NASCAR New Hampshire: Brad Keselowski dominates for Penske

Keselowski first took the lead on lap 90, and then spent much of the day heading the pack in his Penske-run Ford. He relied on the car's pace to take four tyres in the majority of his pitstops, and although he repeatedly lost track position he quickly carved through the lead each time.

"It's a privilege to drive a car like this, we're red hot," he said in Victory Lane. "With cars like this, the sky's the limit for us."

His nearest challengers gambled on a doomed fuel strategy. Denny Hamlin bailed out as soon as the final yellow flew, for a clash between Justin Allgaier and David Ragan.

Even before the final green flag in overtime, Jeff Gordon ran out of gas, and then Kevin Harvick ran dry at the restart, both drivers losing certain top-three finishes after their strategies came undone.

bounced back to finish second, one of the few to successfully gamble on a long fuel-run at the end, ahead of rookie Kyle Larson, who made an early stop which put him off-sequence and the late yellow played into his hands.

Matt Kenseth finished fourth, ahead of a late charge from Ryan Newman.

Clint Bowyer was in the mix all day and finished sixth, ahead of Tony Stewart and the recovering Hamlin.

It had looked likely to be a Penske 1-2, but Keselowski's team-mate Joey Logano was taken out when lapping 72-year-old Morgan Shepherd, who was 15 laps down.

"The slowest car in the race took us out, just slid up," sighed Logano. "Maybe there should be a driver's test. If you can't control your stuff you shouldn't be out there."

This track will host race two in the Chase for Championship, so the early departure of Jimmie Johnson will cause some concern at Hendrick Motorsports.

He crashed out after his second puncture in the first 14 laps, giving the team a few headaches for its return in a couple of months' time.

                                                         
Results - 305 laps:                                           
                                                              
Pos  Driver              Team/Car                   Time/Gap  
 1.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford                2h58m03.000s         
 2.  Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota           +0.750s   
 3.  Kyle Larson         Ganassi Chevrolet          +1.624s   
 4.  Matt Kenseth        Joe Gibbs Toyota           +1.671s   
 5.  Ryan Newman         Childress Chevrolet        +2.076s   
 6.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota             +2.077s   
 7.  Tony Stewart        Stewart-Haas Chevrolet     +2.479s   
 8.  Denny Hamlin        Joe Gibbs Toyota           +2.611s   
 9.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford          +2.678s   
10.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet         +3.081s   
11.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet         +3.366s   
12.  Martin Truex Jr     Furniture Row Ford         +3.506s   
13.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford          +3.668s   
14.  Austin Dillon       Childress Chevrolet        +3.875s   
15.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford          +3.945s   
16.  Jamie McMurray      Ganassi Chevrolet          +4.063s   
17.  Kurt Busch          Stewart-Haas Chevrolet     +4.274s   
18.  AJ Allmendinger     JTG Daugherty Chevrolet    +4.352s   
19.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet        +4.465s   
20.  Jeff Burton         Waltrip Toyota             +4.726s   
21.  Brian Vickers       Waltrip Toyota             +4.762s   
22.  Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet     +4.828s   
23.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                 +5.075s   
24.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford             +5.214s   
25.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford             +5.551s   
26.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet         +26.721s  
27.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                 -1 lap    
28.  Cole Whitt          BK Toyota                  -1 lap    
29.  Josh Wise           Parsons Chevrolet          -1 lap    
30.  Kevin Harvick       Stewart-Haas Chevrolet     -1 lap    
31.  Alex Bowman         BK Toyota                  -2 laps   
32.  Michael Annett      Baldwin Chevrolet          -2 laps   
33.  Reed Sorenson       Baldwin Chevrolet          -3 laps   
34.  Landon Cassill      Hillman Chevrolet          -4 laps   
35.  Eddie MacDonald     FAS Lane Ford              -5 laps   
36.  Ryan Truex          BK Toyota                  -5 laps   
37.  Casey Mears         Germain Chevrolet          -13 laps  
38.  Morgan Shepherd     Circle Sport Chevrolet     -27 laps  
                                                              
Retirements:                                                  
                                                              
     Justin Allgaier    Hscott Chevrolet            296 laps  
     Joey Logano        Penske Ford                 211 laps  
     Timmy Hill         Identity Ventures Toyota     76 laps  
     Jimmie Johnson     Hendrick Chevrolet           11 laps  
     Mike Bliss         BK Toyota                     6 laps