By Jared Turner For several drivers, last Sunday’s opening race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs did not go as they had hoped or expected. The good news? An opportunity for redemption awaits in Sunday’s ISM Connect 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. With only seven points separating 12th-place Austin Dillon (the last driver in position to advance to the next playoff round) from 16th-place Ryan Newman (who is last among the four drivers on the wrong side of the cutoff), no one needs a miracle to keep their hopes of advancing alive. A solid run by any playoff…

By Jared Turner Denny Hamlin’s win at New Hampshire in July marked his third victory at the track known as the “Magic Mile.” It’s hard to bet against Martin Truex Jr. anywhere these days. Truex will have nothing to hold him back the next two weekends. The defending winner of the fall New Hampshire race, Kevin Harvick returns to the Granite State carrying some momentum after a solid third-place finish at Chicagoland. Matt Kenseth has won three of the past eight races at New Hampshire, a 1.058-mile oval where he struggled earlier in this career. After a frustrating outing in the first…

By Jared Turner Last week’s revelation that Danica Patrick won’t return next season as driver of the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford is a troubling one. With the sport’s 14-time most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., set to retire at the end of 2017, NASCAR could really use Patrick — arguably the sport’s second most marketable driver — to help offset the blow that will inevitably come with Junior’s departure. But Patrick, just five years into her Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career, appears to be headed for the sidelines instead of waiting in the wings to fill the void left by…

By Jared Turner Martin Truex Jr. entered the playoffs as a heavy favorite to capture his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship. Sunday’s playoff opener at Chicagoland did nothing to change Truex’s standing. Already the No. 1 seed in the 16-driver playoff field based on the playoff points he amassed for race wins and stage wins in the regular season, Truex cruised to his fifth win of the season and in the process punched his ticket to the Round of 12. Now guaranteed of advancing, Truex can spend the next two races fine-tuning for the next round and trying to add…

By Jared Turner With each year, it seems to get harder and harder for a non-playoff driver to win in the final 10 races. If Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff opener at Chicagoland is any indication, expect non-playoff drivers to face a similar uphill battle this time around. Of the top 11 finishers on Sunday afternoon in Joliet, Illinois, 10 were playoff drivers. The only top-10 finisher not in the playoffs was seventh-place Joey Logano, who despite running well, never seriously contended for the win in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford. So, how likely is it that a non-playoff…