New Hampshire Cup race looms with playoff field nearly set
NXTbets Pro | Published On: August 20, 2026
New Hampshire Cup field
New Hampshire Motor Speedway will put the NASCAR Cup Series in position for the regular season finish line when it hosts the 25th race of 2026, the 301-lap Dollar Tree 301, and the event lands as the next-to-last race before the playoff field is locked in. Joe Gibbs Racing arrives with all four of its drivers already in the postseason, a sign of how much of the bracket has already taken shape before the field heads to Loudon. Chase Elliott has clinched a playoff berth. Kyle Larson sits eighth in the standings and remains above the cutline. Ross Chastain is two spots outside it. Shane van Gisbergen holds a 50-point cushion over the cutline, giving him more breathing room than several drivers chasing their way in over the final two races. Connor Zilisch will add another layer to the weekend, making his first NASCAR national-series start at New Hampshire while competing in both the Trucks and Cup races. That makes the weekend one of the clearest pressure points of the season, with New Hampshire serving as the final full-speed check on who is in, who is safe and who still needs a strong run before the playoffs are set.
Hamlin, Blaney and Bell
Denny Hamlin enters New Hampshire with the clearest momentum at the front of the field and the strongest grip on the regular-season championship race. He leads Ryan Blaney by 115 points after Richmond, and he brings four wins in 2026 along with four straight top-five finishes. That run has kept him in control as the schedule tightens and the margin for error shrinks. Blaney, meanwhile, gets another chance to defend one of his best tracks. He is the defending New Hampshire winner and led 116 laps in last year’s race, evidence that he had the speed to control the front of the field for long stretches at Loudon. Christopher Bell also looms as a major threat. He owns Cup wins at New Hampshire in 2022 and 2024 and has won two of the last four NASCAR Cup Series races at the track, a record that makes him one of the most accomplished active drivers at the facility. Josh Berry brings a quieter but still relevant profile into the weekend. He has three straight top-10 finishes entering New Hampshire and finished runner-up there last year, which gives him another path to a strong result if the race opens up at the right time. With the points race still sorting itself out and the top end of the field packed with drivers who have already shown speed at Loudon, the weekend offers a direct test of who can carry form into the playoff stretch and who needs a sharper finish.
Odds, manufacturers and Loudon history
DraftKings lists Blaney at +450, Bell at +550, Hamlin and Joey Logano at +600, Chase Briscoe at +800 and Larson at +900, a group that reflects how much respect the oddsmakers have for the usual front-runners at New Hampshire. Berry sits at +1600, Austin Cindric at +2200 and Brad Keselowski at +6500 among the longer shots. The numbers also point toward the strength of the manufacturers that have shaped recent results at Loudon. Toyota has won three of the four Next Gen races at the track, a run that lines up with the current success of Joe Gibbs Racing and Bell’s recent history there. Chevrolet brings a deeper long-range record into the weekend, with 19 Cup victories at New Hampshire, but it has not won there since Kasey Kahne’s 2012 victory. That split gives the race a familiar feel. Toyota has owned much of the recent action. Chevrolet still owns the broader historical ledger. The combination sets up a classic New Hampshire backdrop, with past form, current speed and playoff urgency all meeting at the same place.
