LOUDON, N.H. – How each NASCAR Winston Cup driver responds to the recent re-paving of the troublesome turns at New Hampshire International Speedway largely depends upon how much success he experienced in the hodgepodge of track conditions in the past.

Tony Stewart, a former winner of the New England 300, not only expects to enjoy any subtle changes but stopped short of saying NHIS needed a facelift in the first place.

“I didn’t think they ever had a bad race track, but I applaud them for trying to make it better,” said Stewart. “(Bob and Gary Bahre) aren’t passive people. They won’t just let things be the way they are. They had a nice race track to begin with, and they’ve tried to make it even nicer.”

On the flip side, Johnny Benson has struggled at the Magic Mile throughout his career and is skeptical about what he will find when practice and qualifying unfold Friday.

“It will be interesting to see what the changes are,” Benson said. “They have made a lot of changes up there in the past, and it always seems to end up being the same way each year. I think they are searching, just trying something different to see if they can make it better than what it is.”

Since the first Winston Cup race in 1993, the NHIS surface has taken a beating from the 3,400-pound cars and many of the men who drive them.

Drivers have complained that the asphalt surface tends to break up under the pressure of a full weekend of racing activity, resulting in a slippery track and severe tire wear.

Previous attempts to patch up the surface may have been made too close to the first scheduled race date each year. This time, the paving project was completed in mid-spring.

In addition to smoothing out the turns, asphalt was added to the inside portion of the 1.058-oval, known in racing parlance as the “apron.”

Stewart and other leading drivers already used that area, anyway, in an effort to pass on a track configuration that is narrower than many and is banked only 9 degrees in the corners.

“They paved the apron and made the apron part of the race track,” said Stewart. “It’s hard to run on the flat down there, so you have to run where the banking is, which is up in the corner. Instead of staying low through the whole corner, you kind of take a diamond approach where you drive in low, hit the banking in the middle of the corner, then drive low off onto the straightaway.”

Ricky Craven, who has only two top-10 finishes in 13 career Winston Cup starts at the layout he considers his home track, doesn’t expect the additional pavement to create abundant side-by-side racing.

“It’s the same challenging race track it’s always been,” said Craven. “Having said that, I think it’s a track that makes for some really exciting racing. You’re never going to see someone get a half-lap lead like you do at some places.”

Craven defended the Bahres, who absorbed the brunt of some punchy comments about the NHIS track surface following the race last July.

“Bob Bahre has done a tremendous job of listening to everyone’s input and feedback and has spent a lot of money to make his track as racer-friendly as possible,” Craven said. “Bob is so good for this sport. He loves racing, and his dedication to racing is unquestioned.”

Benson logged his lone Winston Cup victory at Rockingham, N.C., conquering a track that is a similar length to NHIS but with higher banking.

“They keep going through all this work making track changes, and none of it has made much of a difference. I guess changing the banking would be my next idea. I think a couple of degrees, maybe five or six degrees would make a difference.”

Despite the difficulties in passing, Stewart agrees with Craven that 100,000 spectators have witnessed competitive races in almost every previous engagement at NHIS.

While he sympathizes with drivers such as Benson, Stewart won’t be surprised if he has an advantage over them when the green flag is unfurled.

“It certainly doesn’t help if someone has a bad attitude going in there,” said Stewart. “I’m not going to say you’re already beat, (but) it kind of puts a strike against you.”

NHIS Notes: Martin Truex Jr. of Mayetta, N.J., won the pole for Saturday’s New England 125 NASCAR Busch North Series event. His speed of 125.537 edged Scarborough rookie Ryan Moore. Brad Leighton and Andy Santerre will comprise the second row. Tracy Gordon of Strong starts 20th.

Qualifying for Saturday’s marquee event, the New England 200 for the NASCAR Busch Series, is this afternoon. Bobby Hamilton Jr. is the defending champion and also was the winner of last week’s Busch race at Chicagoland Speedway.

koakes@sunjournal.com

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