The ISM Connect 300 was a
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series stock car race
Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It or ...
that was , traditionally held in mid-September at the
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1990, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mil ...
in
Loudon, New Hampshire
Loudon is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,576 at the 2020 census. Loudon is the home of New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
The main village in town, where 711 people lived at the 2020 census, is defined a ...
, the other one being the
Ambetter 301
The Crayon 301 is a 301 lap ( annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire.
Christopher Bell is the defending winner, having won it in 2022.
History
The race has been traditionally ...
in July.
The New England 300 also has the distinction of being the only NASCAR Cup Series points race outside
Daytona Daytona refers to the city of Daytona Beach, Florida, or things named after it.
Daytona may also refer to:
Locations
* Daytona Beach Shores, Florida
* South Daytona, Florida
* The Daytona Beach metropolitan area
* Halifax area, also known as Da ...
and
Talladega to run a
restrictor plate
A restrictor plate or air restrictor is a device installed at the intake of an engine to limit its power. This kind of system is occasionally used in road vehicles (e.g., motorcycles) for insurance purposes, but mainly in automobile racing, to li ...
race since the adoption of the current 358 cubic inch formula. After
Adam Petty
Adam Kyler Petty (July 10, 1980 – May 12, 2000) was an American professional stock car racing driver. He was the fourth generation from the Petty family to drive in races in the highest division of NASCAR racing, mostly in what was then kno ...
's fatal crash in the Busch Series practice on May 12, 2000, and
Kenny Irwin Jr.
Kenneth Dale Irwin Jr. (August 5, 1969 – July 7, 2000) was an American stock car racing driver. He had driven in all three NASCAR national touring series, and had two total victories, both in the Craftsman Truck Series (today Camping World Tru ...
'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
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) (previously the NASCAR Winston Modified Tour and NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series from 1985 until 2005) is a modified stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR in the Modified Division. The Mod ...
races at the circuit, for the 2000 Cup race, then known as the Dura Lube 300 sponsored by
Kmart
Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States.
The company was inc ...
. 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
Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed The Mayor, is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He scored 21 career victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, including two Coca-Cola 600s in ...
led all 300 laps. This lack of passing was so noncompetitive 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
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, 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
The Federated Auto Parts 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, being the second of two races at the track with the first one being the Toyota Owners 400 in the spring. As of 202 ...
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
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
and the outset of the
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
and
NBA seasons. Beginning with the 2011 Chase, the race became the second race in the ten-race playoff; as in part of a new round of schedule realignment the
Overton's 400
The Camping World 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held annually at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, from 2001 to 2019. Previously, the race was held in July from 2001 through 2010, with night races held from 2008 to 2010. Fr ...
at
Chicagoland Speedway
Chicagoland Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Joliet, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. The speedway opened in 2001 and actively hosted NASCAR racing including the NASCAR Cup Series until 2019. Until 2010, the speedway has also hosted the Indy ...
moved from its traditional early July race date.
On March 8, 2017 it was announced that the fall NHMS date would move to
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is ...
starting in 2018.
History
The first race in September came at the expense of the fall race at
North Wilkesboro Speedway
North Wilkesboro Speedway is a short oval racetrack located on U.S. Route 421, about east of the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, or 80 miles north of Charlotte. It measures and features a unique uphill backstretch and downhill fr ...
which was one of eight tracks from the original 1949 season, this race which took the date from North Wilkesboro, has its lineage starting in 1949 with the inaugural schedule. The first race was run here in 1997, won by
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
, who also coincidentally won the last race at North Wilkesboro the year before.
2000 Dura Lube 300 Presented by Kmart
This was the first NASCAR Cup Series race held since the deaths of
Adam Petty
Adam Kyler Petty (July 10, 1980 – May 12, 2000) was an American professional stock car racing driver. He was the fourth generation from the Petty family to drive in races in the highest division of NASCAR racing, mostly in what was then kno ...
and
Kenny Irwin Jr.
Kenneth Dale Irwin Jr. (August 5, 1969 – July 7, 2000) was an American stock car racing driver. He had driven in all three NASCAR national touring series, and had two total victories, both in the Craftsman Truck Series (today Camping World Tru ...
at this track. NASCAR used
restrictor plate
A restrictor plate or air restrictor is a device installed at the intake of an engine to limit its power. This kind of system is occasionally used in road vehicles (e.g., motorcycles) for insurance purposes, but mainly in automobile racing, to li ...
s 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
Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed The Mayor, is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He scored 21 career victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, including two Coca-Cola 600s in ...
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
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...
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 have 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
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
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
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now''
* Current era, present
* The current calendar date
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...
''.
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
The Federated Auto Parts 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, being the second of two races at the track with the first one being the Toyota Owners 400 in the spring. As of 2020, ...
at
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
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
Robert Wesley Gordon (born January 2, 1969) is an American auto racing driver. He has raced in NASCAR, CART, the IndyCar Series, the Trans-Am Series, IMSA, IROC and the Dakar Rally. He is active in top-tier off road motorsports such as BITD, N ...
, driving the #31
Chevrolet for
Richard Childress Racing, win his first ever race in NASCAR, and was marked by an incident in which he and
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
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
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
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
Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956) is a former American race car driver and current commentator for NBC. He is best known for winning the Daytona 500 three times (in 1993, 1996, and 2000) and winning the NASCAR Winston Cup Series champi ...
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
MBNA Corporation was a bank holding company and parent company of wholly owned subsidiary MBNA America Bank, N.A., headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, prior to being acquired by Bank of America in 2006.
History
The former Maryland National ...
at Dover, in addition to other rule changes for the NASCAR Cup Series,
Busch, and
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...
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
The NASCAR playoffs is a championship Playoffs, playoff system used in NASCAR's three national series. The system was founded as 'The Chase for the Championship' on January 21, 2004, and was used exclusively in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2004 to ...
format. Rain cancelled qualifying, prompting the grid to be set from owner's points.
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
led them down to the green flag. Afterward,
Greg Biffle got in the back of
Robby Gordon
Robert Wesley Gordon (born January 2, 1969) is an American auto racing driver. He has raced in NASCAR, CART, the IndyCar Series, the Trans-Am Series, IMSA, IROC and the Dakar Rally. He is active in top-tier off road motorsports such as BITD, N ...
sending Gordon spinning. Later in the race Robby Gordon spun Biffle collecting Chase contenders
Tony Stewart
Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is ...
and
Jeremy Mayfield
Jeremy Allen Mayfield (born May 27, 1969) is an American stock car racing driver. He drove cars for the Sadler brothers, T.W. Taylor, Cale Yarborough, Michael Kranefuss, Roger Penske, Ray Evernham, Bill Davis, and Gene Haas. In 2009, he drove for ...
. Robby Gordon was penalized two laps for aggressive driving.
Kurt Busch won the race to start his run toward his first Nextel Cup Series championship.
2017 ISM Connect 300
The 2017 race marked the last time that NASCAR would come here in the fall for the second race in the Playoffs. On March 8, 2017 it was announced that the fall NHMS date would move to
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is ...
starting in 2018.
Kyle Busch dominated and won the race.
Past winners
Notes
*2001: Race postponed from September 16 to November 23 due to
9/11.
*2002: Race shortened due to rain.
*2010: Clint Bowyer's was found to have illegal car modifications in the post-race inspection, and he was penalized 150 points, while crew chief
Shane Wilson was suspended four races.
*2014: Race extended due to a
NASCAR Overtime finish.
Multiple winners (drivers)
Multiple winners (teams)
Manufacturer wins
References
External links
*
{{NASCAR Sprint Cup races, state=collapsed
1997 establishments in New Hampshire
NASCAR Cup Series races
Recurring sporting events established in 1997
Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2017
Former NASCAR races