In a race that saw numerous usual suspects go into hiding in the closing laps, Matt Kenseth battled to the front of the field from the 18th starting position and pulled away after a late restart to win Sunday’s New Hampshire 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Hamlin stayed out and assumed the lead, but Kenseth went back by for the lead for good on Lap 271. “Today, I felt like we had the best auto”.
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“That’s what it’s all about”, team owner Joe Gibbs said “…
“I don’t think I’ve gotten out of a Cup auto with a smile on my face in a while”, he said. I didn’t do a very good job of qualifying (18th) and after round one today it was pretty much money. But last week I felt like if all the stars were aligned we could have won at Kentucky, if everything went just for right for us. “It was a fun day”.
Tony Stewart took runner-up honors after getting by Joey Logano in the final five laps.
Just like last fall on the same track when Kevin Harvick’s lead evaporated when he ran out of fuel, Kenseth pounced. Greg Biffle finished fifth.
Kenseth started 18th in the field. It really paid off. He went by Martin Truex Jr. for the lead on Lap 258 and held that spot until a round of pit stops under caution.
It didn’t include pole victor Jimmie Johnson, who repeatedly lost ground on restarts and came home 12th. He led 133 laps and scored well for fantasy owners, but ultimately finished eighth after starting on the outside pole.
The No. 20 Toyota made its move during a restart on Lap 270. After a physical battle on the restart that followed, Kenseth regained the top spot.
All four Gibbs teams are already unofficially qualified for the 10-race Chase for the Championship. Since winning his third race of the season at Kansas, Busch has had only one top-five (Daytona) in the seven races since.
The yellow flag waved seven times throughout the race, even though there were only two cautions in the first two-thirds of the 301-lap race.
The politeness that persisted for the first 273 laps – a Chris Buescher spinout was the only incident – vanished as drivers’ engines and tempers heated to a full boil.
His Hendrick Motorsports team-mate Chase Elliott also had damage with a separate tyre issue. Bowman ran several laps inside the top 10 before his crash in his substitute role. AJ Allmendinger, 22. Kurt Busch, 23.
“Every restart, you’re just hoping not to mess up and spin the tires too bad”, Kenseth said. “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 and then after a couple laps we were able to roll the middle and get away”.
Caution Flags: 7 for 36 laps. The other two cautions were for debris.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has never won at New Hampshire in 33 career starts and it won’t happen Sunday because he’ll be sidelined at least this week with concussion-like symptoms.
Alex Bowman slammed into the wall.
LOUDON, N.H. >> Matt Kenseth pulled away down the stretch to win the Sprint Cup race Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He’s a three-time victor at New Hampshire and one of only two drivers to win two straight times on the track.
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It didn’t include 2014 New Hampshire victor Brad Keselowski, who, like Kurt Busch, had a contending vehicle for most of the day but cut a tire in a late four-car wreck that caused his two-race winning streak end in a 15th-place finish.
