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New Hampshire NASCAR: Hamlin gets Joe Gibbs Racing's first 2017 win

Denny Hamlin secured Joe Gibbs Racing's first NASCAR Cup win of 2017 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, holding off from Kyle Larson's late charge to effectively secure a playoff place

Hamlin - racing his back-up car after he shunted his Toyota in Friday practice - spent the majority of the 301-lap race fighting among the frontrunners, leading 54 laps in total.

With 35 laps to go, Hamlin took the lead from team-mate Matt Kenseth on the final restart.

Kenseth - who made a quick final pitstop by electing to take only two fresh tyres - was unable to hold off his team-mate, before dropping behind Ganassi driver Larson and Martin Truex Jr.

Larson started last after failing a post-qualifying technical inspection for the second race in a row and had made excellent progress through the field, hounding Hamlin in the last 10 laps.

Although Larson made up ground through traffic, Hamlin held on to secure his 30th Cup win and his first in 28 races.

Settling for second, Larson headed stage one winner Truex, who led the opening 75 laps with consummate ease.

Truex suffered a cut tyre towards the beginning of the final third, but serendipitously was able to stop at the start of the pit window, losing very little time as a result.

Kenseth, who will depart JGR at the end of the season, continued a good day for the team to finish fourth, ahead of Stewart-Haas Racing's Kevin Harvick.

Daniel Suarez equalled his best result of his rookie Cup season with an excellent sixth place to beat Clint Bowyer, who headed fellow Ford runners Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski.

Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top 10, albeit after receiving a penalty on the first lap for jumping polesitter Truex before the line at the race start.

Kyle Busch - who won the second stage after pitting before the end of stage one - received two speeding penalties following his final two pitstops, and had to settle for 12th.

The race was briefly red-flagged during the second stage after the track started to break up at Turn 3, requiring an emergency fix before running was able to continue.

Aric Almirola, in his first race since damaging his T5 vertebra in his accident at Kansas, finished in 24th.

Joey Logano endured a miserable afternoon and, after being forced to pit with a rear suspension issue, was able to rejoin and finished 33 laps down.

RESULTS - 301 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 3h00m36.s
2 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 0.509s
3 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 3.297s
4 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 4.442s
5 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 8.452s
6 Daniel Suarez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 9.846s
7 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 10.618s
8 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 10.655s
9 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 11.451s
10 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 12.642s
11 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 12.856s
12 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 14.028s
13 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 16.123s
14 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 17.665s
15 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 19.252s
16 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 20.356s
17 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 21.243s
18 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 23.992s
19 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 25.260s
20 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 25.394s
21 A.J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 26.348s
22 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.228s
23 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.527s
24 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 30.274s
25 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
26 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
27 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
28 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1 Lap
29 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 1 Lap
30 Matt DiBenedetto Go FAS Racing Ford 2 Laps
31 Corey LaJoie BK Racing Toyota 3 Laps
32 Ryan Sieg BK Racing Toyota 3 Laps
33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport / TMG Chevrolet 4 Laps
34 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 5 Laps
35 Gray Gaulding Premium Motorsports Toyota 6 Laps
36 Josh Bilicki Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 11 Laps
37 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 32 Laps
38 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet Engine
39 Erik Jones Furniture Row Racing Toyota Accident

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

Pos Driver Points
1 Martin Truex Jr. 758
2 Kyle Larson 720
3 Kyle Busch 650
4 Kevin Harvick 639
5 Denny Hamlin 589
6 Chase Elliott 587
7 Jamie McMurray 572
8 Brad Keselowski 564
9 Jimmie Johnson 552
10 Clint Bowyer 526
11 Matt Kenseth 524
12 Ryan Blaney 486
13 Joey Logano 472
14 Kurt Busch 455
15 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 441
16 Ryan Newman 428
17 Erik Jones 427
18 Daniel Suarez 404
19 Trevor Bayne 369
20 Austin Dillon 363
21 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 351
22 Kasey Kahne 343
23 Paul Menard 324
24 Ty Dillon 322
25 Michael McDowell 286
26 Chris Buescher 283
27 A.J. Allmendinger 275
28 Danica Patrick 254
29 David Ragan 250
30 Matt DiBenedetto 203
31 Landon Cassill 203
32 Aric Almirola 201
33 Cole Whitt 188
34 Reed Sorenson 91
35 Gray Gaulding 86
36 Jeffrey Earnhardt 78
37 Michael Waltrip 29
38 Derrike Cope 26
39 Billy Johnson 15
40 Boris Said 8
41 Alon Day 5
42 Cody Ware 4
43 Kevin O'Connell 4
44 Tommy Regan 3
45 D.J. Kennington 2


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