2023 Crayon 301

2023 Crayon 301

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Race 20 of 36 in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series
Date	July 17, 2023 (2023-07-17)
Location	New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.058 mi (1.703 km)
Distance	301 laps, 318.458 mi (512.603 km)
Average speed	101.572 miles per hour (163.464 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing
Time	30.524
Most laps led
Driver	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	254
Winner
No. 19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network	USA
Announcers	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Radio in the United States
Radio	PRN
Booth Announcers	Doug Rice and Mark Garrow
Turn Announcers	Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4)

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 1.058-mile (1.703 km) 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.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a 1.058-mile (1.703 km) 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 1.6-mile (2.6 km) 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.

• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (i) denotes the driver ineligible for series driver points.

Michael McDowell was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 30.129 seconds and a speed of 126.416 mph (203.447 km/h).^[10]

Christopher Bell scored the pole for the race with a time of 30.524 and a speed of 124.781 mph (200.816 km/h).^[11]

Stage One Laps: 70

Stage Two Laps: 115

Stage Three Laps: 116

• 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: 101.572 miles per hour (163.464 km/h)

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.

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.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Martin Truex Jr. 667 1 2 William Byron 650 (–17) 1 3 Christopher Bell 605 (–62) 2 4 Denny Hamlin 601 (–66) 2 5 Kyle Busch 593 (–74) 1 6 Ross Chastain 589 (–78) 7 Ryan Blaney 581 (–86) 8 Kyle Larson 574 (–93) 9 Kevin Harvick 568 (–99) 10 Joey Logano 563 (–104) 1 11 Brad Keselowski 539 (–128) 1 12 Chris Buescher 528 (–139) 13 Tyler Reddick 516 (–151) 14 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 464 (–203) 2 15 Bubba Wallace 433 (–234) 16 Michael McDowell 432 (–235) Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 756 2 Toyota 689 (–67) 3 Ford 671 (–85) Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings. . – Driver has clinched a position in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.