Denny Hamlin made a charge through the field and captured his fifth win of the season and the third win in the last five weeks.
Hamlin dominated the second Chase race at the flat one mile track of New Hampshire Motor Speedway. With the win he moves into third in points and he has also taken sole possession of the amount of wins this season.
The win for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver marks the 100th win for the team, it is 22nd time that Hamlin has visited victory lane. All of his wins have been as a member of Joe Gibbs Racing.
Here is a look at how the rest of the 43-car field finished the race today.
Slyvania 300 results:
1. Denny Hamlin- Took the lead for the first time on lap 93, after starting the race in p32 because his team missed the set up for qualifying, he drove to the lead and was the class of the field all day. After taking the lead, the only time Hamlin didn’t lead was when he pitted. Hamlin led 193 of the 300 laps.
2. Jimmie Johnson- Like Hamlin, Johnson’s crew missed the set up before qualifying and he started back in the field. Johnson didn’t quite make the moves as fast as Hamlin to the front, but he worked hard and found his way to the top-five where he was the fastest car next to Hamlin.
3. Jeff Gordon- Gordon started off fast leading the opening laps and showed why his car won the pole. After the first caution, Gordon fell back in the top-10 before he made the adjustments and found speed again and was able to work his way into the top-five. He ran out of laps trying to chase down Johnson at the end of the race.
4. Clint Bowyer- Bowyer had one of the fastest cars for most of the day. He stayed in the top three and four, but could not quite break the threshold to be a contender to get past Johnson or Hamlin. Grip went away at the end of the final run and he saw a third place finish fall to a fourth place finish late when Gordon passed him.
5. Kasey Kahne- Along with Johnson, Kahne is the only other driver to finish the first two chase races with top-fives. Kahne stayed in the top-10. At times Kahne showed that his car might be strong enough to run with Johnson or Bowyer. The short run at the end seemed to doom his finish, but he was able to hold onto a top-five and come away with another strong points day.
6. Brad Keselowski- Keselowski was battling for a top-five run for most of the day. After the race he said that the final caution of the day ruined his chances for a top-five run. After the win last week, Keselowski trails points by just one as his team prepares for Dover.
7. Tony Stewart- Stewart had a very strong, but very quiet run in the top-10 all day long. He was close to the top-five at times, but his car seemed to handle better in the middle of the top-10. Stewart struggled with handling at times, but he was able to keep his car in the top-10 for the entire day.
8. Joey Logano- Logano wasn’t a top-10 runner until later in the day. One of the few non-chasers to break the top-10, Logano showed some of the speed that his teammates had to make a run into the top-10. He used the final caution to get a pair of tires that helped him gain grip for the final run and find himself in the top-10.
9. Brian Vickers- Vickers was making the seventh of his eight starts in the No. 55 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota and once again he showed that he could use speed. Vickers used a bit of pit strategy and took the lead on the second to last restart. He fell back in the top-10 but he didn’t fall out and recorded another top-10 finish for the year.
10. Ryan Newman- If it wasn’t for a late pit stop to get tires, Newman and his crew would have finished outside the top-10. He used the fresh rubber to get around some of the drivers that had faster cars all day and recorded another top-10 finish.
11. Kevin Harvick- Harvick had a consistently fast car all day, however he wasn’t able to make the moves to get into the top-five to show how fast his car really was. Harvick was running in the top-10 for most of the second half of the race, but crew chief Gil Martin brought him down pit road on the final caution and the adjustments to his car pushed him outside the top-10.
12. Paul Menard- Menard stayed in or near 12th place for most of the afternoon. His car was not quite fast enough to crack the top-10 and his battle with Harvick after the last caution period did help his car a little and he finished the day the highest he had been in several laps.
13. Dale Earnhardt Jr.- Unlike his teammates, Earnhardt Jr. did not have a fast car or a well handling car to make it into the top-10. He stayed in the bottom half of the top-15 for most of the day. He was never in danger of falling a lap behind, but he was never a threat to make it into the top-10 either. The final caution of the day allowed Jr’s car to fit him more and he was able to gain some ground towards the top-10. His run stalled out at 13th though.
14. Matt Kenseth- None of the Fords showed any real speed this weekend at the flat mile of New Hampshire, but the fastest Ford all day was Kenseth. Kenseth spent some of the afternoon in the top-10 but his car’s handling went away he dropped out of the top-10. His car stayed content in the bottom half of the top-15 and he would have to settle for a 14th place finish.
15. Jeff Burton- Burton received an early bump from his teammate, Harvick, and his back bumper was a little bent up. The damage didn’t seems to affect his car other than cosmetically. Burton had a solid day in the top-20 and made a move late in the race, thanks to the final caution Burton was able to make up some track position and make his way into the top-15.
16. Regan Smith- Smith was able to stay in the top-20 for most of the day. He had a three way battle with Truex Jr. and Biffle at the end of the race that kept things competitive. Smith made the moves to get around both and finish in the 16th position.
17. Martin Truex Jr.- It looked like Truex Jr. was going to be able to put together a top-five run early in the day. He was battling his teammates of Bowyer and Vickers, but then in the second half of the race his car started losing grip and he slid outside of the top-10. Truex, Smith and Biffle battled for position the entire run after the final caution and Truex was able to get past Biffle for the points position and a 17th place finish.
18. Greg Biffle- Biffle and crew seemed have missed the set-up on the car for the race Sunday. Biffle complained that his car was too loose and and then too tight at various times of the race. Biffle then complained about his tires on the last run and he could not make it out of the battle between Truex and Smith. Biffle was the lowest finishing driver of those in the chase.
19. Carl Edwards- Edwards was looking like he had to settle for lap down finish to the day, but then the final caution flew and he was able to get onto the lead lap. That was as far as he was able to get in the last run. Another one of the Fords to have struggled throughout the day, Edwards at one point decided to take matters into his own hands and be his own crew chief for a part of the race.
20. Bobby Labonte- The first car a lap down, Labonte and his JTG crew battled a with finding the right position for the track bar the whole day. Adjustments on the final pit stop were able to get him to the top-20 where he remained until the checkered flag flew.
21. Sam Hornish Jr. –Hornish didn’t make a lot of noise in the race today. He fell back in the race almost outside of the top-20. He then made some moves and had a brief stint in the top-15. He fell back and battled a tight car for the last 100 laps and had to settle for a 21st place finish.
22. Juan Pablo Montoya – Montoya tried to get the car to turn better through most of the day and that kept him from making any real noise in the race. Montoya was able to get the car turning better in the last part of the race and that led him to become the best finishing Earnhardt Gannassi Car in the race.
23. Aric Almirola – Finishing a spot ahead of his teammate, Ambrose, Almirola had a quiet day in the top-25. His car was never quite strong enough to get into the top-15 and for most of the day he had an ill handling car. Like most of the Fords this weekend, the speed just wasn’t there for Almirola throughout the race.
24. Marcos Ambrose –Long green flag runs that dominated most of the day hurt the No. 9 car as his car proved to be more of a short run car. Ambrose started 21st but fell back to 24th during the last run, after spending most of the day in the mid twenties.
25. Kurt Busch – The former New Hampshire winner had a very quiet race all day. He took the wave around at least once and tried to be competitive for the lucky dog pass, but he wasn’t able to capatalize on that and he stayed in the mid 20’s for most of the race. On the bright side, his car stayed in one piece and he didn’t tear up any equipment.
26. Jamie McMurray – McMurray struggled with handling issues in the race as well. He had to take the wave around at least once to stay competitive in the top-20. McMurray had a strong run going late in the race, but he wasn’t able to make up room on the cars around him.
27. Landon Cassill- Battled a loose car for much of the afternoon. A final round of wedge tightened his car up mildly, but Cassill was not able toe move beyond the 27th position for the afternoon. He was the highest finishing BK Racing car.
28. Kyle Busch- Bush had one of the only cars that looked like it could battle the fast car of Hamlin. Busch was able to lead several of the laps before the Hamlin train caught up to him. From then on Busch was running in second and tried to compete for the win, but his car was not fast enough to get up to Hamlin. Once again engine troubles plagued him and he dropped a cylinder after the half way point of the race. He thought his engine might expire and he spent much of the last quarter of the race nursing his car to the finish line.
29. David Ragan- Ragan and his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports could not get his car to work to his liking for much of the day. Because of that he was stuck running in the mid twenties. The final run resulted in Ragan falling back a bit and he took his car home in the 29th position.
30. David Reutimann- Reutimann and his team struggled with a lack of grip for most of that day, and that problem just got worse on the long runs, which is what most of the race was made up of. Reutimann struggled to stay in the twenties for the day. He fell to 30th after the last caution and that is where he finished the day.
31. Travis Kvapil- Like his teammate, Cassill, Kvapil was stuck battling a loose car for the final run. He made a pit stop for a wedge adjustment to make his car tighter in the final run. Kvapil didn’t make a lot of noise and was stuck battling for a 30th place position for much of the afternoon.
32. David Gilliland – Gilliland wasn’t able to get his car to handle like he wanted it too and struggled for most of the afternoon with a 30th-place car. Gilliland made adjustments to try and get his car so he could make a run to try and catch up to his teammate late in the race, but his car, like it had all weekend, struggled to find speed.
33. Mike Olsen- Making his first start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, his 42nd starting position was determined by points. He ran the whole race and finished 11 laps down in the No. 32 Ford.
34. Stephen Leicht- Leicht made his way up from the 39th position and stayed on track for 151 laps before he pulled behind pit road for the final time. His day officially ended because of an apparent brake problem.
35. David Stremme- Stremme had to work to make the field on Friday, and he started dead last in the 43rd position. Stremme and his Inception Motorsports team recorded 145 laps around the track and pulled down pit road for the final time with an apparent transmission problem that ended his day.
36. Casey Mears- Mears and his team had sponsorship, but ultimately they only recorded 100 laps around the track before the team ended the day with a listed vibration as the reason why they ended the day 200 laps down.
37. Michael McDowell- McDowell and his team didn’t have one of the fastest cars, but they stayed out on track longer tan most of the team and their finishing position showed that. McDowell and team stayed out for 97 laps before a vibration brought his day to an end.
38. Scott Speed- Speed showed that his car had some speed in it as he qualified 27th on Friday. His team would only stay out for 88 laps before they pulled behind the wall to end his day in the 38th position.
39. Joe Nemechek- With sponsorship for his Toyota, Nemecheck stayed out racing for 78 laps before he pulled his car behind the wall for the final time and called it a day. His day ended listed as having brake troubles.
40. Tony Raines- Raines just barley made the race on Friday with his qualifying effort and started the race in the 41st position. Raines and his Tommy Baldwin team stayed out on track past the first caution, but after 68 laps on track the No. 36 car would not return to track.
41. J.J. Yeley- Yeley and his team recorded 29 circuits around the flat mile track that is known as New Hampshire Motor Speedway, before they pulled down pit road for the final time. They ended the race with apparent brake problems.
42. Reed Sorenson- Sorenson had sponsorship for his No. 91 Chevrolet, but the team only stayed on track for 21 laps, before making the left hand turn into the garage where the day ended for them.
43. Kelly Bires- Making just his second start of the season, the first since the last race at Loudon, Bires lasted just 20 laps in his No. 79 Ford before he pulled behind the wall and ended the day in the 43rd position.
