NASCAR New Hampshire: Kevin Harvick takes Chase victory
Kevin Harvick won at New Hampshire to advance to the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup "round of 12" stage of the Chase for the championship
Harvick continued where he left off in Chicagoland with his aggressive approach, moving up to third by two-thirds distance after starting 19th on the grid.
He traded places with defending champion Kyle Busch but after the penultimate restart, Harvick moved into second behind Joe Gibbs Racing driver Matt Kenseth, who was aiming to be the first driver to win three consecutive races at New Hampshire.
Harvick passed Kenseth on the final restart with five laps to go, hanging onto the lead to take the chequered flag.
Kyle Busch finished third as his gamble to take an extra pitstop compared to many of the Chase competitors gave him rubber to charge through the field.
Former champions Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch were out of contention for much of the race but benefitted from the final caution flag stops to take fourth and fifth place respectively.
Polesitter Carl Edwards finished sixth overall, picking up a late-race penalty for crossing into the pit entry too late, hampering his chances of victory.
Furniture Row driver Martin Truex Jr was the pacesetter for much of the race but the decision was made by the crew of Truex to only change two tyres instead of four at the second set of caution pitstops so a few laps after the restart, Kenseth seized the lead.
Truex then dropped down to seventh ahead of Jimmie Johnson as he was overtaken on his final two restarts having chosen the inside line when the outside of the track had more grip.
Non-Chase driver Kasey Kahne was forced to start at the back but his charge through the field and timing at pitstops allowed him to progress to ninth place.
Kyle Larson was fastest in all three practice sessions but failed to convert this into race pace - coming home 10th ahead of Joey Logano.
Chase Elliott finished 13th having been in the top five for much of the race while Denny Hamlin looked set to finish in the top ten for ten consecutive races for the first time in his career but a series of pitlane penalties near the end of the race ended his hopes of continuing that streak.
Austin Dillon had a strong end to the race to take 16th while fellow Chase contender Jamie McMurray lost out in the final pitstops to finish 19th.
Tony Stewart and Chris Buescher had races to forget as they finished well outside the top 20, leaving them in real danger of not making the "round of 12" stage of the Chase.
RESULT
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 300 |
2 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 300 |
3 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 300 |
4 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 300 |
5 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 300 |
6 | Carl Edwards | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 300 |
7 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 300 |
8 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 300 |
9 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 300 |
10 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 300 |
11 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 300 |
12 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 300 |
13 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 300 |
14 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 300 |
15 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 300 |
16 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 300 |
17 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 300 |
18 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 300 |
19 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 300 |
20 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 300 |
21 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 300 |
22 | Clint Bowyer | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 300 |
23 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 299 |
24 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 299 |
25 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 299 |
26 | Michael McDowell | Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 298 |
27 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 298 |
28 | Matt DiBenedetto | BK Racing | Toyota | 298 |
29 | Landon Cassill | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 298 |
30 | Chris Buescher | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 298 |
31 | Brian Scott | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 298 |
32 | David Ragan | BK Racing | Toyota | 297 |
33 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 297 |
34 | Regan Smith | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 297 |
35 | Cole Whitt | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 294 |
36 | Reed Sorenson | Premium Motorsports | Toyota | 293 |
37 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 290 |
38 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 282 |
39 | Josh Wise | The Motorsports Group | Chevrolet | 268 |
40 | Michael Annett | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 236 |
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