In fact, seven of the top 10 starters have yet to win this season. A victory in the regular season all but ensures a playoff berth. Beginning the day in Loudon with good track position is a big step toward that goal.
Counting Sunday, seven races remain before the playoffs.
Here is how the field will line up for the race based on the results of Saturday’s qualifying session:
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Ambetter 301 qualifying results
Final group results
Who won the pole for the NASCAR race at New Hampshire?
Martin Truex Jr. will start on the pole for the Ambetter 301. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver secured the P1, his first in four years (Kentucky, 2018), with the only sub-30-second average time on New Hampshire’s 1.058-mile track.
Truex has yet to win this season after going to victory lane four times in 2021. He called the pole a “small victory.”
“So, victories are all good, and hopefully we can make it work for us (Sunday), which is obviously a lot more important,” he said, per NASCAR.com.
Series points leader Chase Elliott, who’s coming off a win at his home track in Atlanta, will be next to Truex on the front row.
Kevin Harvick, another of the winless drivers starting toward the front, will start 10th after a hiccup in qualifying. The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing car got loose in Turn 2, prompting Harvick to end the run before the finish. He did not post a qualifying time.
Starting lineup for New Hampshire race
Thirty-six cars were entered for the Ambetter 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the 20th race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season.