RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Chase Grid
Breaking down the full field for the Bad Boy Off Road 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway:
1. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. "The Closer" gets it done again, punching his ticket into the Round of 12 of the Chase. He has five top-five finishes in the past six races. Fear the 4. Grade: A+
2. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Just as all those cautions benefited Kevin Harvick, they proved to be the undoing of Kenseth, who was not strong on restarts. He’s 26 points above the Chase cut line, but a win would have been sweet. Grade: A
3. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch was charging and was a threat to grab the lead before the final caution came out with nine laps to go. Busch is 33 points to the good. Grade: A
4. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. Keselowski did not have a top-five car (12.37 average running position) but still snagged his third straight top five and sixth in the past eight races. Grade: A
5. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. During a yellow-flag pit stop on Lap 243, the jackman dropped the jack with no tires on the left side of the No. 41. Busch came into the pits 11th and came out 16th. Quite the save, finishing fifth. Busch is 11th in the standings, 15 points above the cut line. Grade: A-
6. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards is another Chase driver that got away with one at New Hampshire. Edwards started from the pole but had a commitment line violation on Lap 265 (fourth caution), which dropped him to 20th on the restart. Edwards is 16 points above the cut line. Grade: A-
7. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Toyota, Furniture Row Racing. Truex led a race-high 141 laps, but his shot at a second straight win ended on the restart on Lap 290 when he spun his tires and dropped like a piece of granite from second to fifth. Grade: A
8. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson spent time last week practicing not speeding on pit road. It paid off. No penalties, and he scored his first top 10 since last month at Michigan. Grade: A
9. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Hats off to Kahne, who snaked through the field after starting in the rear for unapproved adjustments. His finish was his fourth top 10 in a row. The last time he did that: 2013. Grade: A+
10. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Larson did exactly what he needed to do Sunday. He went from two points below the cut line to five points above heading into Dover, where he finished second in May and has a 6.2 average finish in five starts. Grade: A
11. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. The setup on the No. 22 simply wasn’t working, and Logano was running 23rd with 60 laps to go and 19th with five to go. He finished seven spots ahead of his 18.3 average running position. Without those seven extra points (difference from an 18th- and 11th-place finish), Logano would be 11th in the Chase standings, 14 points above the cut line. Grade: B+
12. Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Ford, Wood Brothers Racing. Blaney made the most of getting the free pass back to the lead lap on the third caution on Lap 241. Grade: B
13. Chase Elliott, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. All those cautions forced Elliott to play defense, and the driver who spent most of the day in the top five (5.4 averaging running position) settled for a top 15. Big picture: He is 16 points above the cut line heading into Dover. Grade: B+
14. Alex Bowman, No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Bowman produced another strong run in Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s car. Grade: B+
15. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. The 21st pit road penalty for Hamlin and the No. 11 team on the season, this one for an uncontrolled tire during the fourth caution, effectively pulled the plug on Hamlin’s career-best top-10 streak at nine. Grade: D
16. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Dillon nailed his day when he said, "It was looking bleak at times." To borrow a hockey saying, the No. 3 team "stole" one. Considering where Dillon ran for most of the day -- including only one lap in the top 15 -- 16th is a win. If he advances to the next round of the Chase -- he’s five points below the cut line -- his team made it happen Sunday at Loudon. Grade: B
17. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Not that turning 21 laps in the top 15 is a great achievement, but Almirola had seven total in the previous four races. Grade: B
18. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Patrick led nine laps, the second most in her career (11 at Watkins Glen last month). And when she restarted eighth on Lap 249, it appeared her first top 10 since April 2015 (Bristol) might be in reach. Pit stops on the two subsequent cautions took care of that. Grade: B
19. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Loudon was a dud for McMurray. Despite an average running position of 10.05, he barely finished in the top 20. Pit stops for tires on the final two cautions didn’t help matters. McMurray is five points below the cut line. Grade: C
20. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Despite starting third, Newman posted his third-worst finish at New Hampshire in his past 15 starts at the track. Grade: B-
21. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. Almendinger started 17th, was 17th at the halfway point, had an average running position of 17.3 and turned 17 laps in the top 15. Alas, he finished 21st. Grade: C
22. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Sticking with Numerology for $200, Alex: Bowyer kept his improbable streak alive by finishing 22nd for the fourth straight race. If you are looking ahead, he finished 12th at Dover in May, so yes, the streak would appear to be in jeopardy. Grade: C
23. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart told his team he was "trying every trick in the book I know" to produce a better finish Sunday. He might need to do the same at Dover: He is 15th in the Chase standings, 11 points below the cut line. And he hasn’t exactly been on fire lately: Stewart’s last top 10 was seven weeks ago at Watkins Glen. Grade: C
24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Stenhouse’s nondescript day was punctuated by being spun out by Paul Menard with less than 10 laps to go. Grade: C-
25. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Menard brought out the sixth and final caution when he hit the left rear of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and sent him spinning. It likely sent Kevin Harvick to Victory Lane as well. Grade: D
26. Michael McDowell, No. 95 Chevrolet, Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing. McDowell brought out the fourth caution when his left rear tire blew several laps after contact with Clint Bowyer. Grade: C
27. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Since his seven consecutive top-25 finishes -- he hadn’t had a longer streak since 2009 -- Mears has finished 34th and 27th in the past two races. Grade: C-
28. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. DiBenedetto produced his best finish at New Hampshire in four starts. Grade: C
29. Landon Cassill, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Cassill finished in the top 30 in both races at Loudon for the second time in his career (2012 was the other). Grade: C-
30. Chris Buescher, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. His team couldn’t nail the setup, and now Buescher needs a win or a miracle at Dover to advance to the Round of 12. He is 16th in the Chase standings, 30 points below the cut off. Grade: D
31. Brian Scott, No. 44 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Scott finished in the 30s for the fourth straight race. Grade: D
32. David Ragan, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. Ragan finished three laps back. Grade: D
33. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle posted his worst finish at New Hampshire since finishing 35th in 2004. Grade: D
34. Regan Smith, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. After missing last week’s race because of the birth of his daughter, Smith finished three laps back Sunday. Grade: D
35. Cole Whitt, No. 98 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. Whitt has finished 34th or worse in his past five starts. Grade: F
36. Reed Sorenson, No. 55 Toyota, Premium Motorsports. Sorenson finished seven laps off the pace. Grade: F
37. Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 32 Ford, Go Fas Racing. In his first start since posting the best finish of his young Sprint Cup career (27th at Richmond), Earnhardt finished 10 laps back. Grade: F
38. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Fifth caution: Bayne was running 25th, one lap down, when he hit the wall hard in Turn 3 on Lap 285. Grade: F
39. Josh Wise, No. 30 Chevrolet, The Motorsports Group. Wise completed 268 laps and was running at the finish, a much better result than his DNF (crash) and 94 laps run at Loudon in July. Grade: F
40. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Annett hit the wall in Turn 2 to bring out the third caution and finished with his fourth DNF of the season. Grade: F