Matt Kenseth passed his teammate Denny Hamlin with a little over 30 laps remaining and raced away to his second win in the 2016 Sprint Cup Series. Although Kenseth did not have a dominating performance like racing fans have witnessed in the past, he was fast when it counted most. It was the veteran driver’s 38th overall victory and cemented his spot in the playoffs. Matt Kenseth commented on his well-earned win in Louden, New Hampshire.
“I felt like we had probably the best car all day,” Matt Kenseth said. “It just took forever to get there. I think no matter what package it is, … it’s kind of the same group you’ve got to beat. I don’t think anybody really is leaps and bounds out there running away from it. The rules are too tight and everybody is pretty close to the same speed.”
The New Hampshire 301 was anything but boring for the last 20 circuits around the one mile oval. All the familiar faces were scattered throughout the top 15 in the closing laps of the event. After the caution flew for debris on the track 265 revolutions in, the field was stacked for the re-start.
Racers that have already won events and others that needed one to secure a spot in the chase were lined up side by side. As a result, the speedsters bumped and banged their hot-rods, trying to gain valuable track position. The first victim of the mayhem was Alex Bowman.
Bowman was filling in for NASCAR fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. because of a concussion Earnhardt sustained in the previous race. Contact made to his car resulted in tire rub that wore down his left rear and sent him into the outside wall. That incident brought out the event’s fifth caution and the cars were realigned for another thrilling re-start.
There was more of the same in the second go around. The field was driving as aggressive as they have all day. More careless side by side racing caused Kurt Busch to sustain damage that eventually blew out his tire. He was sent sliding into the wall and the race’s sixth caution was waved with 15 laps to go.
Once again the competitors were realigned for a dash to the finish. Matt Kenseth drove his #20 Dollar General out in front with ease. The rest of the pack was not so lucky and the race’s seventh caution flew when Carl Edwards spun and pushed Kyle Larson into the infield grass.
The familiar faces that lined the front of the field for the final three re-starts had changed dramatically. Now the top 10 was littered with drivers that raced the majority of the contest in the middle of the pack or worse.
The green flag was waved with nine laps to go and it was more of the same from the race winner. Matt Kenseth sped his car out front of Joey Logano and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch. With the clean air and the preferred line it was a hopeless battle trying to run down the former champion. The drivers managed to keep their cars out of trouble and the race was finished under green.
Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch dominated for most of the race. Busch passed pole sitter Jimmie Johnson a few laps in and drove his #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota out front until the competition caution was flown at lap 36. Martin Truex Jr. might of had the fastest car for most of the New Hampshire 301.
Throughout the whole race Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch were up front exchanging the lead. Busch tallied 133 revolutions in front and Truex Jr. ended the day with 123. Both Joe Gibbs drivers clearly looked to be the favorites as the day wore on. Once again, it was not to be for the Furniture Row racing team. Truex Jr.’s car could not get out of fourth gear and he fought his way to a 16th place finish. Busch managed to keep out of trouble on the crazy re-starts but was shuffled backwards and finished in eighth.
Tony Stewart kept his nose to the grindstone and gutted out a solid finish. Furthermore, he passed Joey Logano’s #22 Pennzoil Ford in the closing laps and held off the rest of the field for a second place result. Logano then battled Kevin Harvick for the third place spot behind Stewart.
Coming out of the final turn the two were side by side. Harvick’s #4 Freaky Fast Chevrolet fell short by a hair in a photo finish. The fourth place result was enough to keep the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion at the top of the point standings. Harvick was frustrated with his teams performance and also voiced his displeasure in his post race interview.
“We under-execute as a team on a weekly basis and got to do a better job,” Harvick said. “The … cars are always fast, but we always do something wrong. It’s really going to have to come from the top [to manage]. I mean they are going to have to clamp down and there is no way we can win a championship like this unless they straighten some of this stuff out.”
The New Hampshire 301 took two hours and 57 minutes to complete. There were 13 lead changes between six drivers. The event had seven cautions for a total of 36 laps. the average speed of the field was 107.416 miles per hour and the margin of victory was 1.982 seconds. Next week NASCAR moves west to the hallowed venue in Indianapolis for the Brickyard 400.
