Slip Sliding Away: Weather Makes For Disastrous Start Of Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 At NHMS

LOUDON, N.H. – Ever wonder how well Goodyear slick racing tires work on a wet oval track at speed? 

Martin Truex Jr. summed up the answer to that question succinctly Sunday after lap six of the NASCAR Cup Series Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. 

“Slicks don’t stick to water,” Truex said.

Truex was one of three Joe Gibbs Racing cars that were involved in the lap six incident that occurred with cars racing under green at speed with rain falling on the 1.058-mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway oval. 

Race leader Kyle Busch went into turn one at speed and his car went out from under him and slid up into the turn one wall. Truex, running second behind him, carbon copied Busch’s crash. Just behind them Just behind them Denny Hamlin also slid into the wall. 

Weather concerns were a focus before the event, but forecasts and radar seemed to show a clear ride for the afternoon after the start of the event. But just before the green flag a pop storm began dropping precipitation. 

“We started the race under a mist,” Busch said. “It never should have gone green to begin with, but then it kept getting worse and worse lap over lap. The lap before I went into [turn] one and it shoved the nose really bad and I was able to keep it under control. It wasn’t bad enough. The next time I went down there, hell, I lifted at the flag stand – maybe a little past the flag stand, don’t get too dramatic – and just backed it in. We’ve been talking about it for two laps that it was raining. There’s no sense in saying what I want to say, it doesn’t do you any good.”

Truex said he told his team on the previous lap that the track was wet in turn one. 

“I think the [Busch] and I had it the worst because we were out front,” Truex said. “We’re a half-a-lap ahead of the back of the field so it’s the wettest when we get there. 

The lap before I went into [turn] one and about did the same thing and I hollered on the radio that the track is wet. Like wet, wet. I tried to back it down and I got in there and it just kept going. I couldn’t even slow it down. At some point you have to turn the wheel and that’s when it spins out.”

Said Hamlin: “We were fortunate. I think we were just far enough up the field to be in the wreck, but far enough back to where I saw the leaders wrecking and were able to check up and brake 100 feet which kept us out of the wall. It was fortunate and unfortunate, but we’re going to be fine.”

 “… We run slick tires and these cars don’t have any grip on slick tires and wet asphalt. To me, that’s the job of the corner spotter has in NASCAR. They’re sitting over there, they can feel when it’s raining and see when it’s raining. That’s their job to tell NASCAR that it’s raining and we have to stop so we don’t have that situation. You always in these situations , you want them to err on the side of not looking bad and this is just a bad look.”

Busch’s day was ended because of the crash. Truex went on to finish 12th and Hamlin was 10th.