Posted on by Holly Cain

RELATED: Arnold Palmer’s day at the track

Brian Vickers was in Beijing, China on business when the phone messages started piling up with condolences and the news that his friend, golfing legend Arnold Palmer, 87, had died Sunday.

Vickers, a former XFINITY Series champion and a three-time Sprint Cup Series race winner, appeared in multiple television commercials with Palmer to promote a medicine to help with blood clots — a condition they both suffered from. But it was the time off-camera with Palmer that Vickers said he would remember most fondly.

“He was so easy to work with, such a nice guy,” Vickers told NASCAR.com late Monday from China.

“The thing I enjoyed most was sitting around when we weren’t shooting (the commercial) — at lunch, dinner or on the golf course just listening to some of his stories.

“I wish only that I had more time to spend with him. I’ve gotten to know him over the past five years and he was so nice, just fantastic. He is great to work with. We had a lot of fun throughout the entire campaign and off of it as well. He even helped me fix my grip for golf.”

Vickers got the chance to interact with Palmer during their playful but educational television commercials for the Janssen Pharmaceuticals drug Xarelto. And he was still amazed at the four-time Masters champion’s skill on the golf course even though he was well into his 80s.

“When we shot that commercial — the last one with Janssen just a couple years ago — he was still smoking every single guy out there in putting,” Vickers recalled. “He wasn’t out-driving anybody anymore, but on the green he was literally draining putts one after another, 30-foot putts no one else could hit.

“It was unbelievable, just amazing to see this guy just dropping putt after putt, 30-footers on oscillating greens. I can tell you, that’s the way I want to go out.”

For Vickers, the opportunity to work with Palmer was a life-impacting turn of events. And he was extremely proud to carry the champion’s “Arnie’s Army” charitable foundation on his race cars at both Martinsville and Auto Club Speedway earlier this season while filling in for an injured Tony Stewart.

“I’m obviously going to miss him, he was a great guy,” Vickers said. “It’s a sad day, but I look at the end of life as more of a celebration of what you accomplish in life. And he accomplished a lot.

“I would say people should celebrate his life. He did a lot for the American people and the American dream throughout his career, he was an inspiration and in that regard he should be celebrated.”

And he will be.

Posted on by Staff Report

NEW YORK — Andy Hoffman, founder of the Nebraska-based Team Jack Foundation dedicated to funding pediatric brain cancer research, was the recipient of The NASCAR Foundation’s sixth annual Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award presented by Nationwide on Tuesday night, during The Foundation’s inaugural Honors Gala at the Marriott Marquis.
 
This year’s award presentation is the highlight of the “10 Years of Giving” celebration for The NASCAR Foundation, which has donated approximately $25 million to impact the lives of children since its inception in 2006. The Honors Gala raised more than $1.6 million to benefit hospitalized children across the country through the recently established Speediatrics Children’s Fund.
 
The award is presented to a NASCAR fan who has done outstanding work on behalf of children in need in their community. The award honors the philanthropic ideals of the late Betty Jane France, who started The NASCAR Foundation in 2006.
 
The NASCAR Foundation will donate $100,000 to “Team Jack,” which was founded by Hoffman and his wife Brianna in 2013, two years after their son was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Team Jack works to raise research funds and create national awareness of pediatric brain cancer.
 
Hoffman, from Atkinson, Nebraska, was chosen via an online fan vote on NASCAR.com.
 
“I am humbled to have won the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award,” Hoffman said. “Receiving this award is truly a reflection of all of those amazing people that helped support the Team Jack Foundation since day one. Winning this award, literally, could be the difference between life or death for a child someday. Our hope is that the $100,000 donation will provide the seed money for us to help fund yet another clinical trial.”
 
There were three other finalists for the award; each will receive $25,000 from The NASCAR Foundation for the charity they represent. Those finalists: Jim Giaccone of Bayville, New York, representing the New York-based Tuesday’s Children organization; Logan Houptley of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a founding member of the Mikayla’s Voice organization in Nazareth, Pennsylvania; and Parker White of Greensboro, North Carolina, founder of BackPack Beginnings.

Posted on by Staff Report

Richard Childress Racing revealed Austin Dillon‘s primary 2017 paint scheme for his No. 3 Chevrolet on Tuesday.

 

 

Sponsor Dow returns to the No. 3 Chevrolet SS for the fourth consecutive year. The sponsor has been on Dillon’s car since he reintroduced the iconic No. 3 to the Sprint Cup Series in 2014.

 

This season has marked Dillon’s most successful to date, as the 26-year-old driver qualified for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup for the first time in his career and also has a career-high 10 top-10 finishes with eight races remaining in the season.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Full race results | Updated Chase Grid
SHOP: Chase gear

Two races into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and several drivers are in jeopardy of not advancing past the Round of 16, which ends next Sunday at Dover International Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Let’s find out which drivers are resting comfortably following Sunday’s Bad Boy Off Road 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Who’s hot: Kevin Harvick. Harvick came into Loudon one point shy of advancement after a dismal showing (20th) in the Chase opener in Chicago. The 2014 champion and the man nicknamed “The Closer” came on strong on the final restart to take the lead on Lap 295 and nab a win and a locked-in spot in the Round of 12. The victory, in which he only led eight laps, has to erase a little bit of the bitter taste from last fall’s race at New Hampshire, where Harvick led 216 laps but ran out of fuel with two to go.

Matt Kenseth. Kenseth came into this race with two straight wins at the “Magic Mile” and looked to be closing in on his third-straight win before Harvick surged on a late restart. The 2003 champion led 105 laps en route to a runner-up finish and moved up to fourth in the standings, 25 points to the good of transferring into the next round.

Kyle Larson. A top-10 finish at Loudon moved Larson from 15th in the standings (two points back of the last transfer spot) to 12th and five points to the good. It was an up-and-down weekend for the third-year driver, who didn’t show the same speed in the race he had shown in practice. Still, he is on the right side of the bubble heading to Dover, where the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates driver has an average finish of 6.2 and led 85 laps in the spring en route to a runner-up finish.


Who’s not: Tony Stewart: The three-time champion was stuck a lap down for much of the second half of the race and finished 23rd, the second-lowest finish among the Chase field. The result had to be disappointing for “Smoke” after a runner-up showing at New Hampshire in July. Following a summer surge thanks to his Sonoma win, Stewart has not notched a top-10 finish in six races and is on the wrong side of the Chase cut line heading to Dover.

Austin Dillon. The weekend started rough when a wreck in the latter stages of the opening practice forced the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 team to pull out a backup car. Dillon’s 16th-place finish was aided by a few late cautions to get him back on the lead lap, but he is still five points behind the cutoff line. On top of that, his overall numbers at Dover (see below) have the Chase rookie in a very tough spot to advance.


Four in, four out: Here’s a look at the Chase bubble, with four drivers being eliminated after the third race of this round, at Dover International Speedway.

Chase Bubble Watch

Standing Driver Point Differential from Cutoff
9. Chase Elliott +16
10. Carl Edwards +16
11. Kurt Busch +15
12. Kyle Larson +5
———— CUT-OFF LINE ————
13. Jamie McMurray -5
14. Austin Dillon -5
15. Tony Stewart -11
16. Chris Buescher -30


Up next: Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway, Sunday Oct. 2, 2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Who it favors

Most wins: 10 (Jimmie Johnson, most all-time)

Best driver rating: 118.1 (Jimmie Johnson-29 races), 108.5 (Matt Kenseth-35 races)

Best average finish: 3.0 (Chase Elliott-one race), 6.2 (Kyle Larson-five races), 9.6 (Jimmie Johnson-29 races)

Who it hurts

Fewest top 10s: 0 (Austin Dillon-six races, Chris Buescher-one race)

Worst driver rating: 48.8 (Chris Buescher-one race), 66.2 (Austin Dillon-six races), 70.6 (Tony Stewart-34 races)

Worst average finish: 26.7 (Austin Dillon-six races), 18.6 (Denny Hamlin-21 races), 18.2 (Kurt Busch-32 races)

Posted on by Zack Albert

RELATED: Truck Chase Grid

Daniel Hemric clinched his spot in the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase playoffs with remarkable consistency and a sizable nest egg of points. Now facing a significant deficit after a perilous postseason opener, stockpiling points may not be enough to keep his championship hopes intact.

 

Hemric enters Saturday night’s DC Solar 350 (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a much firmer focus on scoring his first victory of the season.

 

“At the end of the day, this deal rewards winning,” Hemric said last weekend after finishing a season-worst 28th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “Yeah, we did it the other way to get here, but I don’t know if with the day we had here, we’ll be able to salvage it on just points. We’ve got to go win.”

 

The 25-year-old driver for Brad Keselowski Racing spun early in last Saturday’s Chase opener, saying he believed he ran over a piece of debris that punctured his left-rear tire. The spent rubber became entangled in the brake assembly, triggering a small flash fire on pit road and eventually forcing his No. 19 Ford behind the wall for extended repairs.

 

The deficit Hemric faces is even more daunting based on the fact that his fellow Chase competitors enjoyed relatively trouble-free days at New Hampshire. Aside from Hemric, the remaining seven Chasers all finished in the top 11.

 

Two races — this weekend at Vegas and Oct. 22 at Talladega Superspeedway — remain before two of the eight drivers are eliminated from the playoff picture. Just 27 points separate New Hampshire winner and points leader William Byron and seventh-place Ben Kennedy, but Hemric sits another 20 points behind Kennedy and 21 points behind sixth-place Johnny Sauter.

 

Hemric’s regular-season run of reliability — with top-fives in half of the 16 races — had earned him a share of the top spot with Byron in the series standings before the points were reset for the postseason. The task of escaping the Chase’s bottom two on the basis of points isn’t mathematically impossible, but Hemric would rather convert an automatic transfer with a win.

 

“I believe we can,” said Hemric, who has come close with seven finishes in the top three this season. “Especially our mile and a half program’s been really solid and we’ve shown that time and time again. That’s it. We know what we have to do.”

 

While Hemric knows he has two opportunities to regain lost ground, there may extra urgency to find momentum at Las Vegas this weekend rather than roll the dice in the opening round’s elimination race at Talladega, where large crashes and wild-card winners are much more probable.

 

“That’s the thought,” Hemric said. “Nobody wants to go to Talladega knowing they’ve got to win when everybody has that mentality. The past has shown what happens. Now with the new format, we feel a lot more confident we can just go do our jobs at Vegas and not have to worry about it.”

Posted on by Pat DeCola

Truex finished seventh at Loudon, but had the dominant car most of the day. He nearly opened the Chase with a pair of home runs.

 

MORE: Truex impressive yet again

With a win in hand and the pressure off, look for Harvick to come out stomping at Dover, where he led 355 of 400 to win this race last year, albeit in do-or-die fashion.

MORE: Harvick closes for NH win

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/kyle-busch/
KyleBusch
2
Joe Gibbs Racing

Busch may not get the notoriety at Dover, but he’s one of a small handful of drivers to have double-digit top-five finishes, with 10.

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/jimmie-johnson/
JimmieJohnson
-1
Hendrick Motorsports

Everyone knows Johnson is nearly (see: fall 2015) unstoppable at Dover, but how’s this for a stat? "Six-Time’s" all-time laps led at the track (3,003) are nearly as many as the next three active full-time drivers on the list combined (3,067).

 

MORE: Johnson looking to avoid recent history

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/brad-keselowski/
BradKeselowski
1
Team Penske

Keselowski scraped together a great finish, but there are overall speed issues potentially plaguing the 2 team right now.

 

MORE: Kes grinds out top five

Kenseth nearly earned a wave of momentum by virtue of his third straight NH win ahead of going back to the track he won at earlier this year, but, alas — he finished second.

 

MORE: Kenseth takes blame for restarts

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/chase-elliott/
ChaseElliott
-5
Hendrick Motorsports

Elliott should be in decent shape to move on, especially if he has another race at Dover like he did earlier this year (third).

Logano couldn’t get it going at his home track, and, while he should be fine to advance to the next round, he needs to find some speed to continue on.

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/denny-hamlin/
DennyHamlin
-2
Joe Gibbs Racing

Hamlin’s run of consistent strong finishes ended at New Hampshire by virtue of his crew’s late, costly pit road penalty. He was not pleased.

Unlike his teammate, Edwards recovered from a penalty on the same stop as Hamlin for a good finish. He still needs to bring it at Dover, however.

 

More: Edwards rallies to salvage finish

Busch really needed that top-five finish at Loudon. His No. 41 team hadn’t been running extraordinarily well of late.

Based on his first five races at Dover, he looks like the next Jimmie Johnson-type monster tamer, with an average finish of 6.2. He nearly won the spring race, but fell to second.

 

MORE: Larson back on track

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/austin-dillon/
AustinDillon
2
Richard Childress Racing

Dillon still has some work to do at Dover, as he’s still on the outside looking in with one race left before the cutoff.

 

MORE: Dillon on the bubble

McMurray finds himself on the bubble, right behind his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate. He is one of six Chevrolet drivers ninth or worse in the Chase standings.

Stewart will need a small miracle or a win to advance. He has some recent success at Dover (2013 win) and three victories overall.

Buescher, however, needs a miracle of the grandest variety. He may have used up his one for the season with his Pocono win that put him into the Chase in the first place.

 

MORE: Crunch time for Buescher

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The Citizen Soldier 400 (Sunday, 2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Dover International Speedway marks the first elimination of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup as the field shrinks from 16 drivers to 12. How can drivers advance to the Round of 12? Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick are already locked into the next round with victories at Chicagoland and New Hampshire, respectively. Here’s a look at how drivers can clinch spots in the next round. 

Possible to Clinch:

—Brad Keselowski (0 Wins, 2087 Points) – Would clinch on points with 12 Points (29th and no laps led, 30th and led at least one lap, 31st and led most laps) and a new winner.  If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 7 Points (34th and no laps led, 35th and led at least one lap, 36th and led most laps).  With a win, he would clinch a next round spot on wins.

—Kyle Busch (0 Wins, 2085 Points) – Would clinch on points with 14 Points (27th and no laps led, 28th and led at least one lap, 29th and led most laps) and a new winner.  If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 9 Points (32nd and no laps led, 33rd and led at least one lap, 34th and led most laps).  With a win, he would clinch a next round spot on wins.

—Matt Kenseth (0 Wins, 2078 Points) – Would clinch on points with 20 Points (21st and no laps led, 22nd and led at least one lap, 23rd and led most laps) and a new winner.  If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 15 Points (26th and no laps led, 27th and led at least one lap, 28th and led most laps).  With a win, he would clinch a next round spot on wins.

—Joey Logano (0 Wins, 2073 Points) – Would clinch on points with 26 Points (15th and no laps led, 16th and led at least one lap, 17th and led most laps) and a new winner.  If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 21 Points (20th and no laps led, 21st and led at least one lap, 22nd and led most laps).  With a win, he would clinch a next round spot on wins.

—Denny Hamlin (0 Wins, 2071 Points) – Would clinch on points with 28 Points (13th and no laps led, 14th and led at least one lap, 15th and led most laps) and a new winner.  If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 23 Points (18th and no laps led, 19th and led at least one lap, 20th and led most laps).  With a win, he would clinch a next round spot on wins.


—Jimmie Johnson (0 Wins, 2070 Points) – Would clinch on points with 29 Points (12th and no laps led, 13th and led at least one lap, 14th and led most laps) and a new winner.  If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 24 Points (17th and no laps led, 18th and led at least one lap, 19th and led most laps).  With a win, he would clinch a next round spot on wins.

 —Chase Elliott (0 Wins, 2068 Points) – Would clinch on points with 31 Points (10th and no laps led, 11th and led at least one lap, 12th and led most laps) and a new winner.  If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 26 Points (15th and no laps led, 16th and led at least one lap, 17th and led most laps).  With a win, he would clinch a next round spot on wins.


—Carl Edwards (0 Wins, 2068 Points) – Would clinch on points with 31 Points (10th and no laps led, 11th and led at least one lap, 12th and led most laps) and a new winner.  If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 26 Points (15th and no laps led, 16th and led at least one lap, 17th and led most laps).  With a win, he would clinch a next round spot on wins.


—Kurt Busch (0 Wins, 2067 Points) – Would clinch on points with 32 Points (9th and no laps led, 10th and led at least one lap, 11th and led most laps) and a new winner.  If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 27 Points (14th and no laps led, 15th and led at least one lap, 16th and led most laps).  With a win, he would clinch a next round spot on wins.

 —Kyle Larson (0 Wins, 2057 Points) – If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 37 Points (4th and no laps led, 5th and led at least one lap, 6th and led most laps).  With a win, he would clinch a next round spot on wins.  Could clinch on points with a new winner and help.

For the following, the only guaranteed clinch would be with a win. Each could clinch without a win, but would need varying levels of help, however:


—Jamie McMurray (0 Wins, 2052 Points)


—Austin Dillon (0 Wins, 2052 Points)


—Tony Stewart (0 Wins, 2046 Points)


—Chris Buescher (0 Wins, 2027 Points)

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Chase Grid

SPARTA, Ky. — Was Saturday night’s opening Chase race for NASCAR’s XFINITY Series an example of good, hard racing or a case of folks driving over their heads?

 

That depends on who one asked afterward.

 

Race winner Elliott Sadler wasn’t pointing fingers, and race winners have rarely been heard to utter a discouraging word. But the JR Motorsports driver said he did notice an uptick in intensity during the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

 

“About halfway through the race, it was ‘note to self; you can tell it’s the Chase because it was caution after caution after caution,” Sadler said afterward. “People were tense, eager, frustrated, nervous. A lot of different things going on with drivers right now … trying to make it to the second (round).

 

“I think people are giving each other less room. Restarts are crazy in the back.”

 

They were crazy up front, too. The race, which kicked off a seven-race, two-round elimination playoff for the series, saw the caution flag fly a track record 12 times. More than one-fourth of the race (64 laps) was run under the yellow. Yes, there was even a brief (5 min., 34 sec.) red-flag period.

 

Erik Jones, the top seed and regular-season leader in race wins, got crossed up while racing with Ty Dillon and both the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet ended up in the wall.

RELATED: See the wreck the caught two title contenders

 

Each is now outside eighth place in points with two races to try and improve their standing; only the top eight (with the exception of a Chase race winner that might be 9th-12th) advance to the second round.

 

Not surprisingly, Jones wasn’t particularly pleased with the early ending to his night and said later that the aggressive driving does cause one to approach the race differently.

 

“Yeah, it makes me try to stay out of trouble,” he said. “I didn’t want to have something like that happen. … You try to play defense some. I was for sure.”

 

Of course, there was the matter of a reconfigured track that sports new asphalt and distinctly different turns. That, too, played a role in the difficulties for some.

 

And that was to be expected, said Brendan Gaughan, driver of the No. 62 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.

 

“It didn’t seem like it was any more aggressive than normal,” Gaughan said after finishing sixth.

 

“It’s a very narrow race track here right now. That Turn 3 is treacherous, man. There’s no grip on the entry, there’s no width on the entry. It’s a treacherous, treacherous place at the moment. …

 

“It’s still Kentucky. I love it.”

 

The fight to advance into the next round began early, but it’s not the only battle going on and Saturday night’s race brought some of that to light.

 

In addition to the driver’s championship, there’s an owners title at stake and a couple of teams didn’t forget about that.

 

At the end of the regular season, the No. 2 team of RCR was atop the owners’ standings, followed by the No. 18 of Joe Gibbs Racing, the No. 1 of JRM with Sadler behind the wheel, and the No. 22 of Team Penske.

 

Chevy, Toyota, Chevy and Ford. You think those folks aren’t paying close attention?

 

RCR brought in Sam Hornish Jr. to keep the No. 2 team in the hunt; Penske handed the reins to Sprint Cup driver Ryan Blaney.

 

Sadler got the win, but a solid fifth-place run by Matt Tifft put the JGR No. 18 atop the owners’ standings. JRM (No. 1) now sits second thanks to the victory while Hornish, who finished fourth, kept the RCR entry in the mix — it’s now third.

 

Blaney did not fare badly but the way it all shook out left him third on the track and the team now fifth in the owners’ battle.

 

Dover, a fast, unforgiving mile of concrete, is up next. Some folks will be looking to rebound, some looking to continue to ride a hot start.

 

If Kentucky was any indication, they better hope they can just hang on.

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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