I was looking forward to coming here (to New Hampshire) because we’ve ran really well here since I’ve came to Joe Gibbs Racing. “Buga (Bugarewicz) did a really good job”.
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“I haven’t spent two seconds thinking about the Chase”, he said. “That’s what it’s all about”, said Coach Joe Gibbs, whose organization fields four full-time Toyota teams including the No. 18 for Busch and No. 19 for Edwards. Team Penske has been hot.
When he returned to Loudon for Sunday’s race, his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet was markedly better than it had been in Saturday’s two practice sessions.
Stewart said drivers must remember a critical lesson at New Hampshire – they are racing the track, not just the other drivers.
Kenseth, who won at Dover in May, led the final 31 laps on Sunday to claim the New Hampshire 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway following a barrage of late-race cautions mixed up the field.
Aside from the checkered flag, the results weren’t stellar for the four-car fleet.
Truex tumbled to 16th when his Toyota suffered a broken shifter and Busch dropped to eighth when he could never break free on late-race restarts.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kyle Busch 4 times for 133 laps; M. Truex Jr 5 times for 123 laps; M. Kenseth 2 times for 38 laps; D. Hamlin 1 time for 5 laps; B. Keselowski 1 time for 1 lap; J. Johnson 1 time for 1 lap.
A closer look at the numbers, however, reveals a day of dominance.
Kenseth first took the lead with 43 laps to go.
“You’re always pleased to be in victory lane”, Kenseth said.
But he had missed the first 11 races and was left needing a midsummer hot streak to even think about racing his way into the Chase. There’s no need to look at the rearview mirror when the auto is better than the rest. He spent Saturday night at Eldora Speedway to watch sprint vehicle races and will return there Wednesday night for the NASCAR Truck Series race on the dirt.
NASCAR Sprint Cup racer Matt Kenseth may have gotten to introduce his daughters to Loudon the Lobster-a huge live lobster presented to winners at New Hampshire Motor Speedway-but he has more to worry about than “will I get pinched?”
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Said crew chief Jason Ratcliff: “It seems like this is one of our better tracks”. You had some good rounds here the last three years. Drivers consistently bump up against the rules and unless there is a clear message that needs to be relayed by NASCAR to the teams, this “ingenuity” is one of the things making the No. 20 a good fantasy value. The first caution – at lap 37 – was a NASCAR competition caution, called because of morning rain that changed the nature of the track surface. Of the first 150 laps, Busch led 86 and Truex 63. “It was hard to be back there for 20 laps or so until he slipped enough to where I could get by him”.
