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New England 300 Race Report

09.25.16

New England 300 Race Report

Date: Sept. 25, 2016
Event: Bad Boy Off Road 300 (Round 28 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon (1.058-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 24th/18th (Running, completed 300 of 300 laps)
Point Standing: 23rd (534 points)
Winner: Kevin Harvickof Stewart-Haas Racing (Chevrolet)

 

After leading nine laps in Sunday’s Bad Boy Off Road 300, Danica Patrick and the No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet SS team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) scored an 18th-place finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.

 

Patrick started the race from the 24th position and quickly gained ground, moving inside the top-20 by lap nine. As the field cycled through green-flag pit stops in the midst of a long, green-flag run, Patrick went a lap down to the leader at lap 77. When the caution flag waved at lap 123 for debris, crew chief Billy Scott called for Patrick to take the wave-around, putting the No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet back on the lead lap in the 18th position for the following restart.

 

On the subsequent run, Patrick held her position but went a lap down to the leader at lap 164. The caution flag waved on the following lap, and as Patrick was the first car one lap down, she was in the free-pass position and got back on the lead lap. Scott called her to pit road for tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment, and Patrick restarted in 18th at lap 171.

 

Another long, green-flag run ensued, and Patrick inherited the lead at lap 234 as other teams pitted. The caution flag waved at lap 240, and Scott called Patrick to pit road for tires and fuel. The No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet restarted from the eighth position when the field went back to green at lap 248, and Patrick worked her way up to sixth before contact from another car dropped her back to eighth.

 

Patrick was scored in the 11th position when the caution flag waved again at lap 264, but she fell to 17th with a left-rear tire rub before the caution flag waved at lap 284. The No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet team pitted for tires and a chassis adjustment at lap 286, and Patrick restarted in the 18th position at lap 289. She raced her way up to 13th before the caution flag waved for the final time at lap 291. Stuck on the bottom on the final restart, Patrick dropped back to 18th in the closing laps.

 

“We definitely didn’t need that final caution,” Patrick said. “We had a really strong run going before it came out, but it is what it is. My Nature’s Bakery team did a great job on pit road all day and helped make the car better as the race progressed.”

 

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 ditech Chevrolet SS, led the four-car SHR contingent Sunday by winning the Bad Boy Off Road 300. It was the 35th points-paying Sprint Cup victory for SHR since its inception in 2009 and the organization’s fifth this season.

 

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet SS, finished fifth.

 

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 23rd.

 

Matt Kenseth finished .442 of a second behind Harvick in the runner-up spot, while Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch rounded out the top-five. Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson comprised the remainder of the top-10.

 

There were six caution periods for 31 laps with two drivers failing to finish the 300-lap race.

 

Harvick, Busch and Stewart are representing SHR in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, and they entered the second race of the 10-race, 16-driver Chase ranked 14th, 10th and 12th, respectively, in the Round of 16 standings. Harvick leaves New Hampshire in second place and is locked into the Round of 12 thanks to his victory at New Hampshire. Busch is 11th with a 15-point margin over 13th place. Stewart is 15th, 11 points outside of the top-12. Following the third race of the Chase at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, only those Chase drivers who have won a race or are among the top-12 in points will advance to the Round of 12.

 

With one race remaining before the Round of 12 begins, the top-16 drivers competing for the title rank as follows:

Martin Truex Jr. (2,086 points) 1 win
Kevin Harvick (2,071 points) 1 win
Brad Keselowski (2,087 points) +35 points
Kyle Busch (2,085 points) + 33 points
Matt Kenseth (2,078 points) +26 points
Joey Logano (2,073 points) +21 points
Denny Hamlin (2,071 points) +19 points
Jimmie Johnson (2,070 points) +18 points
Chase Elliott (2,068 points) +16 points
Carl Edwards (2,068 points) +16 points
Kurt Busch (2,067 points) +15 points
Kyle Larson (2,057 points) +5 points
Jamie McMurray (2,052 points) -5 points
Austin Dillon (2,052 points) -5 points
Tony Stewart (2,046 points) -11 points
Chris Buescher (2,027 points) -30 points

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule – the third race of the Chase – is the Oct. 2 Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover. The race starts at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBCSN.