Where to Watch NASCAR This Week – Historical Events at New Hampshire

Posted on by

Where to Watch NASCAR This Week

Friday, Sept. 19

NCTS Practice & Kennametal Pole Qualifying (FS2 at 4 p.m. ET)

Friday, Sept. 20

NCTS Race: Team EJP 175 (FS1, NRN, SiriusXM at 12 p.m. ET)

NCS Practice & Busch Light Pole Qualifying (truTV, PRN, SiriusXM at 3 p.m. ET)

Sunday, Sept. 21

NCS Race: Mobil 1 301 (USA, PRN, SiriusXM at 2 p.m. ET)

Historical & Significant Events at New Hampshire Motor Speedway:

  • New Hampshire Motor Speedway was built at the site of the former Bryar Motorsports Park. It is the largest sporting venue in New England at over 1,100 acres and seating for over 92,000.
  • New Hampshire Motor Speedway is 75 miles north of Boston, 42 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean and 250 miles from Montreal.
  • Bryar Motorsports Park opened as a kart track in 1960. A 1/5 mile dirt oval ran near the later paved tracks from 1961 to 1963; it was also referred to as Route 106 Midway Raceway. The 1.6 mile road course ran cars from 1964 to 1988, and motorcycles only in 1989. A paved 1/5 mile oval ran from 1965 through 1988, and a 5/8 mile paved oval from 1968 through 1988. A 1/4 mile paved drag strip operated in the 1970s.
  • Bob Bahre purchased Bryar in 1989. The existing complex was dismantled and the one mile paved oval and 1.6 mile paved road course were built with much of the work done by Bob Bahre and his brother Dick.  After just nine months of construction the oval successfully opened on July 15th, 1990, with a Xfinity Series race won by Tommy Ellis over Harry Gant.
  • The road course opened in 1991.
  • The first NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was on July 11th, 1993 and was won by Team Penske driver Rusty Wallace over pole winner Mark Martin.
  • In the early years drivers and fans complained about the problems with the track surface and the lack of a passing zone. In 2002 NHIS widened the lower turn areas between turns 1 and 2 and between turns 3 and 4 to create a second groove that would make for safer, more exciting racing. The banking was changed from 12 degrees to 2-7 degrees. Then in June cracks were found, and Bob Bahre was forced to fix the problems with just three weeks for the surface to cure before the first Cup race. Many said there was not enough time before the heavy Cup cars scheduled for July.  During the July Cup race marbles built up in turns 3 and 4. Several drivers blamed the marbles for causing most of the 14 caution flags.
  • In 2003 turns 1 and 2 and turns 3 and 4 were repaved; they paved into the straightaways so the transition will be ‘squared and even’ and not angled. The asphalt was mined in Trinidad and then shaped into pellets in Germany before it was shipped to the US to be melted and combined with an aggregate. Drivers praised the track surface after the initial event on the repaved track.
  • After years of speculation that the track was for sale Speedway Motorsports bought the track for $340 million in 2008. Since then, many changes and improvements have taken place including the expansion of the usable infield space by over 400%, new and enhanced safety fencing, new shower and restroom facilities, a new electronic scoreboard, leveling (evening) of the walls between pit road and the pit area, moved the Cup Series to the center garage, and added a new pedestrian sidewalk through the Turn 2 tunnel.
  • In addition to the NASCAR Cup races, the track hosts several other racing series, including the NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. The track also hosts the New England based ACT late model series, PASS north series, Loudon Road Race Series, SCCA sports cars, Legend and Bandolero cars, World Karting Association go-karts and racing schools.
  • Starting in 2018 NHMS held only one Cup race, their second date was transferred to Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
  • Over 2,000 Dunkin Donuts stores are located in the New England; a quarter of all of their stores.
  • Since 2010, NASCAR Cup Series winners have been presented with a trophy lobster in their Victory Lane celebration. But this isn’t just your average lobster. It’s gargantuan and ranges in size from 20-26 pounds
  • It takes approximately seven years for a lobster to reach 1 pound in size and can reach a maximum age of 100 years and grow to be 3 feet or more in overall body length.