The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup starts with the Sylvania 300! Held annually at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire, this region of the U.S. is no stranger to championships, and twelve of NASCAR's best of the best will be trying to get a jump on the rest of the field in this opening showdown of The Chase for the Cup.
Besides being the first race in The Chase, the Sylvania 300 also has the distinction of being the only Sprint Cup restrictor plate race, other than races at Daytona and Talladega, since the adoption of the current 358 cubic inch formula. Following Adam Petty's fatal crash in the Busch Series practice in May, and Kenny Irwin, Jr.'s fatal crash in the Cup Series practice in July, NASCAR made the decision that it would be safer to run restrictor plates at this track. While adding the plates did serve the purpose of slowing the cars down, it also restricted passing so much, that Jeff Burton led all 300 laps. This lack of passing was judged to be so uncompetitive that, for Cup cars only, the restrictor plates were gone for the very next race, the 2001 New England 300.
As mentioned earlier, since 2004, the Sylvania 300 has served as the opening round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, a ten-race "playoff" designed among the top twelve (ten at the time, and until 2007) drivers in the standings of the series, following the Chevy Rock & Roll 400. This was done to incite interest in a NASCAR championship series, while facing the competition from the start of the NFL and NCAA football seasons, the pennant races and playoffs of Major League Baseball, and also the beginning of the NHL and NBA seasons.
