Previewing the NASCAR Cup Series Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire

The Mobil 1 301 is the fourth race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, and the first in the Round of 12. Following the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Alex Bowman, Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Dillon and Josh Berry were eliminated from championship contention.

Joe Gibbs Racing has won every race in the Playoffs thus far, and they figure to be in contention for another victory at New Hampshire. Christopher Bell has won two of the last three NASCAR Cup Series events at New Hampshire, while Denny Hamlin is a three-time winner at Loudon.

Return to Autumn for The Magic Mile

Between 1997 and 2017, New Hampshire Motor Speedway hosted two NASCAR Cup Series events annually, with the latter traditionally occurring during September.

Since the move to a single race weekend in 2018, that race has taken place during the summer months. This year, it moves to September as New Hampshire returns to the NASCAR Playoff calendar. While last year's race saw damp weather and even the use of NASCAR's wet-weather tires, there is no precipitation in this weekend's forecast.

With this being the first autumn race for the Next Gen car at New Hampshire, it'll be interesting to see if that throws teams any metaphorical curveballs. If nothing else, it will add the postseason pressure back to the New Hampshire weekend.

Chance for Non-Playoff Drivers to Play Spoiler?

Playoff drivers have won the first three races of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, the postseason is unique in NASCAR with all of its teams partaking in every race. This opens the door for non-playoff teams to pick up a win, as Brad Keselowski nearly did last week at Bristol.

Josh Berry, freshly eliminated from the playoffs, finished third at New Hampshire one year ago while driving for Stewart-Haas Racing. Chris Buescher finished fifth in that race, and played spoiler by winning the playoff race at Watkins Glen International one season ago.

Can a non-playoff driver steal the spotlight in Loudon, or will the championship combatants continue to hold the upper hand?