The Monday race at New Hampshire Speedway witnessed a thrilling victory for Martin Truex Jr, while most drivers grappled with the challenges of maintaining grip on the track. The race was marred by chaos as several drivers, including Kyle Busch and Aric Almirola, fell victim to brake failures and wrecks. Despite these difficulties, Truex Jr. seemed to have a firm handle on his car, showcasing excellent grip throughout the event.

Surprisingly, the New Hampshire track boasts a relatively new asphalt surface on half the track, as revealed by insights shared by Dale Earnhardt Jr. This new asphalt should have contributed to the intense racing action during the event, but as per Dale Jr, the actual scenario was a lot different.

Dale Earnhardt Jr unveils secrets about New Hampshire track

During a recent episode of his podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr, talking to co-host Mike Davis, shared intriguing revelations about the New Hampshire Speedway’s unique track layout, featuring five distinct racing lanes. The inner lanes were resurfaced a few years ago, while the outer lanes remained unchanged, with only a sealer applied. The outer lanes are usually not preferred by the drivers, because it means the drivers would have a longer lap, if they run on them. But this was not the case in New Hampshire.

Earnhardt Jr discussed how drivers, one by one, utilized the outside lanes. As per him, the lanes were “Sticky” and provide the drivers with the right grip.

Dale said, “And I was watching that. We started talking about on air, that man there are some guys running way up the race track. No one up front is doing it yet. But apparently, they find some speed there because they keep doing it.”

“And then 20th to 25th started doing it. And then 15th to 20th started doing it.”

“And this was like happening every 30 laps or so and finally fifth place does it and he runs down fourth, and fourth sees it and fourth starts doing it and he runs down third place, third starts doing it he runs down second place, second place starts doing it and he runs down the leader and them Truex now doing it.”

“It was such a fun thing to watch,” Dale Jr expressed his excitement.

The revelation also included the strategy employed by drivers at the back of the grid, as they sought better pace and grip on the older lanes compared to the ones with the newer asphalt. Surprisingly, even the race leader, Martin Truex Jr., adopted this approach.

“So really, there were five lanes of asphalt getting used to this race track and I never, I would have lost the bet If we had to make a guess on how many grooves or lanes of asphalt they gonna be using in the corners,” concluded Earnhardt Jr.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr acknowledges Chase Elliott’s playoff potential but expresses concerns

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Dale Earnhardt Jr, on his podcast, expressed his belief in Chase Elliott’s potential to secure a spot in the playoffs. After the Atlanta race, Earnhardt discussed how Elliott needed to accumulate at least nine points in each race to secure his playoff position, even without winning any races.

However, Earnhardt’s hopes were dampened by Elliott’s disappointing performance at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. During a recent podcast episode, Earnhardt shared his disappointment, saying, “So Chase Elliott, I was a firm believer that he can point his way in but this past weekend he didn’t do anything to help himself gain on, he actually gained nothing, he was even, he left the race, came in -60, he left -60 and dude its now, he now needs just, more than just over 10 points a race, tall order.”

“So to consistently gain that average in 6 races, he’s, I just don’t see the performance, I know that they can, I know they are good, he’s a champion but I think even he has to feel like its win or its all or nothing, right?”

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Only time will reveal how Chase Elliott will navigate the remaining races and whether he can make a strong push for a playoff spot.