The Ambetter Health 200 is a
NASCAR Xfinity Series
The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...
race held at
New Hampshire Motor Speedway in
Loudon, New Hampshire. When first held in
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
, the race was 300 laps. It was scaled back to 250 laps, the length of the former fall NHMS race, starting in
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...
, and again to its current 200 laps in
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
.
Until 2010, in 23 races held at NHMS, there had never been a repeat Xfinity Series winner, the longest such streak in any of NASCAR's national touring series.
Kyle Busch broke the streak with victories in 2009 and 2010. He would also win the 2011, 2013, 2016, and 2017 Xfinity Series races at the track.
Brad Keselowski and
Christopher Bell would later also become repeat winners of the Xfinity Series race at New Hampshire. Additionally,
Toyota and
Joe Gibbs Racing won this race each year from 2008 to 2021 except for Keselowski's two wins in 2012 and 2014, both of which were for
Team Penske. He drove a Dodge in 2012 and a Ford in 2014.
History
From 1990 to 1992, New Hampshire held a second Busch Series race in the fall. The second race was removed from the schedule in 1993, in exchange for a Winston Cup Series race at the track. During the practice for the 2000 event,
Adam Petty died after he lost control of his car after his throttle were stuck wide open going into turn three; Petty's death was caused by a
basilar skull fracture from the ensuing impact. Cup Series driver
Kenny Irwin Jr. also died under similar circumstances during the practice of
thatlook.com 300, occurring eight weeks later at the same track, leading NASCAR to make significant rule changes to maintain driver safety.
The 2020 race was canceled and replaced by a race at
Kentucky Speedway
Kentucky Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, which has hosted ARCA, NASCAR and Indy Racing League racing annually since it opened in 2000. The track is currently owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Before 2008 J ...
due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, the race returned to the Xfinity Series schedule and Ambetter (owned by
Centene Corporation) became the title sponsor of the race. With them being a healthcare company and the race being held during the time when people were getting COVID-19 vaccines, Ambetter added "get vaccinated" in the name of the race next to their own so it would sound like "better get vaccinated" to encourage people to get a COVID-19 vaccine. On May 21, 2022, it was announced that Crayon Software Experts would be the title sponsor of the Xfinity Series of the race
after Ambetter became the title sponsor of the Cup Series race at New Hampshire in 2022 (replacing
Foxwoods Resort Casino).
Past winners
*2005, 2011, and 2013: Race extended due to a
green–white–checker finish. 2013 race took three attempts.
*2020: Race canceled and moved to
Kentucky due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Multiple winners (drivers)
Multiple winners (teams)
Manufacturer wins
References
External links
*
{{NASCAR Xfinity Series races, state=collapsed
1990 establishments in New Hampshire
NASCAR Xfinity Series races
Recurring sporting events established in 1990
Annual sporting events in the United States