2026 Dollar Tree 301 (New Hampshire) Race Recap

By Adam Carabine

The Penske resurgence continued at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this past weekend, as Ryan Blaney returned to Victory Lane for the third time this season.  What started as a wet-weather race ended up drying up and showcasing a fairly entertaining short track show.

Let’s have a look at how it all shook down!

Pre-Race:  Carson Hocevar spun on the warm-up laps, and then the rain picked up a bit more.  Cars were brought down pit road and covered for a bit while they dried some standing water on the track.

Lap 1:  Tyler Reddick qualified on the pole, with Josh Berry beside him.  Before the first lap was through, Reddick spun on his own and brought out the caution.  He didn’t hit anything, but it stopped up Denny Hamlin as well and they lost a ton of track position early.

Lap 7:  Back to green, this time with William Byron the leader.

Lap 12:  John Hunter Nemechek spins on his own, but manages to keep it straight and it stays green. 

Lap 26:  Shane Van Gisbergen passes Byron for the lead, he looks strong on these wet weather tires. 

Lap 38:  There’s some smoke coming out of Ross Chastain’s car – he’s trying to nurse it another couple of laps for the competition caution that’s coming out at Lap 40.

Lap 40:  The caution is thrown, NASCAR allows everyone to put slicks on their cars as the rain has mostly dried up.  Pit stops are non-competitive, so no one loses any position.  However, Chastain’s car is done for the day here.

Lap 50:  Green flag – SVG and Josh Berry on the front row.  Everyone’s on slick tires.

Lap 52:  CAUTION – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spins and backs it into the wall.

Lap 56:  Green flag – SVG leads William Byron this time.

Lap 57:  Starting from third, Kyle Larson now powers up to the lead – looks like SVG’s car isn’t as strong on the slicks, as he’s falling back quickly.

Lap 58:  SVG back to 6^th already.

Lap 70:  Kyle Larson wins Stage 1.  Followed by 20, 77, 24, 21, 54, 12, 60, 97, 19.

Lap 73:  Messy pit stops for a few drivers.  William Byron takes a wrench with him outside of the box, Christopher Bell nearly drags his tire carrier with him all the way out.  There’s a mixture of strategies with both two and four-tire stops.

Lap 79:  Green flag.  Ryan Preece and Zane Smith stayed out at this caution and are now the leaders.

Lap 84:  CAUTION – Contact between Connor Zilisch and Carson Hocevar.  Hocevar gets the worst of it.  Joey Logano and Austin Dillon are also involved as they try to avoid the wreck ahead of them.

Lap 90:  Back to green.  Preece again with Berry.

Lap 91:  Berry makes quick work of Ryan Preece and takes the lead.

Lap 97:  Ryan Blaney looking strong, he’s making moves and is up to P2 now.

Lap 114:  Reports on some driver radios of some raindrops, but things stay green.

Lap 118:  Berry is still the leader, Blaney is behind him.  Bubba Wallace in P3, about 5 seconds back.

Lap 120:  Pit cycle starts with Chase Elliott heading down pit road.  The window is officially open to make it to the end of this stage on fuel.

Lap 123:  Ryan Preece pits, though he’s on a different strategy than the other leaders.

Lap 130:  Pit stops are continuing, but with new tires not showing a ton of advantage, it’s a slow trickle rather than an onslaught.

Lap 134:  Leaders pit now, Berry beats Blaney to the line and retains the provisional lead.

Lap 149:  New leader, Ryan Blaney as he passes Berry finally.

Lap 185:  Ryan Blaney wins Stage 2.  Followed by 21, 23, 60, 5, 6, 17, 54, 11, 20.

Lap 191:  Slow stop for Ryan Blaney, as the front left wheel isn’t tight and they have to re-jack the car. He loses a lot of spots on pit road.

Lap 194:  Green flag, Bubba Wallace and Josh Berry.  They’re back and forth for a while but Berry eventually takes the lead.

Lap 203:  CAUTION – Hocevar is around on his own.

Lap 209:  Back to green, with Berry and Wallace at the front.

Lap 210:  This time Bubba Wallace has a good restart and retakes the lead.

Lap 222:  Some contact from Josh Berry as he takes over the lead from Bubba Wallace!

Lap 223:  They start trading some blows back and forth, and trading the lead!

Lap 224:  With the two leaders duking it out, Ryan Preece has come up behind them. 

Lap 225:  CAUTION – Riley Herbst with a huge hit after some contact with Michael McDowell.  Then Connor Zilisch, much later, somehow gets into Herbst who is stopped up against the fence.  This ends Herbst and Zilisch’s days.

Lap 232:  Back to green again, Blaney is the leader.

Lap 233:  CAUTION – William Byron loses a wheel!

Lap 238:  Back to green, Ryan Blaney and Chase Briscoe are battling it out for the lead.

Lap 267:  Blaney still leads, Bubba Wallace in 2^nd, about a second back.

Lap 271:  Josh Berry finding some speed, back up to P3 now.

Lap 291:  Blaney is getting caught up in some lapped traffic.  Bubba Wallace and Josh Berry are catching up to him, but is there enough time left?

Lap 301:  Ryan Blaney holds on to win the race! 

This is Ryan Blaney’s 20^th Cup Series win, and his second win at New Hampshire, after winning last year’s race there too.  With one more week left in the Regular Season, there are three drivers now vying for two spots left in The Chase. 

Austin Cindric +44

SVG +29

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Ryan Preece -29

Next weekend is the Regular Season Finale in Daytona!