Think free-flowing Mass. Pike traffic funneling onto Newbury Street. “But days like today you have to get the best finish you possibly can”.
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He nipped Helio Castroneves on the final lap of the fast six group to start first Sunday on the streets surrounding Exhibition Place.
Larson has shown marked improvement after a sophomore slump, and Joey Logano, a nine-year veteran at age 26, continues to run as the vanguard of the youth movement, winning the All-Star Race and the June event at MI this year. “You hate to see him retire because he means a lot to our sport”.
“The hardest part about it honestly is the restarts”, Stewart said. Kenseth is expected to keep the win, but if a decision was made to disqualify his #20 Toyota, the victory would instead go to Tony Stewart, whose strong run that started with a victory in Sonoma continued with a runner-up finish in what was deemed post-race to be a fully legal vehicle. I’ll give them the best feedback I can and go from there.
Contact was the order of the day in the closing laps and the backstretch of all places was the trouble spot with several cautions for multi-car accidents slowing things down near the end.
Stewart started the race in 12th place. Though the accident knocked the speed out of the auto, Bowman was able to stay on the lead lap.
For the first 13 years of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career, Loudon, N.H. hardly ranked high on Matt Kenseth’s list of happy locales to visit for events. He was OK with all of it. “I didn’t do a very good job qualifying and after round one today it was pretty much money, we just had to get there”.
With 11 drivers having scored victories, there is the possibility that five Chase spots will be determined by points.
Erik Jones was second, followed by Brad Keselowski, Daniel Suarez and Austin Dillon. Harvick’s points placement and his one win make him a good bet to qualify for the Chase.
With four-time champion Jeff Gordon set to take the wheel next week if Earnhardt isn’t cleared, Bowman is out of options for the rest of the year.
“I’ve learned to never underestimate that man, without a doubt”, Johnson told the NASCAR Wire Service. “It’s the same thing every week”. “Thankfully, we had good ones, and we had great power, and we had good traction, and we were able to get going pretty good in a straight line”.
Kyle Busch (eighth) and Carl Edwards (20th) qualified for the Chase, joining Keselowski as other locks for the 16-car Chase.
That cast of characters didn’t include Martin Truex Jr., who led 123 laps before breaking his shifter and losing the clutch, keeping his No. 78 Toyota stuck in fourth gear. Johnson finished 12th. Kyle Larson went on the wildest ride of the race. “The auto was strong on a long run. Everything you want is there, all the ingredients are there, we just need to finish putting it all together”, Stewart said.
A ho-hum race won by Kenseth?
“We’ve got a great race team”. Three of the first four cautions did not involve wrecks. There were two cautions through the first 219 laps, and with opportunities to condense the field scarce, there was no stopping the Toyota machines from making a mockery of the competition. Chris Buescher brought out the yellow when he hit the wall. The other two cautions were for debris. The banging only began in the last 25 laps.
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“I think it’s a good indicator for sure and important for us to run well, being that it’s in the Chase when we come back”.
