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New Hampshire notebook: Wreck forces Dillon to backup car

[September 24, 2016] By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Distributed by The Sports Xchange

LOUDON, N.H. -- A wreck in practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was the last thing Austin Dillon needed.

After a 14th-place finish last Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway in the first race of the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Dillon needs a strong run at New Hampshire to escape the bottom four in the standings.

But with the Round of 16 elimination race looming Oct. 1 at Dover, Dillon had his weekend start catastrophically at the Magic Mile, site of Sunday's Bad Boy Off Road 300 (2 p.m. ET on NBCSN).

On his ninth lap in opening practice at NHMS, the driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet posted his fastest lap at 132.813 mph, but that was only 32nd quickest among the 40 drivers. Dillon ran only one more lap before flattening the right side of his Chevy against the outside wall and damaging the car beyond repair.

"I just tried to get some speed in the car, and it didn't work out, truthfully, is what I think happened," Dillon said. "I don't know. The brakes were bothering me a little bit throughout the day, but I think it was just me trying to get some."

Out rolled the backup car, which couldn't be readied before practice ended. Consequently, Dillon was faced with the prospect of qualifying the car -- at a relatively flat speedway where track position is of paramount importance -- with no seat time whatsoever.

Consequently, the hole Dillon dug for himself at Chicagoland suddenly became the Grand Canyon.

The good news for Dillon is that the race for the top 12 in points is extremely tight. Carl Edwards is ninth in the standings, but just five points ahead of Dillon and Kevin Harvick, who are tied for 13th and just one point behind 12th-place Tony Stewart.

With such a tightly bunched field, Dillon can move up with a strong showing at New Hampshire, but he can't afford another glitch in his program.

CAN TEAM PENSKE NASCAR DRIVERS MATCH INDYCAR SUCCESS?

The 2016 season is the 50th for Team Penske, and owner Roger Penske already has had plenty of reason to celebrate.

Last Sunday, Penske drivers finished 1-2-3 in the IndyCar championship final standings, with Simon Pagenaud winning the title and teammates Will Power and Helio Castroneves second and third, respectively.

The icing on Penske's cake would be a second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship, to go with the one Brad Keselowski won in 2012, and driver Joey Logano says there's already significant pressure to deliver a another title to the Captain.

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"They finished 1-2-3, so holy moly," Logano said of his IndyCar counterparts. "I don't know if you want to call it added pressure, but I think there's plenty on us already, and I think we're better under pressure. I like that. Fifty years for Team Penske. For them to do that on the 50th Anniversary is very special and it's really cool to be somewhat a part of that.

"I feel like I'm part of the team -- even the IndyCar team. There are a lot of guys that are cross-pollinated throughout our company. ... It makes the NASCAR guys want to go out here and continue this awesome year that Team Penske has had so far, and Brad and I have a great shot at it.

"What if we finished one-two at Homestead? How cool would that be? We have an amazing opportunity to do that. We've got a long ways to go to get there, but we can do it."

BYRON EXPECTS HEIGHTENED INTENSITY IN TRUCK SERIES CHASE

William Byron's aggressive approach to racing earned the 18-year-old five victories as a rookie and top seeding in the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase.

So why change anything now that the Chase is ready to start? Racing for wins has worked so far, and that's what the driver of the No. 9 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota expects to do in Saturday's Chase opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1 p.m. ET on FS1).

"This is a place I like coming to, and I think it's going to be a solid weekend," Byron said. "Ultimately, you just want to have good, solid fishes this first round, hopefully, but if you can go for a win, definitely go for it.

"We're planning on going for a win and seeing what speed we have in our Liberty University Tundra this weekend."

Even though Byron's on-track approach won't change appreciably, he expects the intensity level of the Chase to increase exponentially.

"Definitely so," Byron said. "I think the competition and intensity is going to ramp up here in the last seven races. We've seen that in the Cup Series, and so now we're going to be able to experience that here in the Truck Series.

"So I'm looking forward to it. I think our team is ready for it. We have the right trucks lined up, and we're going to race tracks that we really enjoy coming to, so I'm looking forward to it."

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