Dearborn, Mich. — The last time the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visited New Hampshire Motor Speedway, The Biff started a historic streak.

He won.

And then he won again the next week at Dover to become the first driver ever to win the first two races of the Chase.

As it turned out, those two victories lifted Greg Biffle from ninth to third in the standings, and he would eventually improve to second, before finishing third for the year.

So, with New Hampshire being the very first race of the Chase, do you possibly think that a number of drivers are goin’ to be doin’ some experimentin’ this week that may—or may not—pay off in September?

Right now, of the 12 Chase spots, three are held by Ford drivers, but plenty can happen between now and Richmond. There are very few givens anymore, but Ol’ Steady Matty Kenseth makin’ the Chase has been one of them. Every year there’s been a Chase, Ol’ Steady Matty has made it. This is Carl Edwards’ fifth full season in the Cup series, and he’s never finished lower than 12th. The Biff finished second in ’05 and just missed in ’06 and ’07 before finishin’ third last year.

Ford—and especially Roush Fenway Racing—has fared well at New Hampshire during the years. In fact, the last time that a NASCAR driver led each and every lap of a Cup race was when Jeff Burton led from green flag to checkered flag—and all of the laps in-between—en route to his victory there in the No. 99 in 2000.

Jack Roush has seven career wins at New Hampshire, more than any other owner, and with the addition of Fenway, now those races take on a “home track” element.

And you know how well Jack Roush races on his home track.

Let’s just hope this time fuel is not an issue.

New Hampshire is flat track, and by “flat track,” the Sparkster means flat track.

New Hampshire is flatter than the Sparkster’s ability to carry a tune. No, really, the Sparkster couldn’t carry a tune even if someone put handles on it. No, really, when the Sparkster is singin’, the top request is, “Can you sing, ‘Over There’?” as in, no, really can you sing over there?

At least most people say, “Please,” when makin’ that request.

Everybody talked about Phoenix bein’ flat; well, the banking in the corners at Phoenix is about 11 degrees. At New Hampshire, the variable is two and seven.

That’s about as flat as a track can get, unless…

AN EVEN FLATTER TRACK
…the racin’ is drag racin’.

The NHRA series continues this weekend in Norwalk, Ohio. It’s the midway point until the NHRA reached its Countdown, and, right now, Ashley Force Hood, is in second place. And, very notably, she leads her very notable father, John, is victories this year, 1 to 0, but still trails the 14-time Funny Car champion by 124 in career victories.

Tim Wilkerson, in his first year drivin’ a Mustang Funny Car, is in fifth place; Bob Tasca III is seventh; and, John, the Force, is eighth. Surprisingly, right now, Mike Neff and Robert Hight are 11th and 12th, respectively, and on the outside lookin’ in.

But, that’s right now.

Hight is the Funny Car version of Matt Kenseth: Steady and successful. Hight is in his fifth full year in the series, and in the previous four he has always finished in the top five in the standings—including runner-up showings in 2006 and ’07.

He’ll be there. All he needs are to not change a thing, and get a couple of wins and a bunch of round wins.

And a nickname. He needs a nickname.

While wonderin; when Ford’s NASCAR teams will start runnin’ like they did back in the old days, like, February, the Sparkster went through this week’s mailbag.

Hey, Sparky:

I have been a fan of Ford Racing for a long, long time. And, while I have cheered for drivers like David Pearson and Bill Elliott and Mark Martin, I am really a big fan of those guys who build those engines that help those drivers go so fast, like Holman Moody and Robert Yates and now his son, Doug Yates. I hear that Ford has a new NASCAR engine, and I was wondering when is it going to make its debut?

Franklin
New Hampshire

Well, Franklin, the Sparkster is hearin’ that Ford Racing’s new engine, the FR9, may seen the track soon. The development of the FR9 has been movin’ along quite nicely, and the engine has performed really well in testin’. The FR9, which is a collaboration between Ford Motor Company and Roush Yates Engines has logged many, many miles—thousands, in fact—on the dyno, and has spent some time on the test track. It is the first clean-sheet racing engine ever produced by Ford, meanin’ everything was produced from scratch, without havin’ to build off something that already existed. And, you know that anything that was developed by Dave Simon and Doug Yates is goin’ to be more than ready for the track. And that’s one thing that they were talkin’ about: The engine will not be put on the track until it is absolutely 100-percent ready to compete, and that should be by the end of the summer.