The Sprint Cup Series paid a visit to New Hampshire Motor Speedway over the weekend, and no shortage of drama unfolded.
Unlike Chicagoland there were no weather problems over the NASCAR weekend in Loudon. Carl Edwards kicked the weekend off with his 6th pole of the season, and led the field to the green on Sunday. Joe Gibbs Toyotas would spend most of the day dominating the field, but would ultimately come up short on the final restart.
Carl Edwards led the first 30 laps after starting from the pole, but outside pole setter and Chicagoland victor Martin Truex Jr. took over the lead on lap 31. He would hold that lead for a race-high 141 laps, only giving up his perch during green flag pitstops until lap 178.
The first half of the race was extremely calm, with the first 125 laps consisting of one of the longer green flag runs of recent memory. This proved trouble for several of the Chase for the Sprint Cup drivers, most notably Joey Lagano. Lagano fought an ill-handling race car for much of the day, and went a lap down early in the race. He fought to get back on the lead lap, but ill-timed cautions kept him from being the beneficiary of the “lucky dog” pass until lap 265 with only 35 laps to go in the event. He would persevere and manage an impressive 11th place finish, keeping him safely inside the bubble for advancing to the next round of the Chase.
After a debris caution on lap 167 Truex would lose the lead only a handful of laps past the restart as Matt Kenseth, the winner of the last two NHMS races, surged to the front. Kenseth would keep the lead until lap 294, only giving it up briefly during green flag stops and a caution period in which Danica Patrick was leader on strategy.
Things remained fairly calm until the last 60 laps, when 4 cautions fell (compared to 2 in the first 240 laps). This would shake up the field several times, with various strategies played out on pit road.
It all came down to the last restart, however, when Kevin Harvick would restart beside Matt Kenseth. Kenseth jumped out briefly to the lead but “the closer” Harvick came barreling back on the inside to retake the lead, leading the final six laps on his way to a win. Kenseth finished second, and said the final restart was his fault due to spinning the tires and getting poorly through the gears.
This win for Kevin Harvick punches his ticket into the next round of the Chase, allowing he and his time to breathe a sigh of relief after spending all of Chicagoland stuck one lap down and in a bad spot for advancing to the next round. In victory lane, a thrilled Harvick remarked “Man, that worked out really good!”.
Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch rounded out the top five. 13 of the top 16 finishers were Chase drivers with only Kasey Kahne (9th), Ryan Blaney (12th) and Alex Bowman (13th) spoiling the party.
Harvick’s win shook up the Chase standings, leaving Jamie McMurray, Tony Stewart, Austin Dillon and Chris Buescher on the outside looking in in regards to advancing to the next round. All hope is not lost, as McMurray, Dillon and Stewart are still well in range of making the next round. Chris Buescher will pretty much need to win at this juncture to advance.
The series will head to Dover next week for the final race in the round of 16, and when the dust settles four drivers will have lost a chance to continue the Chase for the Championship.
