Sylvania 300

Sylvania 300

Venue	New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Sponsor	Sylvania
First race	1997
Distance	317.4 miles (510.805 km)
Laps	300
Previous names	CMT 300 (1997) Farm Aid on CMT 300 (1998) Dura Lube/Kmart 300 (1999) Dura Lube 300 sponsored by Kmart (2000) New Hampshire 300 (2001-2002)

The Sylvania 300 is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire.

The Sylvania 300 has traditionally held in mid-September, however, the race has been rescheduled once in its history. (see below)

The Sylvania 300 also has the distinction of being the only Sprint Cup race outside of Daytona and Talladega to run a restrictor plate race since the adoption of the current 358 cubic inch formula. After Adam Petty's fatal crash in the Busch Series practice on May 12, 2000, and Kenny Irwin, Jr.'s fatal crash in the Cup Series practice on July 7, 2000, NASCAR decided to run restrictor plates, already used for the Whelen Modified Tour races at the circuit, for the 2000 Cup race, then known as the Dura Lube 300 sponsored by Kmart. Adding restrictor plates did have the desired result of slowing down the cars drastically, but at the same time, restricted passing so much that Jeff Burton led all 300 laps. This lack of passing was so uncompetitive, that for Cup cars only, the restrictor plates were gone for the very next race, the 2001 New England 300.

From 2004 until 2010, the race served as the opening round of the "Chase for the Sprint Cup", a ten-race "playoff" designed among the top ten (twelve as of 2007) drivers in the standings of the series following the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 to spur interest in a championship series while NASCAR faces competition from the start of the NFL season and college football, the pennant races and post-season of Major League Baseball and the outset of the NHL and NBA seasons. Beginning with the 2011 Chase, the Sylvania 300 will be the second race in the ten-race playoff; as part of a new round of schedule realignment the LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway will move from its traditional early July race date.^[1]

It was announced on July 15, 2006 that the title sponsor Sylvania signed an extension until 2012 to be the title sponsor of the race.

History

2000 Dura Lube 300 Presented by Kmart

This was the first NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held since the deaths of Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin Jr. at this track. NASCAR used restrictor plates for this race as a result, in an effort to slow the top speed of the cars. However, cautions were so frequent and passing was so slowed that outside polesitter Jeff Burton led all 300 laps. This is the only race to date on a short track that had used restrictor plates. They were not used again after this race.

2001 New Hampshire 300

The 2001 fall race, originally scheduled for September 16, 2001, was postponed due to the 9/11 terror attacks. Not wanting to cancel the event outright, NASCAR decided to reschedule the race to the next available date. Since there were no scheduled off weeks between then and the end of the season, NASCAR's only option was the weekend of November 23–25, 2001, Thanksgiving weekend.

This created an interesting challenge for Goodyear, the tire manufacturer, as they were not expecting to run a race in New Hampshire in November. With the potential for a much colder raceday than they would've had in September at Loudon, and taking into account the possibility for snow, Goodyear brought a tire that they hoped would be better suited to the cold conditions. NASCAR announced the rescheduled race date would be Friday, November 23, the day after Thanksgiving, to allow for potential weather-related rescheduling. NBC was to carry the race live in the Eastern, Central, and Mountain time zones, with a tape delay for the Pacific time zone to accommodate the third hour of Today.

However, NASCAR's concerns were unfounded as the race was run in unseasonably mild conditions with temperatures in the 50s. NASCAR didn't conduct a traditional qualifying event for this race, instead choosing to employ a modified version of its method used when qualifying is canceled due to weather. To set the field for the race the cars that were holding the top 43 positions in the standings following the September 8 Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 at Richmond automatically qualified for the race. Only 42 of those cars started the race, as 43rd-place Eel River Racing had folded shortly after the Richmond race.

The race saw Robby Gordon, driving the #31 Lowe's Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, win his first ever race in NASCAR, and was marked by an incident in which he and Jeff Gordon got tangled together late in the race which put Robby into the lead. Jeff, who had been running up front all day, hit Robby during a caution flag to retaliate and finished in the middle of the pack (although it was all moot, as Gordon had clinched the 2001 Winston Cup championship at Atlanta the week before).

2003 Sylvania 300

The 2003 race marked the last time that the long-standing NASCAR rule of racing back to a yellow caution flag was in place. During the race, Dale Jarrett spun and hit the wall in turn 4 and came to rest in the middle of the racetrack's front stretch. Leaders slowed down except Michael Waltrip, who attempted to put several cars a lap down; he and others raced past Jarrett's immobilized car at full speed and some barely avoided contact with him. Beginning with the next race, the MBNA America 400 at Dover, in addition to other rule changes for the Cup, Busch, and Truck series, NASCAR outlawed racing back to the caution. Instead, NASCAR froze the field immediately at the caution and allowed the first car one lap down (or multiple laps down, if there were no cars one lap down) to rejoin the lead lap; this is officially called the "free pass" by NASCAR but is widely known by fans and journalists as the "lucky dog" rule.

2004 Sylvania 300

The 2004 Sylvania 300 was the first time drivers raced in the Chase for the Nextel Cup format. Everyone was set by points after rain caused the cars to start by points. Jeff Gordon led them down to the green flag. A rivalry started early. Greg Biffle got in the back of Robby Gordon sending Gordon spinning. Later in the race Robby Gordon spun Biffle collecting chase contenders Tony Stewart and Jeremy Mayfield. Gordon was penalized 2 laps for aggressive driving. Kurt Busch won the race and after that year won the championship.

Past winners

Year	Date	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Race Distance		Race Time	Average Speed (mph)
					Laps	Miles (km)
1997	September 14	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	300	317.4 (510.805)	3:09:45	100.364
1998	August 30	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	300	317.4 (510.805)	2:49:55	112.078
1999	September 19	Joe Nemechek	SABCO Racing	Chevrolet	300	317.4 (510.805)	3:09:10	100.673
2000	September 17	Jeff Burton	Roush Racing	Ford	300	317.4 (510.805)	3:06:42	102.003
2001	November 23*	Robby Gordon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	300	317.4 (510.805)	3:03:50	103.594
2002	September 15	Ryan Newman	Penske Racing	Ford	207*	219.006 (352.455)	2:05:03	105.081
2003	September 14	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	300	317.4 (510.805)	2:58:41	106.58
2004	September 19	Kurt Busch	Roush Racing	Ford	300	317.4 (510.805)	2:53:31	109.753
2005	September 18	Ryan Newman	Penske Racing	Dodge	300	317.4 (510.805)	3:18:36	95.891
2006	September 17	Kevin Harvick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	300	317.4 (510.805)	3:06:21	102.195
2007	September 16	Clint Bowyer	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	300	317.4 (510.805)	2:52:23	110.475
2008	September 14	Greg Biffle	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	300	317.4 (510.805)	3:00:34	105.468
2009	September 20	Mark Martin	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	300	317.4 (510.805)	3:09:01	100.753
2010	September 19	Clint Bowyer*	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	300	317.4 (510.805)	2:58:22	106.769
2011	September 25	Tony Stewart	Stewart Haas Racing	Chevrolet	300	317.4 (510.805)	2:43:13	116.679

• 2001: Race postponed from September to November due to 9/11.
• 2002: Race shortened due to rain.
• 2010: Clint Bowyer's victory is tainted due to illegal car modifications. Penalized 150 points, and crew chief Shane Wilson suspended four races.

Manufacturer wins

Rank	Manufacturer	Wins
1	Chevrolet	10
2	Ford	4
3	Dodge	1

Television broadcasters

Year	Network	Lap-by-lap	Color commentator(s)
2011	ESPN	Allen Bestwick	Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree
2010	ESPN	Marty Reid	Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree
2009	ABC	Jerry Punch	Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree
2008	ABC	Jerry Punch	Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree
2007	ABC	Jerry Punch	Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree
2006	TNT	Bill Weber	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach
2005	TNT	Bill Weber	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach
2004	TNT	Allen Bestwick	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach
2003	TNT	Allen Bestwick	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach
2002	NBC	Allen Bestwick	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach
2001	NBC	Allen Bestwick	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach
2000	TNN	Eli Gold	Buddy Baker and Dick Berggren
1999	TNN	Eli Gold	Buddy Baker and Dick Berggren
1998	TNN	Ken Squier	Buddy Baker and Dick Berggren
1997	TNN	Eli Gold	Buddy Baker and Dick Berggren

References

1. ^ "Chase Date for Chicagoland?". www.speedtv.com. http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/cup-nascar-chase-date-for-chicagoland-speedway/. Retrieved 7 August 2010. 

External links

• NASCAR Commentators Crews and Networks
• Sylvania 300 Draws Lowest Rating Ever For Chase For The Cup Race