SYLVANIA 300 Weekend Includes a Heluva Good! Friday
Loudon, NH — Fans attending Friday’s events during the SYLVANIA 300 weekend on September 12, 2008, will see one Heluva Good!(r) show.
In June, Patrick Carpentier, a native of Joliette, Quebec, won the Heluva Good!(r) Pole for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301. It was the first NASCAR Sprint Cup pole for the Canadian, who has had a number of strong qualifying attempts throughout his rookie season. This was the second time a foreign-born driver has been the top qualifier in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Lloyd Shaw from Toronto, Ontario, was the first to accomplish this feat in 1953.
The September Heluva Good!(r) Pole Day promises the same kind of excitement. In 2003, Ryan Newman set the current track-record with a qualifying lap of 133.357 mph. He leads all NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with four starts from the pole. In 2002, Newman won the September race from the first starting position.
Over the past two seasons, Richard Childress Racing drivers Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick have followed Newman’s lead by winning the SYLVANIA 300 from the pole. The fall race has been won four times in 11 races from the first grid position. In 1998, Jeff Gordon found victory lane after setting the fast lap on the 1.058-mile oval.
As the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers attempt to break Newman’s record, the members of the NASCAR Camping World Series East will also vie to stake their claim at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Friday. The Heluva Good!(r) Fall 125 starts at 5:10 p.m. All of the East regulars including current series point leader, Matt Kobyluck, and up-and-coming stars Jeffrey Earnhardt and Austin Dillon, will tangle for the win in one of the last events of the 2008 season.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup practices round out the on-track action Friday for what looks to be a Heluva Good!(r) start to a fantastic weekend of racing.
For more information, or to purchase tickets to Heluva Good!(r) Pole Day or any of the events during the SYLVANIA 300 weekend on September 11-14, go online to www.nhms.com or call the speedway ticket hotline at (603) 783-4931.
Sources: Fred Neergaard/New Hampshire Motor Speedway PR