Take 5: Biggest takeaways from New Hampshire 2019

Another week, another furious last-lap battle for the checkered flag between title contenders. The Granite State delivered some of the hottest action of the season, literally, and the thrilling fight to the finish between Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin in Sunday's Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was one of many tales to tell. Read on for five big takeaways from the "Magic Mile."

Remember me? Once upon a time, Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer were teammates. Different story these days -- particularly Sunday at NHMS, where the two made contact and brought out the caution battling for position in Stage 2. Truex expressed his displeasure with the No. 14 by sticking his hand out the window and then driving Bowyer down to the apron. "I was just thinking, what the hell is he thinking? He's got to make the playoffs. That was not a smart move. … I could have completely wiped his day out, but I let off and let him straighten out. Just a bad decision on his part."

Where's the beef? The Truex/Bowyer drama wasn't the only dust-up of the day. Earlier in the race, Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. came together, sending the No. 17 into the wall hard in Turn 2. Stenhouse's day ended and the Roush Fenway Racing driver had some words for Jones, who continued on to finish third. "The 20 ran over us. He's been known to do that to us a couple times now lately," Stenhouse told NBCSN. "He'll get one coming his way before it's over with, or at least before I'm through with it. … He's gonna have to deal with it at some point." Jones made hay in the playoff run with a solid finish, but making enemies on the race track at this point in the season might not be the wisest course of action.

Hendrick hits rough patch: Despite the picturesque scenery and great seafood, Hendrick Motorsports drivers probably couldn't wait to get out of New Hampshire, which seemed to have it out for the organization from start to finish this weekend. Practice sessions were marred with baffling wrecks, backups upon backups were brought out of the haulers and things didn't exactly turn a corner in the race itself. Alex Bowman -- in his backup backup, which was really Jimmie Johnson's backup -- did sneak into the top five for a bit after starting from the rear, but all four finished outside the top 10 with Chase Elliott and Johnson in 29th and 30th, respectively. Perhaps things will spark at Pocono, where earlier this season Chase Elliott finished fourth and William Byron led 25 laps after starting from the pole.

Ryan, a new man? As dreadful as Johnson's Sunday was, his misfortune directly benefited Ryan Newman. The Roush Fenway Racing driver slid into the playoff field after gutting out a seventh-place finish -- his fourth result of ninth or higher in the past five races -- in a backup car. The performance drew high praise from the "Magic Mile" ace. "Honestly, it was the most fun I've had all year in a race car. … Today was kind of like a win for us to fight back from all the things that we did. I feel very emotional about how well we did today given the adversity we had in front of us."

SteWart-Haas Racing: Look at that, a W. SHR's losing streak somehow, some way stretched all the way back to Texas last fall, a span of 21 races. The Ford-backed organization has four supremely talented drivers piloting equipment capable of winning, and it was shocking to see them held out of Victory Lane for so long. New Hampshire has been good to Harvick over the years -- he's now tied for the lead in all-time track wins (four) with Jeff Burton -- so it wasn't surprising to see him snap the drought here. What'll be interesting to see, however, is if this was the momentum-builder the team needed and perhaps the wins will start flowing in.