Welcome to The Pace Lap, your catchall preview post! Let's get you started on race weekend with a metric truckload of stats, facts, opinion and innuendo.
The race: Sylvania 300 @ New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2:15 p.m. Eastern
The specs: 300 laps on a 1.058-mile track
The broadcasts: ABC, plus the live chat right here on Yahoo! Sports.
Defending champ: Greg Biffle, who would win the next race and make us think he was a legit Chase contender before getting crushed beneath the blue-and-yellow boot of the 48.
The standings leaders: Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson (-10), Tony Stewart (-10).
The history: One of the newest tracks on the circuit, New Hampshire was built in 1990. A 2003 incident at the track involving Dale Jarrett led to the creation of the "lucky dog" rule, where the first car behind the lead lap would get their lap back during a caution period. Jarrett's car was stopped in the middle of the track, and NASCAR officials realized that there could have been problems as everyone raced back to the starting line before the caution.
The appropriate video: Todd Bodine and David Starr scrap after a truck series race this time last year. Sure, it's not Sprint Cup, but who doesn't love a good fight?
Guy with the most to gain: Carl Edwards. He's been all but written off this year, and with a busted foot, he probably ought to be. But if he was going to be true to his plan to run big in the Chase, now would be the time for him to step up.
Guys with the most to lose: Tony Stewart. He hasn't run so well in recent weeks, and while he's said that just making the Chase was his goal, make no mistake -- now that he's here, he wants to win this thing. But like Kyle Busch last year, if he's not careful a great regular season could go to waste with one rotten race.
Our pick to win: Jeff Gordon. He's had success at this track before, notching 16 top 10s in 29 races. And he (and the rest of the field) can't afford to let Jimmie Johnson get too far out in front this time around.
All right, you're up. Who's your pick for this weekend? Go!
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