2023 Crayon 301


The 2023 Crayon 301 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on July 17, 2023, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. Contested over 301 laps on the speedway, it was the 20th race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. The race was postponed from Sunday, July 16 to Monday, July 17, due to rain. Martin Truex Jr. won the race, scoring his 34th and final Cup Series victory as a full time Cup Series driver.

Report

Background

New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since the early 1990s, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mile", the speedway is often converted into a road course, which includes much of the oval.
The track was originally the site of Bryar Motorsports Park before being purchased and redeveloped by Bob Bahre. The track is currently one of eight major NASCAR tracks owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports.

Entry list

' denotes rookie driver.
  • ' denotes the driver ineligible for series driver points.

Practice

Michael McDowell was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 30.129 seconds and a speed of.

Qualifying

Christopher Bell scored the pole for the race with a time of 30.524 and a speed of.

Race

Race results

Stage results

Stage One
Laps: 70
Stage Two
Laps: 115

Final Stage results

Stage Three
Laps: 116

Race statistics

  • Lead changes: 13 among 9 different drivers
  • Cautions/Laps: 8 for 41 laps
  • Red flags: 0
  • Time of race: 3 hours, 8 minutes, and 7 seconds
  • Average speed:

Media

Television

USA covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, four-time and all-time Loudon winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns, Kim Coon and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane.

Radio

PRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race from the booth when the field races down the frontstretch. Rob Albright called the race from turns 1 & 2 and Pat Patterson called the race from turns 3 & 4. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan and Wendy Venturini handled the duties on pit lane.

Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings
;Manufacturers' Championship standings
PosManufacturerPoints
1Chevrolet756
2Toyota689
3Ford671

  • Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
  • . – Driver has clinched a position in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.