NASCAR New Hampshire takeaways: Team Penske wins again, race for final Chase spot still open

LOUDON, N.H. — Team Penske has turned the race to the Chase into its personal playground.

Ryan Blaney picked up another victory for the Penske drivers Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, as the Ford team has capitalized on its strong short-track program to win for the fourth time in the last six races.

After just one victory by a Ford car for the entire season through early July, Blaney broke through with a win at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Then the floodgates seemed to open, with two victories by Joey Logano (North Wilkesboro Speedway and last week at Richmond Raceway) and now another by Blaney.

Ryan Blaney’s third win of the season comes at New Hampshire! pic.twitter.com/mzSCiSuZa6

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 23, 2026

“You always want to continue momentum, and Team Penske has been on a heck of a run the last couple of months,” Blaney said after his 20th career Cup Series win.

The power push has suddenly left both of Penske’s lead drivers thinking they could be real championship threats heading into the 10-race Chase, which begins after one more regular-season event (Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway).

Despite Blaney’s great day, it wasn’t enough to stay within range of points leader Denny Hamlin heading into the regular-season finale. Hamlin’s 77-point lead after New Hampshire, thanks to a seventh-place finish, means he has clinched the No. 1 seed for the Chase and will start with a 25-point lead over second place (likely Blaney).

Meanwhile, the battle for the final Chase position is very much on. Ryan Preece finished ninth, and Shane van Gisbergen, trying to hang on for the final spot, left with a 20th-place result.

That means Preece is 31 points behind van Gisbergen and 44 points behind Penske’s Austin Cindric. Two of those drivers will be in the Chase, and one will miss it, barring a miracle run from Brad Keselowski (an almost-insurmountable 66 points back).

— Jeff Gluck

Preece’s good day

Preece was emphatic Saturday about his plan coming into a track where he has had a lot of success in other series, saying he had to hit a “home run” if he was to make up a big chunk of the points deficit between himself and the last transfer spot into the Chase. For Preece, a “home run” meant qualifying well, earning a good amount of stage points and contending for the win.

On Sunday, Preece accomplished what he set out to do and shaved 19 points off van Gisbergen’s advantage.

At least there’s now a chance heading into Daytona, though van Gisbergen would likely have to be involved in a crash to miss the Chase.

“That was fun to be a part of that race,” Preece said. “So for me, I wish that last run would have went better for us.

“We have a chance, a Hail Mary chance.”

— Jordan Bianchi

Chastain’s Chase hopes go kaput

Ross Chastain knew he needed a lot to go right if he was to complete a last-ditch attempt to make the Chase field. He was also going to need luck to fall his way. Neither occurred Sunday.

Debris lodged itself in the grille of Chastain’s car early in the race, causing an engine failure. He finished last (36th). And with it, any hope the Trackhouse Racing driver had of qualifying for the Chase is gone.

This ends what had been a nice rally by Chastain over the summer to put himself in Chase contention. After a mostly subpar season, Trackhouse has found speed in recent weeks, an uptick that allowed Chastain to jump up the standings, from a season low of 26th in early June to 18th entering New Hampshire. Even then, his odds of making the Chase were remote — but he had a shot.

Until Sunday.

“It’s just an unfortunate end to our run towards the Chase,” Chastain said. “The speed has gotten better, so we’ll hopefully keep moving forward on that. That’s the important part. With the things in our control, we were able to make them better through the summer. I’ve learned that’s really tough to do in the NASCAR Cup Series. We did get better, but we’ve got a ways to go.”

— Jordan Bianchi

Berry stays hot

Wood Brothers Racing driver Josh Berry had yet another strong run after finding out he will be losing his job, finishing third to secure his fourth straight top-10 finish.

“That was everything I had, and that was everything I could do today,” Berry said.

Berry has moved up from 33rd in points to 29th in the past few weeks, but it’s too late. He has already found out he will be replaced by incoming rookie Jesse Love and currently has no job for next season.

That said, he’s been running like a driver who deserves a spot in the Cup Series.

“Everybody knows the situation I’m in right now,” Berry said.

— Jeff Gluck