LDN - Sports

Harvick wins to advance in Chase

[September 26, 2016] LOUDON, N.H. -- Kevin Harvick secured his advancement to the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup with his third win of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season on Sunday in the Bad Boy Off Road 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

"I just want to thank all our sponsors and everyone at the shop who works on the Stewart-Haas Racing cars," Harvick said.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch took second and third-place honors, while Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch rounded out the top-five.

"We had everything thrown at us, even the kitchen sink at one point," Kurt Busch said. "I feel like the way that this team and everybody felt like we needed to have a solid finish, but you can't just ask for it. It felt like we were up against the odds, and then the car ran great."

One last restart with six laps remaining put Kenseth and Harvick side-by-side on the front row with Kenseth as the race leader. A lap later, Harvick took his first and only lead of the race and drove on to the win.

"Man, that worked out really good," Harvick said. "The car was pretty good on the restarts. Once we got clean air there at the end, it wound up being really good up front. I'm just really proud of our team. They did a great job."

Toyotas ran up front for about three-quarters of the 300-lap race. Carl Edwards started on the pole and led the first 30 laps before being overtaken by Truex for the top spot on lap 31. Throughout most of the remainder of the race, Kenseth and Truex maintained the top two positions of the running order, with each driver spending significant time up front.

Truex was credited with most laps led, running up front for 141 laps.

"We led a lot of laps and the team did a great job all weekend, so it was another good weekend for us, and we'll go on to Dover and see if we can't finish the deal off there," Truex said.

Early in the race, Toyotas often held the top three positions in the running order and four spots inside the top five with Truex, Kenseth, Edwards and Busch showing the way for the manufacturer and Chevrolet driver Jimmie Johnson as interloper.

Fellow-Chevrolet driver Chase Elliott quickly joined Johnson near the front with the Toyotas. Harvick, after starting the race in the 19th position, worked his way toward the front and was inside the top five shortly after the first cycle of green-flag pit stops just past lap 75.

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NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Kevin Harvick celebrates after finishing first in the New England 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports

Hamlin was the lone Joe Gibbs Racing-affiliated driver outside the top-10 throughout the first half of the race, but he eventually worked his way into the top-10 and sporadically made appearances inside the top-five in the race's second half before being assessed a penalty for an uncontrolled tire during a yellow flag with just over 30 laps to go. Edwards also received a penalty for a commitment line violation during the same caution.

Edwards was able to recover, though, climbing back into the top-10 to finish the race in the sixth position. Other top-10 drivers included Truex in seventh, Johnson eighth, Kasey Kahne ninth and Kyle Larson 10th, respectively.

"Final restart was not good for us -- final two really weren't," Truex said. "You know, we'd race with Matt so hard for the lead, there, for such a long time that I just kind of burned my tires up and then really had trouble getting going on those last two restarts, lost a few spots. It was unfortunate to have a car that good all day long and then come home seventh, but all in all, it was a fun day."

NOTES: Kenseth won the two most recent Sprint Cup races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, winning there earlier this year and also winning last year's Bad Boy Off Road 300. He owns three wins in the last six races at NHMS. ... Kyle Busch won the last NHMS race before Kenseth's string of three, giving Joe Gibbs Racing three consecutive wins at New Hampshire heading into the 2016 Bad Boy Off Road 300 and four wins in the last six races at NHMS. Team Penske Teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano won the other two. ... Toyota drivers won six of the last eight races at NHMS before Sunday. ... Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart also are three-time winners at New Hampshire. ... Carl Edwards' pole for Sunday's race was his sixth pole of the season, doubling his previous tally of most poles in a season. ... Kahne had to drop to the back at the start of the race because of unapproved changes to his car.

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