2026 Dollar Tree 301
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 25 of 36 in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | August 23, 2026 | ||
| Location | New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 1.058 miles (1.703 km) | ||
| Distance | 301 laps, 318.458 mi (512.508 km) | ||
| Average speed | 94.133 miles per hour (151.492 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | 23XI Racing | ||
| Time | 29.054 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | |
| Laps | 115 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports | |
| Time | 29.812 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | USA | ||
| Announcers | Leigh Diffey, Jeff Burton, and Steve Letarte | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | PRN | ||
| Booth announcers | Brad Gillie and Nick Yeoman | ||
| Turn announcers | Kyle Rickey (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4) | ||
The 2026 Dollar Tree 301 was a NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on August 23, 2026, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. Contested over 301 laps on the 1.058-mile (1.703 km) oval, it was the 25th race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Ryan Blaney won the race. Bubba Wallace finished 2nd, and Josh Berry finished 3rd. Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson rounded out the top five, and Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Preece, and Noah Gragson rounded out the top ten.
Report
[edit]Background
[edit].jpg)
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.
On May 3, 2026, Dollar Tree was announced as the title sponsor of the race, replacing Mobil 1.[7]
On July 22, it was announced that Cup Series practice will be consolidated into a single 50-minute session starting at New Hampshire.[8]
Entry list
[edit]- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
[edit]Erik Jones was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 29.242 seconds and a speed of 130.251 mph (209.619 km/h).
Practice results
[edit]| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 29.242 | 130.251 |
| 2 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 29.263 | 130.158 |
| 3 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 29.277 | 130.095 |
| Official practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
[edit]Tyler Reddick scored the pole for the race with a time of 29.054 and a speed of 131.094 mph (210.975 km/h).[9]
Qualifying results
[edit]Race
[edit]Race results
[edit]Stage Results
[edit]Stage One Laps: 70
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 4 |
| 8 | 60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 1 |
Stage Two Laps: 115
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 10 |
| 2 | 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 3 |
| 9 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 1 |
Final Stage Results
[edit]Stage Three Laps: 116
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 301 | 70 |
| 2 | 23 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 301 | 43 |
| 3 | 2 | 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 301 | 49 |
| 4 | 6 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 301 | 43 |
| 5 | 9 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 301 | 48 |
| 6 | 7 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 301 | 38 |
| 7 | 4 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 301 | 32 |
| 8 | 1 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 301 | 29 |
| 9 | 18 | 60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing | Ford | 301 | 38 |
| 10 | 19 | 4 | Noah Gragson | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 301 | 27 |
| 11 | 25 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 301 | 31 |
| 12 | 26 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford | 301 | 25 |
| 13 | 14 | 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 301 | 24 |
| 14 | 21 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 301 | 23 |
| 15 | 10 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 301 | 22 |
| 16 | 15 | 71 | Michael McDowell | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 301 | 21 |
| 17 | 35 | 7 | Daniel Suárez | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 301 | 20 |
| 18 | 16 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 301 | 23 |
| 19 | 22 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 300 | 27 |
| 20 | 5 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 19 |
| 21 | 13 | 34 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 300 | 16 |
| 22 | 32 | 41 | Cole Custer | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 300 | 15 |
| 23 | 24 | 16 | A. J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 14 |
| 24 | 28 | 33 | Austin Hill (i) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 0 |
| 25 | 29 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 300 | 12 |
| 26 | 17 | 19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 300 | 12 |
| 27 | 33 | 10 | Ty Dillon | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 10 |
| 28 | 30 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Hyak Motorsports | Chevrolet | 300 | 9 |
| 29 | 36 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 8 |
| 30 | 3 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 296 | 14 |
| 31 | 31 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 296 | 6 |
| 32 | 34 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 282 | 5 |
| 33 | 11 | 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 251 | 4 |
| 34 | 27 | 35 | Riley Herbst | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 222 | 3 |
| 35 | 20 | 88 | Connor Zilisch (R) | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 222 | 2 |
| 36 | 12 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 41 | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||
Race statistics
[edit]- Lead changes: 15 among 7 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 9 for 51
- Red flags: 0
- Time of race: 3 hours, 22 minutes and 59 seconds
- Average speed: 94.133 miles per hour (151.492 km/h)
Media
[edit]Television
[edit]USA covered the race on the television side. Leigh Diffey, four-time and all-time Loudon winner Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte called the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns, Kim Coon, and Marty Snider handled pit road, while Trevor Bayne provided analysis from the pace car for the television side.
| USA | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters | Pace car |
| Lap-by-lap: Leigh Diffey Color-commentator: Jeff Burton Color-commentator: Steve Letarte | Dave Burns Kim Coon Marty Snider | Trevor Bayne |
Radio
[edit]The race was broadcast on radio by the Performance Racing Network and simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Brad Gillie and Nick Yeoman called the race from the booth when the field races down the front stretch. MRN's Kyle Rickey called the race from atop a billboard outside of turn 2 when the field races through turns 1 and 2, and Pat Patterson called the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field races through turns 3 and 4. On pit road, PRN was manned by Brett McMillan, Andrew Kurland and Heather DeBeaux.
| PRN | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Brad Gillie Announcer: Nick Yeoman | Turns 1 & 2: Kyle Rickey Turns 3 & 4: Pat Patterson | Brett McMillan Andrew Kurland Heather DeBeaux |
Standings after the race
[edit]
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
[edit]- ↑ "2026 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved October 25, 2025.
- ↑ "New Hampshire Motor Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. Archived from the original on July 4, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
- ↑ "NASCAR releases 2026 schedule, adding Chicagoland and shifting All-Star to Dover". NASCAR. August 20, 2025. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
- ↑ "Entry List" (PDF). Jayski's Silly Season Site. August 17, 2025. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
- ↑ "Dollar Tree 301 Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. August 23, 2026. Retrieved August 23, 2026.
- ↑ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. August 23, 2026. Retrieved August 23, 2026.
- ↑ "Dollar Tree Named Entitlement Sponsor for New England's Only NASCAR Cup Series Race". New Hampshire Motor Speedway. May 3, 2026. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- ↑ "NASCAR to implement 50-minute Cup practices beginning at New Hampshire". NASCAR. July 22, 2026. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
- ↑ DeGroot, Nick (August 22, 2026). "NASCAR Cup New Hampshire starting lineup: Tyler Reddick on pole after 'unhappy' practice". Motorsport.com. Loudon, New Hampshire: Motorsport Network. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
