Why New Hampshire could produce another first-time Cup winner
Sunday's Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire International Speedway is going to be a great mix of strategy and track position. I see Sunday as a great opportunity for someone who hasn't won yet in 2014 or even someone who hasn't won at all in his Sprint Cup career to possibly step up and steal a win away. I mean, c'mon, they call it the Magic Mile for a reason.
Pun intended, but I would wager we are going to see a lot of gambling by some teams because there are a lot of ways you can gamble to win this race. It might be the gamble of a 2-tire stop only to gain track position. It might be a roll of the dice to take no tires and fuel only to really gain track position.
There are a lot of drivers out there that know time is running out and they are going to have to gamble if they want to make certain that they qualify for the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase. Among them: Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman, some of whom have had success at New Hampshire previously.
Don't for a second think anyone has overlooked the surprise win by Aric Almirola at Daytona last Sunday. Aric has now taken a Chase spot off the board. We also still have the road course at Watkins Glen where it is very possible his teammate, Marcos Ambrose, could win to take yet another Chase slot away.
I think we all better assume anything can happen up here Sunday and you know what? It probably will. Qualifying is going to be at such a premium. Let's face it, this joint is nothing more than a big Martinsville. It's not easy to pass here. So one of the biggest keys is getting out front, staying there and dictating the pace of the race.
I for one am not going to be shocked in the least if we have a surprise winner Sunday in Victory Lane with 42 other teams scratching their heads, saying to themselves, "How in the hell did they just do that?"
