NASCAR Cup Series

Desperation time? Opportunities running out to get win, make Chase

Published Jul. 16, 2015 10:28 a.m. ET

Jeff Hammond

Well, after what we saw at Kentucky Speedway last Saturday night, it's really going to be interesting to see what kind of race we have this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway as the Sprint Cup Series teams revert back to the original 2015 rules.

I think we have to go back and look at who the frontrunners were at a place like Phoenix or Martinsville to get an idea of who should be strong this weekend.

I think you obviously need to keep your eye on the Kevin Harvicks and the Martin Truex Jr.s of the world. They are the ones who should run really run well at a place like New Hampshire.

I say that, again, because we are back to the original 2015 rules package and these two drivers dominated the most. They've shown they have this package figured out, so I expect them to pick up where they left off before Kentucky.

I would be surprised if we have another new winner for 2015 this weekend. Now with that said, we've seen it happen before at New Hampshire when it turns into a fuel-mileage race. If that happens Sunday, then, yes, we might see a surprise winner sneak one out with some strategy.

Remember, there are only eight races left in our regular season and some pretty big names are still on the outside of the Chase for the Sprint Cup looking in. What's that old saying -- "Desperate times call for desperate measures?" Well, we might just see some desperate strategy come into play Sunday.