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The Chase is finally upon us and up first is 300 miles at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Sylvania 300 (1 p.m. ET, ABC). Momentum is vital for the 12 drivers in the Chase and history has shown that a good start at New Hampshire will lead to good things.
That's not to say you have to win at New Hampshire to win the Chase, although it did help Kurt Busch in the inaugural Chase when his only win came at the Magic Mile and he went on to win the championship. In all, four of the five New Hampshire Chase races have seen the eventual champion finish in the top six in this first race, with three of them finishing first or second.
The only exception was Jimmie Johnson in 2006, when he finished 39th but rallied to win the title after a string of five consecutive top-two finishes.
Another interesting fact about the New Hampshire Chase race: in the Chase era, this race has been won by a driver competing for the title. So expect Victory Lane to be visited by a Chaser and if a Chase driver has a bad finish, he can lean on Johnson for support.
| Driver | Starts | Wins | Top-fives | Top-10s | Poles | Laps Led | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denny Hamlin | 7 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 52 | 9.6 | 8.3 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 15 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 274 | 8.5 | 9.9 |
| Mark Martin | 25 | 0 | 8 | 13 | 2 | 397 | 14.8 | 11.1 |
| Jeff Gordon | 29 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 3 | 1205 | 10.0 | 11.3 |
| Tony Stewart | 21 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 1 | 976 | 11.9 | 12.2 |
| Carl Edwards | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 63 | 15.8 | 13.5 |
| Ryan Newman | 15 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 537 | 7.6 | 14.2 |
| Kurt Busch | 17 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 326 | 14.6 | 14.8 |
| Kasey Kahne | 11 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 49 | 16.2 | 16.0 |
| Greg Biffle | 14 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 85 | 14.9 | 18.1 |
| Juan Pablo Montoya | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 20.4 | 20.6 |
| Brian Vickers | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 53 | 20.9 | 23.1 |
article courtesy of: www.nascar.com