photo credit: Instagram
The second race of the 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup Series championship started off with two Toyota’s driven by Martin Truex Jr. and Matt Kenseth battling it out for the victory. Towards the conclusion of the event, the No. 4 Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick found himself catching the leaders as the laps ticked off. A late race caution would allow Harvick to make his move. On the final restart, Harvick fought with race leader Matt Kenseth until the driver of the No. 20 slipped up high. Harvick easily cleared Kenseth off the corner and never looked back. This marked Harvick’s first win at the magic mile in ten years. It was also a bit of New Hampshire Motor Speedway redemption for Harvick and his Stewart Haas Racing team. Last year, Harvick was in line to take the checkered flag, and the lobster, when he suddenly ran out of Sunoco fuel with just two circuits remaining. With Harvick struggling to make it to the finish, none other than Matt Kenseth would take the lead and the victory. With his win on Sunday, Harvick clinches a spot in the second round of the playoffs.
Below are highlights and turn by turn action from the “Bad Boy Off Road 300” from New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Race recapped by Last Lap Insider.
Lap 1/300 -The second race of The Chase for the Sprint Cup Series Championship is underway at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Pole sitter, Carl Edwards leads Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson into turn 1.
Lap 2/300 – Off turn 4 on lap 2, Denny Hamlin and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth make contact causing a little damage to Hamlin’s front bumper.
Lap 8/300 – That damage might be causing Denny Hamlin some problems as he has fallen to the 10th position. He started this race in the 5th spot.
Lap 27/300 – The top 10 – Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray, and Denny Hamlin.
Lap 30/300 – Martin Truex Jr. takes the lead away from Carl Edwards. This is the first lead change of the day.
Lap 55/300 – Kasey Kahne, who had to start at the rear of the field due to his team changing a track bar motor, has worked his way up to 19th.
Lap 80/300 – After the first round of green flag pit stops, Martin Truex Jr. cycles out as the leader with Matt Kenseth 2nd and Jimmie Johnson 3rd.
Lap 116/300 – Martin Truex Jr. is setting a blistering pace in this caution free race. He has just put championship contender Joey Logano a lap down.
Lap 124/300 – Finally. The first yellow flag of the day has waved for debris. A.J. Allmendinger gets the lucky dog and is back on pace with the leaders.
Championship contenders Joey Logano, Austin Dillon and Chris Buecsher are still trapped one lap down.
During this round of pit stops, all of the leaders pit with Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, and Kevin Harvick leading the bunch off pit exit.
Lap 145/300 – Matt Kenseth has taken the 3rd position away from rookie Chase Elliott. Martin Truex Jr. continues to dominate but Kenseth’s No. 20 Toyota seems to be closing the gap.
Lap 160/300 – The top 20 – Martin Truex Jr. Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Larson, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Alex Bowman, Brad Keselowski, Tony Stewart, AJ Allmendinger, Danica Patrick, Joey Logano, and Ryan Blaney. Remember, Alex Bowman is sitting in for Dale Earnhardt Jr. who is still recuperating from concussion-like symptoms.
Lap 165/300 – Debris on the backstretch brings out the second caution. This time it’s Danica Patrick who gets the free pass.
Lap 171/300 – On the restart, Martin Truex Jr. and Matt Kenseth continue to be the two best cars as they pull ahead from the rest of the field.
A few laps later, Chase Elliott passes Kyle “Rowdy” Busch for 3rd.
Lap 179/300 – Matt Kenseth takes the lead away from his Toyota teammate Martin Truex Jr.
Lap 187/300 – Carl Edwards makes slight contact with the No. 48 of Jimmie Johnson sending the 6-time champ up the track. Johnson was able to save his Chevrolet from scrapping the wall.
105 laps to go – The top 20 – Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman, Alex Bowman, AJ Allmendinger, Tony Stewart, Danica Patrick, Aric Almirola, and Joey Logano.
81 laps to go – Joey Logano, who got the wave around under that previous caution, has now had to make a green flag pit stop for fuel. The No. 22 is now 2 laps down.
The top 5 – Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch.
69 laps to go – Green flag pit stops have begun with the leaders hitting pit road. Kurt Busch has radioed to his crew that his digital dashboard shut off and then came right back on. Possible electrical issues for the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet.
60 laps to go – The third caution of the race has come out for Michael Annett hitting the wall in turns 1 and 2. Ryan Blaney in the No. 21 will get the free pass in order to get back onto the lead lap.
50 laps to go – On the restart, Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr. are battling hard for the lead while Chase Elliott chases them down in 3rd.
48 laps to go – Kyle Larson, while running 13th, comes off turn 2 and touches the wall with his back quarter panel. No damage done to his Target Chevy.
40 laps to go – Kevin Harvick easily goes around Chase Elliott for the 3rd position.
37 laps to go – Michael McDowell brings out the 4th caution of the race for blowing a tire and spinning out on the entry to pit lane.
Joey Logano finally gets the break he’s been waiting for as he gets the lucky dog. Logano is now back on the lead lap.
During pit stops, Denny Hamlin gets penalized for an uncontrolled tire and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Carl Edwards gets penalized for not making pit road entry in time. Edwards missed the commitment line by a few inches.
26 laps to go – Kyle Busch, who pitted under the last caution for fresh new rubber, is now the fastest car on the racetrack. Ky. Busch sails by Chase Elliott for 4th.
18 laps to go – Matt Kenseth continued to dominate the second portion of the race with Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Chase Elliott all trying to chase the No. 20 down.
16 laps to go – Trevor Bayne backs his No. 6 Ford into the wall bringing out the fifth caution. Austin Dillon, who fell a lap down early in this race, receives the free pass.
9 laps to go – Rickey Stenhouse Jr. and Reed Sorenson spin out off of turn 2 bringing out the sixth caution.
6 laps to go – Matt Kenseth slides wide on the restart allowing Kevin Harvick to swoop underneath him a take the lead with 5 laps left in the race.
Final Lap – On the last restart with 6 laps remaining, Kevin Harvick was able to work his way around Matt Kenseth and hold him off in order to punch his automatic ticket into the second round of The Chase. Kevin Harvick wins the “Bad Boy Off Road 300” at New Hampshire Motor Speedway! This is the third victory of 2016 for “Happy Harvick” aswell as the 34th of his accomplished career.
Matt Kenseth, after dominating the second half of the race, will finish 2nd with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch 3rd. The driver who dominated the first portion of Sunday’s race, Martin Truex Jr., lost a bit of ground on the last restart and will finish 7th.
Full Race Results:
1. Kevin Harvick – CD
2. Matt Kenseth – CD
3. Kyle Busch – CD
4. Brad Keselowski – CD
5. Kurt Busch – CD
6. Carl Edwards – LLI Pick To Win 1 – CD
7. Martin Truex Jr – CD
8. Jimmie Johnson – CD
9. Kasey Kahne – LLI Dark Horse Pick
10. Kyle Larson – LLI Pick To Win 2 – CD
11. Joey Logano – CD
12. Ryan Blaney
13. Chase Elliott – CD
14. Alex Bowman – In the No. 88.
15. Denny Hamlin – CD
16. Austin Dillon – CD
17. Aric Almirola
18. Danica Patrick
19. Jamie McMurray – CD
20. Ryan Newman
21. AJ Allmendinger
22. Clint Bowyer
23. Tony Stewart – CD
24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
25. Paul Menard
26. Michael Mcdowell
27. Casey Mears
28. Matt Dibenedetto
29. Landon Cassill
30. Chris Buescher – CD
31. Brian Scott
32. David Ragan
33. Greg Biffle
34. Regan Smith
35. Cole Whitt
36. Reed Sorenson
37. Jeffrey Earnhardt
38. Trevor Bayne – Crashed
39. Josh Wise
40. Michael Annett – Crashed
CD = Chase Drivers
Chase Grid Update: With their round one triumphs, Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick can rest easy next weekend at Dover. Everyone else on the other hand won’t be as lucky. Jamie McMurray, Austin Dillon, Tony Stewart and Chris Buecsher are the four current drivers in the danger zone to be eliminated after next weekend’s race. With solid finishes, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Chase Elliott, Carl Edwards, and Kurt Busch will be able to move on to the next round. Kyle Larson sits only five points to the good. No matter what any of the other Chase drivers do, he will most likely need a top 10 or even a top 5 finish at Dover to secure a spot in the round of 12.
The next race for the Sprint Cup Series is the “Citizen Soldier 400” at Dover International Speedway, October 2, at 2 p.m. ET on NBCSN. For more Sprint Cup updates check out @lastlapinsider on Instagram.
Tags Kevin Harvick NASCAR New Hampshire Sprint Cup The Chase
