2017 ISM Connect 300 explained

Type:	NASME
Race Name:	ISM Connect 300
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8] ^[9] ^[10]
Year:	2017
Race No:	28
Season No:	36
Location:	New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire
Course Mi:	1.058
Course Km:	1.703
Distance Laps:	300
Distance Mi:	317.4
Distance Km:	510.9
Avg:	108.958mph
Pole Driver:	Kyle Busch
Pole Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Pole Time:	28.203
Most Driver:	Kyle Busch
Most Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Most Laps:	187
Car:	18
First Driver:	Kyle Busch
First Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Network:	NBCSN
Announcers:	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte
Radio:	PRN
Booth Ann:	Mark Garrow, Jim Noble and Jeff Hammond
Turn Ann:	Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4)

The 2017 ISM Connect 300 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 24, 2017, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. Contested over 300 laps on the 1.058miles speedway, it was the 28th race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, second race of the Playoffs and second race of the Round of 16.

On March 8, 2017 it was announced that the fall NHMS date would move to Las Vegas Motor Speedway starting in 2018 with NHMS now having one Cup Series race per season instead of two.

Report

Background

New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a 1.058miles oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since the early 1990s, as well as an IndyCar weekend and the oldest motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mile", the speedway is often converted into a 1.6miles road course, which includes much of the oval.

The track was originally the site of Bryar Motorsports Park before being purchased and redeveloped by Bob Bahre. The track is currently one of eight major NASCAR tracks owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports.

Entry list

	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1			Chevrolet
2			Ford
3			Chevrolet
4			Ford
5			Chevrolet
6			Ford
10			Ford
11			Toyota
13	Ty Dillon (R)		Chevrolet
14			Ford
15			Chevrolet
17			Ford
18			Toyota
19	Daniel Suárez (R)		Toyota
20			Toyota
21			Ford
22			Ford
23	Corey LaJoie (R)		Toyota
24			Chevrolet
27			Chevrolet
31			Chevrolet
32			Ford
33			Chevrolet
34			Ford
37			Chevrolet
38			Ford
41			Ford
42			Chevrolet
43			Ford
47			Chevrolet
48			Chevrolet
51			Chevrolet
55	Gray Gaulding (R)		Toyota
72			Chevrolet
77	Erik Jones (R)		Toyota
78			Toyota
83	Brett Moffitt (i)		Toyota
88			Chevrolet
95			Chevrolet
Official entry list

First practice

Kyle Larson was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.065 seconds and a speed of 135.714mph.^[11]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	42				28.065	135.714
2	18				28.142	135.342
3	5				28.172	135.198
Official first practice results

Qualifying

Kyle Busch scored the pole for the race with a time of 28.203 and a speed of 135.049mph.^[12]

Qualifying results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	18			Toyota	28.309	28.395	28.203
2	42			Chevrolet	28.524	28.287	28.232
3	11			Toyota	28.558	28.276	28.263
4	21			Ford	28.592	28.265	28.272
5	78			Toyota	28.605	28.383	28.384
6	4			Ford	28.552	28.423	28.401
7	41			Ford	28.622	28.420	28.427
8	77	Erik Jones (R)		Toyota	28.555	28.467	28.430
9	5			Chevrolet	28.581	28.324	28.431
10	20			Toyota	28.653	28.408	28.490
11	1			Chevrolet	28.502	28.416	28.492
12	48			Chevrolet	28.502	28.496	28.857
13	2			Ford	28.723	28.547	—
14	24			Chevrolet	28.710	28.561	—
15	88			Chevrolet	28.549	28.566	—
16	14			Ford	28.588	28.590	—
17	3			Chevrolet	28.729	28.609	—
18	31			Chevrolet	28.628	28.636	—
19	27			Chevrolet	28.629	28.675	—
20	47			Chevrolet	28.747	28.687	—
21	38			Ford	28.701	28.687	—
22	37			Chevrolet	28.747	28.747	—
23	6			Ford	28.740	28.794	—
24	17			Ford	28.753	28.936	—
25	19	Daniel Suárez (R)		Toyota	28.753	—	—
26	32			Ford	28.766	—	—
27	10			Ford	28.771	—	—
28	34			Ford	28.840	—	—
29	43			Ford	28.894	—	—
30	13	Ty Dillon (R)		Chevrolet	28.920	—	—
31	95			Chevrolet	28.924	—	—
32	72			Chevrolet	29.092	—	—
33	23	Corey LaJoie (R)		Toyota	29.107	—	—
34	55	Gray Gaulding (R)		Toyota	29.257	—	—
35	15			Chevrolet	29.317	—	—
36	83	Brett Moffitt (i)		Toyota	29.364	—	—
37	33			Chevrolet	29.886	—	—
38	51			Chevrolet	30.560	—	—
39	22			Ford	0.000	—	—
Official qualifying results

Practice (post-qualifying)

Second practice

Kyle Larson was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 28.727 and a speed of 132.586mph.^[13]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	42				28.727	132.586
2	21				28.742	132.517
3	78				28.745	132.503
Official second practice results

Final practice

Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.932 and a speed of 131.647mph.^[14]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	78				28.932	131.647
2	4				28.935	131.633
3	18				28.961	131.515
Official final practice results

Race

Race results

Stage results

Stage 1Laps: 75

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	10
2	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	9
3	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	8
4	77	Erik Jones (R)	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	7
5	21	Ryan Blaney	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	6
6	20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	5
7	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	4
8	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	3
9	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	2
10	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	1
Official stage one results

Stage 2Laps: 75

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	10
2	20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	9
3	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	8
4	77	Erik Jones (R)	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	7
5	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	6
6	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	5
7	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	4
8	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	3
9	21	Ryan Blaney	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	2
10	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	1
Official stage two results

Final stage results

Stage 3Laps: 150

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	1	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	300	58
2	2	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	300	50
3	10	20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	300	48
4	13	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	300	45
5	5	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	300	47
6	8	77	Erik Jones (R)	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	300	45
7	16	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	300	30
8	25	19	Daniel Suárez (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	300	29
9	4	21	Ryan Blaney	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	300	36
10	39	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	300	27
11	14	24	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	300	26
12	3	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	300	30
13	18	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	300	24
14	12	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	300	30
15	24	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	300	22
16	11	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	300	22
17	20	47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	300	20
18	27	10	Danica Patrick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	300	19
19	17	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	300	18
20	19	27	Paul Menard	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	300	17
21	22	37	Chris Buescher	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	299	16
22	30	13	Ty Dillon (R)	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	298	15
23	31	95	Michael McDowell	Leavine Family Racing	Chevrolet	298	14
24	23	6	Trevor Bayne	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	298	13
25	28	34	Landon Cassill	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	298	12
26	29	43	Aric Almirola	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	297	11
27	33	23	Corey LaJoie (R)	BK Racing	Toyota	297	10
28	35	15	Reed Sorenson	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	297	9
29	21	38	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	296	8
30	32	72	Cole Whitt	TriStar Motorsports	Chevrolet	296	7
31	26	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Go Fas Racing	Ford	295	6
32	36	83	Brett Moffitt (i)	BK Racing	Toyota	294	0
33	34	55	Gray Gaulding (R)	Premium Motorsports	Toyota	293	4
34	15	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	289	3
35	9	5	Kasey Kahne	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	289	2
36	6	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	148	2
37	7	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	148	1
38	37	33	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group	Chevrolet	143	1
39	38	51	Cody Ware	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	74	1
Official race results

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 3 among different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 6 for 32
• Red flags: 1 for 13 minutes and 1 second
• Time of race: 2 hours, 54 minutes and 47 seconds
• Average speed: 108.958mph

Media

Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton – the all-time wins leader at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with four wins – and Steve Letarte had the call in the booth for the race. Parker Kligerman, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race.

Radio

The Performance Racing Network had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Martin Truex Jr.	2,149
	2	Kyle Larson	2,125 (–24)
2	3	Kyle Busch	2,119 (–30)
	4	Brad Keselowski	2,106 (–43)
2	5	Denny Hamlin	2,088 (–61)
3	6	Matt Kenseth	2,087 (–62)
1	7	Jimmie Johnson	2,076 (–73)
2	8	Ryan Blaney	2,070 (–79)
3	9	Chase Elliott	2,070 (–79)
7	10	Kevin Harvick	2,069 (–80)
	11	Jamie McMurray	2,053 (–96)
2	12	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	2,044 (–105)
1	13	Austin Dillon	2,044 (–105)
2	14	Ryan Newman	2,043 (–106)
2	15	Kurt Busch	2,027 (–122)
1	16	Kasey Kahne	2,023 (–126)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
1	1	Toyota	986
1	2	Chevrolet	985 (–1)
	3	Ford	976 (–10)
Official manufacturers' standings

• Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2017 schedule. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. August 18, 2017. May 5, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20170204004251/http://www.jayski.com/news/pages/story/_/page/2017-NASCAR-Cup-Schedule. February 4, 2017. dead.
2. Web site: New Hampshire Motor Speedway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. August 18, 2017. January 3, 2013. May 2, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170502073112/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/new-hampshire-motor-speedway.html. dead.
3. Web site: Entry List. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 19, 2017. September 19, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170919233907/http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Statistics/Season-Stats/Statistics.aspx?SubSeriesID=1&YearID=46&RaceID=7604&StatType=Entry+List. September 19, 2017. dead.
4. Web site: First Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 22, 2017. September 22, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170923002641/http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Statistics/Additional-Statistics/2017/09/ISM-Connect-300-1st-Practice-Speeds.aspx. September 23, 2017. dead.
5. Web site: Qualifying Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 22, 2017. September 22, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170923051152/http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Statistics/Additional-Statistics/2017/09/ISM-Connect-300-Qualifying-Results.aspx. September 23, 2017. dead.
6. Web site: Second Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 23, 2017. September 23, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170924001729/http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Statistics/Additional-Statistics/2017/09/ISM-Connect-300-2nd-Practice-Speeds.aspx. September 24, 2017. dead.
7. Web site: Final Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 23, 2017. September 23, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170924045207/http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Statistics/Additional-Statistics/2017/09/ISM-Connect-300-Final-Practice-Speeds.aspx. September 24, 2017. dead.
8. Web site: ISM Connect 300 Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 24, 2017. September 24, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170925083330/http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Statistics/Season-Stats/Statistics.aspx?SubSeriesID=1&YearID=46&RaceID=7604&StatType=Race+Results. September 25, 2017. dead.
9. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. September 26, 2017. September 26, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20190129022015/http://www.jayski.com/stats/2017/pdfs/28nhms2017racereport.pdf. January 29, 2019. dead.
10. Web site: Manufacturer standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. September 26, 2017. September 26, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20190129022015/http://www.jayski.com/stats/2017/pdfs/28nhms2017racereport.pdf. January 29, 2019. dead.
11. Web site: Spencer. Lee. Larson leads opening NHMS practice; Johnson and Elliott crash. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. September 22, 2017. Loudon, New Hampshire. September 22, 2017.
12. News: Gelston. Dan. Kyle Busch takes pole at New Hampshire in 2nd NASCAR playoff. September 22, 2017. Associated Press. Associated Press. AP Sports. September 22, 2017. Loudon, New Hampshire. https://web.archive.org/web/20170923095706/http://racing.ap.org/article/kyle-busch-takes-pole-new-hampshire-2nd-nascar-playoff. September 23, 2017. dead.
13. Web site: Spencer. Lee. Larson tops second practice at NHMS over Blaney and Truex. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. September 23, 2017. Loudon, New Hampshire. September 23, 2017.
14. Web site: Spencer. Lee. Truex leads final practice at Loudon, Logano forced to sit out session. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. September 23, 2017. Loudon, New Hampshire. September 23, 2017.