHMS to attract fans back through the gates. Speedway management ran off-season ticket sales a lot like a campaign, with mailers and email reminders to regular customers, as well as aggressive public relations efforts to keep Loudon in the spotlight for locals and fans.

“Strong sales don’t just happen,” explains Gappens. “In this environment, you have to work that much harder to bring fans to the speedway. We use every tool at our disposal, from traditional media and mailers to social media. We are thrilled with the results and hopeful the trend continues. I believe we are a barometer for economic activity and this is certainly a hopeful sign of recovery.”

While NHMS is pleased with the spike in sales, there are still plenty of tickets for both NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events. If you have a favorite seat, please call the tracks ticket hotline at (603) 783-4931 by Feb. 1 to ensure your spot. After Feb. 1 all seats will be released to the public. Guests can also visit www.nhms.com for tickets and more information.

Date: Sept. 25, 2011
Event: Sylvania 300 (Round 28 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon (1.058-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 20th/1st (Running, completed 300 of 300 laps)
Winner: Tony [...]]]>
Mobil 1/Office Depot Driver Wins Second Straight Chase Race By Taking Sylvania 300

Date: Sept. 25, 2011
Event: Sylvania 300 (Round 28 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon (1.058-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 20th/1st (Running, completed 300 of 300 laps)
Winner: Tony Stewart of Stewart-Haas Racing (Chevrolet)

Tony Stewart came into the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup 0-26. But two races into the 10-race Chase, Stewart is undefeated.

The driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) kept up his opportune winning streak by taking the checkered flag in Sunday’s Sylvania 300 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. The victory came just six days after Stewart scored his first victory of the season in the rain-postponed Geico 400 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. – the opening round of the Chase.

Stewart led only the final two laps around the 1.058-mile New Hampshire oval after previous leader Clint Bowyer ran out of gas just before taking the white flag of the 300-lap race. It was the fewest laps-led total for Stewart in a race in which he won. His previous lowest laps-led total was five laps in October 2006 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City.

“We may not have been the best car at the end,” said Stewart, who started 20th in the 43-car field. “Clint (Bowyer) was just a tick better than us. I definitely did not know he was in a situation to worry about fuel. So the good thing is Darian (Grubb, crew chief for Stewart) told us we were two, three laps to the good. I got to run hard all the way to the end.”

It was Stewart’s 41st career Sprint Cup victory and his third at New Hampshire. And with his win at Chicagoland, it marked the eighth time in Stewart’s career where he’s notched back-to-back victories, with the previous occurrence coming in July 2007 when he won back-to-back races at Chicagoland and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In 12 of his 13 seasons in Sprint Cup, Stewart has won at least two races.

In addition to the milestones, Stewart’s New Hampshire win was ironic. It was at this race one year ago when Stewart was the leader, but ran out of gas on the last turn of the last lap. The victor was Bowyer.

“Man, what a way to win it. Such an irony from last year where we ran out of gas coming to the finish,” Stewart said. “You hate to see anybody lose it that way, but you’ll take a win any way you can get it right now.

“It’s amazing that it happened like that. Clint was one of the first guys that called last year and, as happy as he was that he won the race, he knew how disappointing it was for us. When he called he said, ‘I’m sorry about what happened.’ You don’t want to win them that way and you don’t want to see guys lose them that way. This is a sport where guys have a high level of respect for what happens and how it happens. To have a win get away from you that way –it’s disappointing for anybody.

“We definitely know what it was like last year and can sympathize with him. It shows the character he has. He was one of the first guys on pit road to get to me and congratulate me. He was laughing about it. He’s thinking about the same thing – how ironic it was that last year the roles were reversed. You love winning, but you hate to see somebody lose a race that way.”

The win placed Stewart in a spot he hasn’t occupied since early March when he finished second in the third race of the year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – atop the point standings.

Stewart came into New Hampshire second in the Chase standings, seven points behind leader Kevin Harvick. Stewart’s victory, combined with Harvick’s 12th-place finish in the Sylvania 300, created a 14-point swing, with Stewart now the Chase leader by seven points over second-place Harvick.

“As much as we want to sit here and beat our chest and be proud of what we’ve done – and we are proud of what we’ve done these first two weeks – we got eight hard weeks to go here,” Stewart said. “The celebrating isn’t going to last long. We’ve got a lot of work to do. I’m proud of our group. I’m confident that we’ve got a group of guys who are very, very focused right now. The cars don’t know anything about momentum, but the people do. This is the perfect scenario to go into these last eight weeks, for sure.”

Stewart is the second driver in the eight-year history of the Chase for the Sprint Cup to win the first two races of the 10-race Chase. Greg Biffle was the first, winning at New Hampshire and Dover (Del.) International Speedway in 2008.

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala for SHR, finished 25th in the Sylvania 300 after starting from the pole. He cut a tire with less than five laps remaining while in 12th place and had to make an unscheduled pit stop.

Newman won the series’ July stop at New Hampshire, giving SHR a sweep of the New Hampshire race weekends in 2011, as Newman also won the pole for the July race.

Newman entered New Hampshire seventh in points, 14 points out of first. He’s now 11th in the standings, 34 points arrears Stewart.

Brad Keselowski finished 7.225 seconds behind Stewart in the runner-up spot, while Biffle, Jeff Gordon and Brian Vickers rounded out the top-five. Matt Kenseth, David Ragan, Carl Edwards, Juan Pablo Montoya and Regan Smith comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were three caution periods for 14 laps, with 10 drivers failing to finish.

With eight races remaining before a champion is crowned following the season finale Nov. 20 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the top-12 drivers competing for the title rank as follows:

1. Tony Stewart (2,094 points)
2. Kevin Harvick (2,087 points, -7)
3. Brad Keselowski (2,083 points, -11)
4. Carl Edwards (2,080 points, -14)
5. Jeff Gordon (2,071 points, -23)
6. Kyle Busch (2,068 points, -26)
7. Matt Kenseth (2,068 points, -26)
8. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2,068 points, -26)
9. Kurt Busch (2,066 points, -28)
10. Jimmie Johnson (2,065 points, -29)
11. Ryan Newman (2,060 points, -34)
12. Denny Hamlin (2,028 points, -66)

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule – the third race of the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup – is the Oct. 2 AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway. The race begins at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with a pre-race show at 1 p.m.

“We’ve got a shot at this thing,” said Stewart, who by taking the checkered flag in the Sylvania 300 became the second driver to win the first two races in the Chase for the NASCAR [...]]]> After climbing from his winning car Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Tony Stewart made the understatement of the year.

“We’ve got a shot at this thing,” said Stewart, who by taking the checkered flag in the Sylvania 300 became the second driver to win the first two races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in the same year.

In a dramatic reversal of fortune, Stewart won the race—and grabbed a seven-point lead in the Cup standings over 12th-place finisher Kevin Harvick—when Clint Bowyer ran out of fuel with fewer than three laps to go.

“If that’s not a flip-flop from last year, I don’t know what is,” Stewart radioed to crew chief Darian Grubb after crossing the finish line.

Stewart led last year’s Chase race at the Magic Mile but handed the victory to Bowyer when he ran out of fuel on the final lap.

With his second straight victory, his second of the season and the 41st of his career, Stewart has more than a shot at the title. The 2002 and 2005 Cup champion, who downplayed his own chances entering NASCAR’s 10-race playoff, now has to be considered the favorite.

Brad Keselowski parlayed pit strategy into a second-place run, and Greg Biffle, who won the first two Chase races in 2008, came home third, followed by Jeff Gordon and Brian Vickers. Matt Kenseth, David Ragan, Carl Edwards, Juan Pablo Montoya and Regan Smith completed the top 10.

“I know exactly how (Bowyer) feels right now,” Stewart said. “I saw him slow down down the back, and I thought, ‘Oh, no, you’re kidding me.’ That’s not the way you want to win, but we’re in the Chase now, and we’ve got to get everything we can get.”

Bowyer failed to complete the final two laps and finished 26th.

A caution for Landon Cassill’s spin on Lap 156 played right into Gordon’s hands just past the halfway point in the 300-lap race. By putting off their pit stops as long as possible, Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin and Ragan were the only drivers on the lead lap when the yellow flag flew.

Gordon, who led a race-high 78 laps, Martin and Ragan came to pit road on Lap 158, giving them the latitude to finish the race on one more stop. The caution also benefited Keselowski, who had pitted before the caution on Lap 154 but within a one-stop window.

A long cycle of green-flag stops that began with Kahne’s visit to pit road on Lap 217 shuffled the running order. Kahne was the leader on Lap 247 but soon surrendered the top spot to Bowyer, who had stopped on Lap 226.

With 40 laps left, Bowyer—in fuel conservation mode—led Stewart, Gordon, Kahne and Biffle, with Martin, Keselowski, Ragan, Denny Hamlin and Montoya chasing. Hamlin, who also ran out of fuel, finished 29th.

Keselowski felt his team got maximum performance out of a car that probably would not have run second if fuel consumption hadn’t been a factor. Keselowski, now third in the standings and 11 points behind Stewart, also marveled at how far he has come in a short time.

“It’s funny, because 10 races ago, we left Loudon here 23rd in points,” Keselowski said. “Who’d have ever thought we’d be third in 10 weeks? It’s been a good road to travel down the last few weeks, and today was no exception.

“We weren’t the fastest car—I’d be lying if I tried to tell you we were—but we made good adjustments to our car, got it to where it was a good, solid top-10 car and drove up to fourth or fifth there with 100 to go, 80 to go, whatever that was. … All in all, I felt like we earned the majority of our good fortune.”

With eight race left in the Chase, only three drivers—Harvick, Keselowski and Edwards (14 points back)—are within 20 points of Stewart.