Arena: New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Location: Loudon, NH

Date: September 23, 2012

NASCAR Betting Online: NASCAR betting fans are on the edge of their seats in preparation for the 2012 Chase for the Championship! The Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway will serve as the backdrop for the first round of the ten races that will determine NASCAR's champion for this season.

The 1.05 mile oval at Loudon, NH will host approximately 43 of the top drivers in NASCAR, though only the Top 12 will be competing for the season long championship.

This event debuted as the CMT 300 in 1997. The winner that day was Jeff Gordon, who promptly went on to become the first two-time champions of this event the next year. Since that point, only Ryan Newman has successfully won multiple races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, though Gordon remains the only back-to-back champ.

The man looking to pull that feat off this year is Mark Martin. Martin certainly hopes that a victory would give him a leg up in the Chase for the Championship, though he is one of the handful of drivers currently jockeying for the last few spots in NASCAR's equivalent of the playoffs.

The winner of this event hasn't always been amongst the illustrious drivers on tour. Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, and Kurt Busch are the last six winners of the race at Loudon.

Ironically, in spite of the fact that he has won four straight Sprint Cup Championships, Jimmie Johnson has yet to win a race during the Chase era here. He did capture the checkered flag in 2003, making him one of the eight Chevrolet cars to find Victory Lane in the 13 lifetime races here. No Toyota driver has ever won a Sylvania 300, while Dodge has only one victory to its name, Newman's triumph in 2005.

Save in 2001 when September 11th postponed the race, New Hampshire has always hosted in the middle of September. This will certainly be no exception through 2012, as Sylvania has signed up to sponsor this event as the first race in the Chase for the Championship through that date.

Newman's win in 2005 also marked the only time that the race finished with an average winning speed of less than 100 MPH. The highest speed ever recorded here at Loudon for a race was in 1998 when Gordon completed the race at an average clip of 112.078 MPH.

Expect the Chase for the Championship to get off to a fine start at the Sylvania 300 this September. Keep it tuned to Bookmaker Sportsbook for all of your NASCAR betting needs.

2011 Sylvania 300 Winner

Tony Stewart made a strong statement in his bid for a third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) championship by winning the second race in the 2011 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS). It was the second win for the driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet in six days, coming on the heels of Monday’s rain-delayed win at Chicagoland Speedway.

He becomes only the second driver in the history of the Chase to win the first two races of the 10-race playoff for the title. It is his 41st career victory and his third time in Victory Lane at NHMS.

After qualifying 20th in the 43-car starting field for the Sylvania 300, Stewart worked his way up through the field to run consistently in the top-10. Good pit strategy and a car that continued to improve as the race wound down gave him the opportunity to take the lead and charge to the checkered flag. With the victory, Stewart takes control of the standings by seven points with eight races remaining.

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