# 2017 ISM Connect 300

The 2017 ISM Connect 300 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 24, 2017, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. Contested over 300 laps on the 1.058-mile (1.703 km) speedway, it was the 28th race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, second race of the Playoffs and second race of the Round of 16.
On March 8, 2017 it was announced that the fall NHMS date would move to Las Vegas Motor Speedway starting in 2018 with NHMS now having one Cup Series race per season instead of two.

## Report
### Background

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 an IndyCar weekend and the oldest 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.

#### Entry list

| No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer |
| 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford |
| 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 5 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 6 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
| 10 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 13 | Ty Dillon (R) | Germain Racing | Chevrolet |
| 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 15 | Reed Sorenson | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
| 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 19 | Daniel Suárez (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 20 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 21 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford |
| 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford |
| 23 | Corey LaJoie (R) | BK Racing | Toyota |
| 24 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 27 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go Fas Racing | Ford |
| 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group | Chevrolet |
| 34 | Landon Cassill | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet |
| 38 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet |
| 43 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford |
| 47 | A. J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet |
| 55 | Gray Gaulding (R) | Premium Motorsports | Toyota |
| 72 | Cole Whitt | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 77 | Erik Jones (R) | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota |
| 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota |
| 83 | Brett Moffitt (i) | BK Racing | Toyota |
| 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 95 | Michael McDowell | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet |
| Official entry list ||||

## First practice

Kyle Larson was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.065 seconds and a speed of 135.714 mph (218.411 km/h).
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 28.065 | 135.714 |
| 2 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.142 | 135.342 |
| 3 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.172 | 135.198 |
| Official first practice results |||||||

## Qualifying

Kyle Busch scored the pole for the race with a time of 28.203 and a speed of 135.049 mph (217.340 km/h).

### Qualifying results

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | R1 | R2 | R3 |
| 1 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.309 | 28.395 | 28.203 |
| 2 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 28.524 | 28.287 | 28.232 |
| 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.558 | 28.276 | 28.263 |
| 4 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 28.592 | 28.265 | 28.272 |
| 5 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 28.605 | 28.383 | 28.384 |
| 6 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 28.552 | 28.423 | 28.401 |
| 7 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 28.622 | 28.420 | 28.427 |
| 8 | 77 | Erik Jones (R) | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 28.555 | 28.467 | 28.430 |
| 9 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.581 | 28.324 | 28.431 |
| 10 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.653 | 28.408 | 28.490 |
| 11 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 28.502 | 28.416 | 28.492 |
| 12 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.502 | 28.496 | 28.857 |
| 13 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 28.723 | 28.547 | — |
| 14 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.710 | 28.561 | — |
| 15 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28.549 | 28.566 | — |
| 16 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 28.588 | 28.590 | — |
| 17 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 28.729 | 28.609 | — |
| 18 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 28.628 | 28.636 | — |
| 19 | 27 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 28.629 | 28.675 | — |
| 20 | 47 | A. J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 28.747 | 28.687 | — |
| 21 | 38 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 28.701 | 28.687 | — |
| 22 | 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 28.747 | 28.747 | — |
| 23 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 28.740 | 28.794 | — |
| 24 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 28.753 | 28.936 | — |
| 25 | 19 | Daniel Suárez (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.753 | — | — |
| 26 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 28.766 | — | — |
| 27 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 28.771 | — | — |
| 28 | 34 | Landon Cassill | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 28.840 | — | — |
| 29 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 28.894 | — | — |
| 30 | 13 | Ty Dillon (R) | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 28.920 | — | — |
| 31 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 28.924 | — | — |
| 32 | 72 | Cole Whitt | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet | 29.092 | — | — |
| 33 | 23 | Corey LaJoie (R) | BK Racing | Toyota | 29.107 | — | — |
| 34 | 55 | Gray Gaulding (R) | Premium Motorsports | Toyota | 29.257 | — | — |
| 35 | 15 | Reed Sorenson | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 29.317 | — | — |
| 36 | 83 | Brett Moffitt (i) | BK Racing | Toyota | 29.364 | — | — |
| 37 | 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group | Chevrolet | 29.886 | — | — |
| 38 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 30.560 | — | — |
| 39 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 0.000 | — | — |
| Official qualifying results ||||||||

## Practice (post-qualifying)
### Second practice

Kyle Larson was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 28.727 and a speed of 132.586 mph (213.376 km/h).
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 28.727 | 132.586 |
| 2 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 28.742 | 132.517 |
| 3 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 28.745 | 132.503 |
| Official second practice results |||||||

### Final practice

Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.932 and a speed of 131.647 mph (211.865 km/h).
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 28.932 | 131.647 |
| 2 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 28.935 | 131.633 |
| 3 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 28.961 | 131.515 |
| Official final practice results |||||||

## Race
### Race results
#### Stage results

Stage 1 Laps: 75
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 77 | Erik Jones (R) | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 7 |
| 5 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 1 |
| Official stage one results ||||||
Stage 2 Laps: 75
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 8 |
| 4 | 77 | Erik Jones (R) | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 7 |
| 5 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 3 |
| 9 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 2 |
| 10 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 1 |
| Official stage two results ||||||

### Final stage results

Stage 3 Laps: 150
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
| 1 | 1 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 300 | 58 |
| 2 | 2 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 50 |
| 3 | 10 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 300 | 48 |
| 4 | 13 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 300 | 45 |
| 5 | 5 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 300 | 47 |
| 6 | 8 | 77 | Erik Jones (R) | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 300 | 45 |
| 7 | 16 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 300 | 30 |
| 8 | 25 | 19 | Daniel Suárez (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 300 | 29 |
| 9 | 4 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 300 | 36 |
| 10 | 39 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 300 | 27 |
| 11 | 14 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 300 | 26 |
| 12 | 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 300 | 30 |
| 13 | 18 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 24 |
| 14 | 12 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 300 | 30 |
| 15 | 24 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 300 | 22 |
| 16 | 11 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 22 |
| 17 | 20 | 47 | A. J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 20 |
| 18 | 27 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 300 | 19 |
| 19 | 17 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 18 |
| 20 | 19 | 27 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 17 |
| 21 | 22 | 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 299 | 16 |
| 22 | 30 | 13 | Ty Dillon (R) | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 298 | 15 |
| 23 | 31 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 298 | 14 |
| 24 | 23 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 298 | 13 |
| 25 | 28 | 34 | Landon Cassill | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 298 | 12 |
| 26 | 29 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 297 | 11 |
| 27 | 33 | 23 | Corey LaJoie (R) | BK Racing | Toyota | 297 | 10 |
| 28 | 35 | 15 | Reed Sorenson | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 297 | 9 |
| 29 | 21 | 38 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 296 | 8 |
| 30 | 32 | 72 | Cole Whitt | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet | 296 | 7 |
| 31 | 26 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 295 | 6 |
| 32 | 36 | 83 | Brett Moffitt (i) | BK Racing | Toyota | 294 | 0 |
| 33 | 34 | 55 | Gray Gaulding (R) | Premium Motorsports | Toyota | 293 | 4 |
| 34 | 15 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 289 | 3 |
| 35 | 9 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 289 | 2 |
| 36 | 6 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 148 | 2 |
| 37 | 7 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 148 | 1 |
| 38 | 37 | 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group | Chevrolet | 143 | 1 |
| 39 | 38 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 74 | 1 |
| Official race results ||||||||

### Race statistics

* Lead changes: 3 among different drivers
* Cautions/Laps: 6 for 32
* Red flags: 1 for 13 minutes and 1 second
* Time of race: 2 hours, 54 minutes and 47 seconds
* Average speed: 108.958 miles per hour (175.351 km/h)

## Media
### Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton – the all-time wins leader at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with four wins – and Steve Letarte had the call in the booth for the race. Parker Kligerman, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race.
NBCSN :
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lap-by-lap: Rick Allen Color-commentator: Jeff Burton Color-commentator: Steve Letarte | Parker Kligerman Marty Snider Kelli Stavast |

### Radio

The Performance Racing Network had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
PRN :
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Mark Garrow Announcer: Jim Noble Announcer: Jeff Hammond | Turns 1 & 2: Rob Albright Turns 3 & 4: Pat Patterson | Brad Gillie Brett McMillan Wendy Venturini |

## Standings after the race

| | Pos | Driver | Points |
| | 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | 2,149 |
| | 2 | Kyle Larson | 2,125 (–24) |
| 2 | 3 | Kyle Busch | 2,119 (–30) |
| | 4 | Brad Keselowski | 2,106 (–43) |
| 2 | 5 | Denny Hamlin | 2,088 (–61) |
| 3 | 6 | Matt Kenseth | 2,087 (–62) |
| 1 | 7 | Jimmie Johnson | 2,076 (–73) |
| 2 | 8 | Ryan Blaney | 2,070 (–79) |
| 3 | 9 | Chase Elliott | 2,070 (–79) |
| 7 | 10 | Kevin Harvick | 2,069 (–80) |
| | 11 | Jamie McMurray | 2,053 (–96) |
| 2 | 12 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 2,044 (–105) |
| 1 | 13 | Austin Dillon | 2,044 (–105) |
| 2 | 14 | Ryan Newman | 2,043 (–106) |
| 2 | 15 | Kurt Busch | 2,027 (–122) |
| 1 | 16 | Kasey Kahne | 2,023 (–126) |
| Official driver's standings ||||
| | Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Toyota | 986 |
| 1 | 2 | Chevrolet | 985 (–1) |
| | 3 | Ford | 976 (–10) |
| Official manufacturers' standings ||||