Sylvania 300

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Sylvania 300

Venue	New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Corporate sponsor	Sylvania
First race	1997
Distance	317.4 miles (510.8 km)
Number of laps	300
Previous names	CMT 300 (1997) Farm Aid on CMT 300 (1998) Dura Lube/Kmart 300 (1999) Dura Lube 300 sponsored by Kmart (2000) New Hampshire 300 (2001-2002)

The Sylvania 300 is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire.

The Sylvania 300 has traditionally held in mid-September, however, the race has been rescheduled once in its history. (see below)

The Sylvania 300 also has the distinction of being the only Sprint Cup race outside of Daytona and Talladega to run a restrictor plate race since the adoption of the current 358 cubic inch formula. After Adam Petty's fatal crash in the Busch Series practice in May, and Kenny Irwin, Jr.'s fatal crash in the Cup Series practice in July, NASCAR decided to run restrictor plates, already used for the Whelen Modified Tour races at the circuit, for the 2000 Cup race, then known as the Dura Lube 300 sponsored by Kmart. Adding restrictor plates did have the desired result of slowing down the cars drastically, but at the same time, restricted passing so much that Jeff Burton led all 300 laps. This lack of passing was so uncompetitive, that for Cup cars only, the restrictor plates were gone for the very next race, the 2001 New England 300.

Since 2004, the race has served as the opening round of the "Chase for the Sprint Cup", a ten-race "playoff" designed among the top ten (twelve as of 2007) drivers in the standings of the series following the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 to spur interest in a championship series while NASCAR faces competition from the start of the NFL season and college football, the pennant races and post-season of Major League Baseball and the outset of the NHL and NBA seasons.

It was announced on July 15, 2006 that the title sponsor Sylvania signed an extension until 2012 to be the title sponsor of the race. This most likely will secure the track's September race until 2012.

History

2000 Dura Lube 300 Presented by Kmart

This was the first NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held since the deaths of Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin Jr. at this track. NASCAR used restrictor plates for this race as a result, in a effort to slow the top speed of the cars. However, cautions were so frequent and passing was so slowed that outside polesitter Jeff Burton led all 300 laps. This is the only race to date on a short track that had used restrictor plates. They were not used again after this race.

2001 New Hampshire 300

The 2001 fall race, originally scheduled for September 16, 2001, was postponed due to the 9/11 terror attacks. Not wanting to cancel the event outright, NASCAR decided to reschedule the race to the next available date. Since there were no scheduled off weeks between then and the end of the season, NASCAR's only option was the weekend of November 23-25, 2001, Thanksgiving weekend.

This created an interesting challenge for Goodyear, the tire manufacturer, as they were not expecting to run a race in New Hampshire in November. With the potential for a much colder raceday than they would've had in September at Loudon, and taking into account the possibility for snow, Goodyear brought a tire that they hoped would be better suited to the cold conditions. NASCAR announced the rescheduled race date would be Friday, November 23, the day after Thanksgiving, to allow for potential weather-related rescheduling. NBC was to carry the race live in the Eastern, Central, and Mountain time zones, with a tape delay for the Pacific time zone to accommodate the third hour of Today.

However, NASCAR's concerns were unfounded as the race was run in unseasonably mild conditions with temperatures in the 50s. NASCAR didn't conduct a traditional qualifying event for this race, instead choosing to employ a modified version of its method used when qualifying is canceled due to weather. To set the field for the race the cars that were holding the top 43 positions in the standings following the September 8 Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 at Richmond automatically qualified for the race. Only 42 of those cars started the race, as 43rd-place Eel River Racing had folded shortly after the Richmond race.

The race saw Robby Gordon, driving the #31 Lowe's Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, win his first ever race in NASCAR, and was marked by an incident in which he and Jeff Gordon got tangled together late in the race which put Robby into the lead. Jeff, who had been running up front all day, hit Robby during a caution flag to retaliate and finished in the middle of the pack (although it was all moot, as Gordon had clinched the 2001 Winston Cup championship at Atlanta the week before).

2003 Sylvania 300

The 2003 race marked the last time that the long-standing NASCAR rule of racing back to a yellow caution flag was in place. During the race, Dale Jarrett spun and hit the wall in turn 4 and came to rest in the middle of the racetrack. With many drivers attempting to race back to the yellow, several cars raced past Jarrett's immobilized car at full speed and some barely avoided contact with him. In the interest of driver safety, beginning with the next weekend's race at Dover, NASCAR disallowed racing back to the caution and modified pit road entry for the Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and Camping World Truck Series.

2004 Sylvania 300

The 2004 Slyania 300 was the first time drivers raced in the Chase for the Nextel Cup format. Everyone was set by points after rain caused the cars to start by points. Jeff Gordon led them down to the green flag. A rivalry started early. Greg Biffle got in the back of Robby Gordon sending Gordon spinning. Later in the race Robby Gordon spun Biffle collecting chase contenders Tony Stewart and Jeremy Mayfield. Gordon was pennilized 2 laps for aggressive driving. Kurt Busch won the race and a few weeks later, won the championship.

Past winners

Year	Date	Driver	Car Make	Winner's Prize (USD)	Distance (laps)	Average Speed (mph)
CMT 300
1997	September 14	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	$188,625	300	100.364
Farm Aid on CMT 300
1998	August 30	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	$205,400	300	112.078
Dura Lube/Kmart 300
1999	September 19	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	$157,625	300	100.673
Dura Lube 300 sponsored by Kmart 300
2000	September 17	Jeff Burton	Ford	$195,800	300	102.003
New Hampshire 300
2001	November 23	Robby Gordon	Chevrolet	$203,924	300	103.594
2002	September 15	Ryan Newman	Ford	$202,550	207	105.081
Sylvania 300
2003	September 14	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	$200,225	300	106.58
2004	September 19	Kurt Busch	Ford	$237,225	300	109.753
2005	September 18	Ryan Newman	Dodge	$248,866	300	95.891
2006	September 17	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	$266,461	300	102.195
2007	September 16	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	$259,175	300	110.475
2008	September 14	Greg Biffle	Ford	$238,675	300	105.468
2009	September 20	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	$232,750	300	100.753

• 2001: Race postponed from September to November due to 9/11.
• 2002: Race shortened to 207 laps due to rain.

Manufacturer wins