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Truex’s performance at Loudon was one of his best this season
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As fantasy owners it’s dangerous to try to crawl inside a driver’s head and assume we know what’s going on in there. That’s why we usually err to the side of being stats-driven in our advice.
But was it motivation that caused Martin Truex Jr. to put on one of his best performances of the season in what was a very difficult week for him and Michael Waltrip Racing?
It sure seemed that way after he led 98 laps, which was his second-best output of the season. (He led 142 laps before finishing second at Texas this year. In his one win, at Sonoma, he led 51 laps.) To make a football analogy, Truex Jr. looked like the Colts’ Ahmad Bradshaw (111 total yards, 1 TD) after the team traded for Trent Richardson: in other words, highly engaged in the task at hand on Sunday.
The 49 points for laps led at New Hampshire contributed to Truex Jr. joining race-winner Matt Kenseth as the only drivers to produce 100-plus fantasy points this week. Truex Jr. also scored 28 points in quality passes and fastest laps.
So even though he lost five points in place differential after finishing 10th, he still wound up being a fantasy beast.
That leads fantasy players to wonder whether Truex Jr. is using the final races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup as a showcase for his talents, either to draw attention from potential sponsors or from another team looking to give him a ride.
It makes sense to connect those dots, but again, it can be dangerous territory when fantasy owners try to base their decisions on hunches and other intangibles such as motivation.
So, what do the numbers say about Truex Jr. at Dover International Speedway?
As his fans know, Dover was the site of one of Truex Jr’s. two Sprint Cup Series wins. Plus, he has the 10th-best driver rating there, according to NASCAR Statistical Services. So it wouldn’t be a stretch to see him play well this weekend in the AAA 400 (2 p.m. ET, ESPN). But at $25.75 Truex Jr. is no bargain, so let’s hope the stats can back up the mind games at the "Monster Mile."
Key Fantasy Moment: Jeff Gordon‘s streak of top-10 finishes ended at four after his car slid over the line and he had to back up into his pit stall on Lap 202. Gordon held the lead at the time but lost it and had to restart in the 22nd position. He managed to work his way back up to a 15th-place finish, but by then his fantasy day was toast. A minus-12 in place differential hurt Gordon, who started third. He ended with the 12th-best fantasy score, but that put him only seventh among Chase drivers. Not worth the $25 that fantasy owners paid for him.
Biggest Bargain: Brian Vickers was the only driver who pulled double duty in Kentucky and New Hampshire and carried a certain amount of risk in fantasy leagues. He also had to start 29th on the grid after Kenny Wallace qualified the No. 55 for him. But Vickers managed to improve 22 spots on a track where it’s difficult to make up ground. Vickers tied with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the seventh-highest fantasy output of the week, but cost just $20.50 compared with $26.25 for Junior.
Biggest Bust: Kasey Kahne had a decent run going until he got loose on Lap 252 and slid and made contact with the infield wall on the frontstretch. He went to the garage for good after that and finished 37th. That led to a minus-35 in place differential that took his fantasy score from top-10 potential down to 31 out of 43 drivers. Fantasy owners got to experience all that misery for $25.25, meaning their other drivers had to be perfect picks in order to salvage the day.
Tip to take to next week: Brad Keselowski hasn’t let not qualifying for the Chase affect his performance. After a seventh-place finish at Chicagoland, the driver of the Blue Deuce turned in an 11th-place showing at New Hampshire. Racking up 26.5 fantasy points on quality passes pumped up Keselowski’s score to the third-best output on the day. Although Keselowski’s driver rating is ranked only 13th at Dover, it’s hard to deny his current hot streak. And at $24.75 is priced just beneath some other second-tier fantasy drivers such as Kahne, Gordon and Greg Biffle.
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Greg Biffle makes biggest jump in the Chase standings
Updated standings | Full coverage
Three up
Three down
FULL SERIES COVERAGE
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• View all photos
|
Pos. |
Driver |
Pts back |
+/- |
|
1. |
Matt Kenseth |
— |
0 |
|
2. |
Kyle Busch |
-14 |
0 |
|
3. |
Jimmie Johnson |
-18 |
0 |
|
4. |
Carl Edwards |
-36 |
+1 |
|
5. |
Greg Biffle |
-38 |
+6 |
|
6. |
Kevin Harvick |
-39 |
-2 |
|
7. |
Kurt Busch |
-40 |
-1 |
|
8. |
Jeff Gordon |
-42 |
-1 |
|
9. |
Ryan Newman |
-47 |
-1 |
|
10. |
Clint Bowyer |
-48 |
-1 |
|
11. |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
-62 |
+2 |
|
12. |
Joey Logano |
-69 |
0 |
|
13. |
Kasey Kahne |
-71 |
-3 |
IN THE GREEN
Carl Edwards (Change: 5th to 4th)
Edwards started the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the 26th position after enduring handling issues in practice and qualifying. Working his way through traffic, Edwards eventually broke into the top 10 at Lap 277 after passing defending race winner, Denny Hamlin. Edwards finished ninth, and his steady upward movement allowed him to finish with 2,075 points in the Chase standings, 36 points behind Chase leader Matt Kenseth.
Greg Biffle (Change: 11th to 5th)
Biffle made the most dramatic jump in the standings this week after finishing third at New Hampshire. Biffle has one Sprint Cup career win at Loudon, along with seven top-five finishes. After qualifying in 10th place, Biffle eventually grabbed third from Kyle Busch at Lap 259 and managed to hold off a hounding Jimmie Johnson for the rest of the race. Biffle stood 11th in the Chase standings, but after his third-place finish in the Sylvania 300, he now holds fifth with 2,073 points.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Change: 13th to 11th)
Earnhardt Jr. made a significant comeback after his unfortunate DNF at Chicagoland Speedway last week. Leading 17 laps and finishing sixth after originally qualifying 17th, Earnhardt Jr. moved up two places in the Chase standings to 11th from 13th. Although he currently sits outside of the top 10 in the standings, he goes into next week at Dover International Speedway already having one Sprint Cup career win there in 2001. Earnhardt Jr. currently has 2,049 points, just 14 points behind 10th-place holder, Clint Bowyer.
IN THE RED
Kevin Harvick (Change: 4th to 6th)
Harvick started the Sylvania 300 in eighth place, just in front of Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth. Everything was running smoothly until his car started to overheat at Lap 216 and he plummeted to 21st place. Harvick holds a previous win at New Hampshire in 2006, but failed to make the top-10 this time around. Dropping two points in the Chase standings, Harvick now holds sixth place, just one point behind Biffle. Harvick has yet to earn a win at Dover International Speedway in his Sprint Cup career, but does hold three top-five finishes, as well as 11 top-10 finishes there.
Kurt Busch (Change: 6th to 7th)
Busch seemed like he couldn’t hold his own this week. Starting in the fourth position, Busch began dropping out of the top 10 after a restart on Lap 58. Busch even fell as low as 23rd with one lap down on Lap 275. He worked his way through traffic and eventually finished 13th. Busch has earned three Sprint Cup career wins at New Hampshire, but just couldn’t find it in him or his car to even make it into the top 10 this week. Busch dropped one spot in the Chase standings and now holds seventh place with 2,071 points, one point behind Harvick. As he goes into Dover International Speedway Busch can feel a slight comfort knowing that he already has earned one career win there in 2011.
Kasey Kahne (Change: 10th to 13th)
Kahne had a strong opportunity to win at New Hampshire, but on Lap 252 he made contact with the wall on the frontstretch that sent him to the garage. He eventually returned on Lap 275 in 37th place, 22 laps down. Kahne started the race in the second position and even held the lead for 31 laps. After finishing in 37th, Kahne now has 2,040 points in the Chase standings after dropping three places to 13th.
MISSED CHANCES
Jeff Gordon (Change: 7th to 8th)
Gordon had a hot start going for him this week in the Sylvania 300. He started third and eventually overtook Matt Kenseth for the lead at Lap 111 as Kenseth headed to pit road, and even received a bonus point for it. Gordon led for 36 laps and it wasn’t until Lap 202 where he slid over the line in his pit box and had to back up to get pit service, costing him his lead and was forced to restart way back in 22nd. Gordon worked his way back up the best he could, but eventually finished 15th with 2,069 points in the Chase standings, dropping back one position to eighth.
Gordon had a hot start going for him this week in the Sylvania 300. He started third and eventually overtook Matt Kenseth for the lead at Lap 111 as Kenseth headed to pit road, and even received a bonus point for it. Gordon led for 36 laps and it wasn’t until Lap 202 where he slid over the line in his pit box and had to back up to get pit service, costing him his lead and was forced to restart way back in 22nd. Gordon worked his way back up the best he could, but eventually finished 15th with 2,069 points in the Chase standings, dropping back one position to eighth.
Ryan Newman (Change: 8th to 9th)
Coors Light Pole Winner Newman was in the perfect position to win at New Hampshire, but led only for two laps. Kasey Kahne quickly gained the lead over Newman in the fourth turn of Lap 2 as Jeff Gordon followed. At Lap 214, Newman had faded all the way back to 26th running as the last car on the lead lap. Newman made up for some of his fall and eventually finished 16th. He now stands ninth in the Chase standings with 2,064 points after dropping one position from last week.
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Run at Loudon helps Dale Jr. move up to 11th in the point standings
LOUDON, N.H. — Based on Saturday’s practice, Dale Earnhardt Jr. thought he had a potential winner in Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
A miscue in the pits, however, put the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet off pit sequence from the majority of the field.
Earnhardt’s crew had trouble with a lug nut on the right rear wheel during Earnhardt’s first pit stop, under caution on Lap 32. Subsequently, Earnhardt brought the No. 88 to pit road off-sequence under yellow on Lap 55.
That move allowed Earnhardt to inherit the lead on Lap 114 during a cycle of green-flag stops, but he surrendered it after a pit stop on lap 130 and led only one lap thereafter—under caution on Lap 202.
Nevertheless, Earnhardt earned a hard-fought sixth-place finish after losing fifth place to Jamie McMurray during an intense battle late in the race.
"I ran out of rear tires trying to hold him off," Earnhardt said. "Couldn’t get the power down just off the corner, and he was a pretty fast car to begin with. …
"Just happy to rebound from earlier on pit road and get a good finish. The car was fast as heck (Saturday in practice), one of the top three cars, I thought. Glad we were able to get a decent finish out of it. Just want to win one—I’m trying hard."
Earnhardt hasn’t been to Victory Lane in his past 47 starts, dating to June 2012 at Michigan.
HEAD GAMES?
Not that any competitor would wish ill fortune on the Chase leader, but Carl Edwards doesn’t think it’s untoward to remind former teammate Matt Kenseth that there may be trouble on the horizon.
After all, the Joe Gibbs Racing cars have had several engine issues this year, and Edwards was simply making sure Kenseth remembers that. With wins in the first two Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup races, Kenseth looks formidable indeed, but a blown engine could change that.
"I think if Matt and those guys can stay away from some of the equipment issues they’ve had, they’re going to be really, really tough to beat," said Edwards, who finished ninth Sunday and is fourth in the standings, 36 points behind Kenseth. "He could run away with this thing, and he’s making it tough on the rest of us.
"But for me it’s kind of the tortoise and the hare. He’s out there going, but we know–we’ve seen it this year–those guys have had a couple of problems. I’m not wishing that upon them or anything…"
No, nothing like that. Right, Carl?
NICE RECOVERY
In a race that featured strong rallies from a number of drivers—Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Greg Biffle among them—Jamie McMurray‘s comeback was perhaps most impressive.
On Lap 37 of 300, McMurray spun in Turn 4 off the bumper of soon-to-be-ex-teammate Juan Pablo Montoya. McMurray brought the No. 1 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet to pit road for a succession of stops under caution as his team worked feverishly to repair the damage.
Ultimately, McMurray finished fifth—his third top five of the season—after taking the fifth position from Earnhardt late in the race.
"Yeah, our car was really good, even after the crash," McMurray said. "I told you before the race that, if we had good track position at the end, I thought we could finish good.
"It was a really good day for our Linksys car—just a fun day racing."
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Kenseth has first two wins in Chase
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LOUDON, N.H. — Was this real or instant replay?
For the second straight week, in the second race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Matt Kenseth led Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch to the finish line — and for Kenseth, who has struggled at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, that added a dreamlike quality to the victory.
The top seed in the Chase, Kenseth won Sunday’s Sylvania 300 by .533 seconds over Busch as JGR asserted its superiority for the second consecutive week. A half hour after the race ended, the magnitude of the victory was still sinking in for the 2003 Sprint Cup champion.
"For me to win at New Hampshire, first of all, is more than a stretch and more than a dream," Kenseth said. "This is probably one of my worst places. That just shows you how good this whole team is. … I didn’t even know there was a Victory Lane here.
"I felt really confident with my car today, but to have a fast car and to be able to do all the right things with adjustments and strategy and pit stops and all that stuff and be out front and win is two different things. So I’m thankful to be part of this group, and it honestly doesn’t really seem real that we won yet today."
Kenseth led a race-high 106 laps in winning for the seventh time this season, for the first time at the Magic Mile and for the 31st time in his career. Winning in his 500th start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Kenseth extended his Chase lead to 14 points over Busch.
Greg Biffle drove from sixth to third after the final restart on Lap 258 of 300. Five-time champion Jimmie Johnson finished fourth, followed by Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Though Busch closed on Kenseth in traffic late in the race, the driver of the No. 18 Toyota acknowledged that his teammate had the superior car.
"Certainly, we were never as fast this weekend as the 20 (Kenseth) was," Busch said. "They just had a special car. Sometimes you unload with them, and they’re just phenomenal. The 20 had that here this weekend. We tried everything to try to keep up with him and to get pace with him, but it was tough to do."
Kasey Kahne saw his Chase hopes dim when he spun on the frontstretch on Lap 252 and nosed into the inside wall. Kahne came home 37th and fell to 13th in the standings, 71 points behind Kenseth and all but out of the running for the championship.
Brian Vickers, the July winner at the 1.058-mile track, started in the rear and finished seventh. Vickers was racing in the Nationwide Series at Kentucky Speedway and enlisted Kenny Wallace to practice and qualify his Sprint Cup car on Friday. Because of the driver change, Vickers had to drop to the back of the field for the start.
Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards and Martin Truex Jr. completed the top 10. Truex led 98 laps but fell back during the final 43-lap green-flag run.
"We had a good car the first half of the race, and then the second half, we just started getting tight," said Truex, whose sponsor NAPA announced Thursday it was leaving Michael Waltrip Racing at the end of the season in the wake of penalties to the organization for attempting to manipulate the outcome of the Richmond race two weeks ago.
"It was cooling off and clouding up. We just could never get it turning again. Then that last set of tires was just terrible for us — just couldn’t do anything with it. It’s unfortunate. The guys did a good job all weekend. We struggled here the last few times and obviously made some huge gains in the right direction — just weren’t good enough to be there when it counted."
Notes: Kenseth ran a special paint scheme commemorating his 500th start. The only other driver to win in his 500th Cup start was Richard Petty in 1970. … Johnson is third in the standings, 18 points behind Kenseth and the only driver other than Busch within 36 points of the leader. … Kenseth is the third driver to win the first two races in the Chase. Tony Stewart accomplished the feat in 2011 en route to his third title. Greg Biffle won the first two Chase races in 2008 and finished third in the final standings.
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The No. 48 has regained consistency at just the right time
MORE: Full coverage of the Chase for the Sprint Cup
LOUDON, N.H. — Five-time champions don’t worry.
They’ve seen the ups and downs, enjoyed the hot streaks and endured the droughts.
They know that, in the end, it all balances.
It’s starting to come back around for Jimmie Johnson.
The driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet closed the stretch-run leading up to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with four straight clunkers at Michigan, Bristol, Atlanta and Richmond that saw him average a finish of 36th. He’s responded by opening the Chase with a pair of top-five finishes last week at Chicagoland and Sunday in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway that have him just 18 points behind a blistering Matt Kenseth — the kind of rebound that would seem unprecedented for every driver in the garage, save for Five-Time and a very small handful of others.
"To open (the Chase) with a five, four is great," Johnson said. "One, one like Matt has is a lot better, but we’re in a good spot. … All in all, great day, though. Definitely wanted more, we had a great race car. There at the end I was on the inside lane on those restarts and I’d lose two or three (spots) each time, but it’s just part of it, you know, one of those things. But a great performance, great start to the Chase."
Even if Johnson showed no sign of concern after his string of rough starts — perhaps made easier by knowing that his four regular-season wins would seed him second overall once the playoffs started — there was a legitimate argument that he might be in danger if he didn’t right the ship quickly.
Things got off to a great start at Chicagoland, where a fifth-place finish behind four other Chase drivers was just enough to keep him in the mix in the top three in the standings. With the same one-two of Kenseth and teammate Kyle Busch at the top Sunday at Loudon, the only other driver to finish ahead of Johnson was Greg Biffle, who already had some ground to make up after a mediocre finish at Chicagoland. Johnson’s consistency in the first two Chase races has him exactly halfway between Kenseth and fourth-place Carl Edwards — a cushion that looked unrealistic just over a week ago.
"It was better than we thought it would be. I felt like we were really going to have to scrap for a top-10, maybe a top-five," Johnson said. "Those last couple of restarts lining up on the inside lane just didn’t work for anyone. I’d lose a couple of spots and have to get them back. Strong, strong performance. … It took a lot of hard work to get the end result, but we’ve got a nice race car for these flat tracks. I’m looking forward to Phoenix now. It’s good to have a good run here knowing we can go to Phoenix and be competitive, too."
While Johnson is happy to know that his team can build him a race car that can run well on flat tracks, if there was ever a race to be confident about, it comes next week at Dover. During his skid, it was starting to look like Johnson might have to rely on the Monster Mile to be his slump-buster, but instead it’ll likely be his NBA Jam-inspired, "He’s on fire!" moment as a third-consecutive strong race is, well, all but a slam dunk.
Johnson has seven career victories at the track and finishes in the top five nearly 50 percent of the time. And that’s no small sample size, either. It’ll be his 24th career start.
After keeping afloat near the top of the standings, Johnson knows he has a shot to cement himself as a true contender next week before Kenseth runs away with the points lead.
"We haven’t given up too many points, and we’re going to one of my best race tracks next week in Dover," Johnson said. "So I certainly hope to have this Lowe’s Chevrolet in Victory Lane over there."
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After Race 28 of the 2013 season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
| Pos | Owner | Car # | Points | Ldr | Nxt | PPos | G/L | Attempts |
| 1 | Joe Gibbs | 20 | 2,111 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 28 |
| 2 | Joe Gibbs | 18 | 2,097 | -14 | -14 | 2 | 0 | 28 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | 48 | 2,093 | -18 | -4 | 3 | 0 | 28 |
| 4 | Jack Roush | 99 | 2,075 | -36 | -18 | 5 | 1 | 28 |
| 5 | Jack Roush | 16 | 2,073 | -38 | -2 | 11 | 6 | 28 |
| 6 | Richard Childress | 29 | 2,072 | -39 | -1 | 4 | -2 | 28 |
| 7 | Barney Visser | 78 | 2,071 | -40 | -1 | 6 | -1 | 28 |
| 8 | Rick Hendrick | 24 | 2,069 | -42 | -2 | 7 | -1 | 28 |
| 9 | Tony Stewart | 39 | 2,064 | -47 | -5 | 8 | -1 | 28 |
| 10 | Rob Kauffman | 15 | 2,063 | -48 | -1 | 9 | -1 | 28 |
| 11 | Rick Hendrick | 88 | 2,049 | -62 | -14 | 13 | 2 | 28 |
| 12 | Walter Czarnecki | 22 | 2,042 | -69 | -7 | 12 | 0 | 28 |
| 13 | Linda Hendrick | 5 | 2,040 | -71 | -2 | 10 | -3 | 28 |
| 14 | Roger Penske | 2 | 792 | -1,319 | -1,248 | 15 | 1 | 28 |
| 15 | Felix Sabates | 1 | 786 | -1,325 | -6 | 16 | 1 | 28 |
| 16 | Margaret Haas | 14 | 779 | -1,332 | -7 | 14 | -2 | 28 |
| 17 | Michael Waltrip | 56 | 752 | -1,359 | -27 | 18 | 1 | 28 |
| 18 | Richard Childress | 27 | 742 | -1,369 | -10 | 17 | -1 | 28 |
| 19 | Richard Petty | 43 | 719 | -1,392 | -23 | 19 | 0 | 28 |
| 20 | John Henry | 17 | 700 | -1,411 | -19 | 20 | 0 | 28 |
| 21 | Richard Childress | 31 | 694 | -1,417 | -6 | 23 | 2 | 28 |
| 22 | Chip Ganassi | 42 | 693 | -1,418 | -1 | 21 | -1 | 28 |
| 23 | Richard Petty | 9 | 693 | -1,418 | 0 | 22 | -1 | 28 |
| 24 | Michael Waltrip | 55 | 684 | -1,427 | -9 | 24 | 0 | 28 |
| 25 | J D Gibbs | 11 | 620 | -1,491 | -64 | 25 | 0 | 28 |
| 26 | Bob Germain | 13 | 577 | -1,534 | -43 | 26 | 0 | 28 |
| 27 | Bob Jenkins | 34 | 523 | -1,588 | -54 | 28 | 1 | 28 |
| 28 | Harry Scott Jr. | 51 | 523 | -1,588 | 0 | 27 | -1 | 28 |
| 29 | Gene Haas | 10 | 514 | -1,597 | -9 | 30 | 1 | 28 |
| 30 | Tad Geschickter | 47 | 509 | -1,602 | -5 | 29 | -1 | 28 |
| 31 | Brad Jenkins | 38 | 483 | -1,628 | -26 | 31 | 0 | 28 |
| 32 | Tommy Baldwin | 7 | 444 | -1,667 | -39 | 32 | 0 | 28 |
| 33 | Brandon Davis | 30 | 396 | -1,715 | -48 | 33 | 0 | 28 |
| 34 | Ron Devine | 93 | 388 | -1,723 | -8 | 34 | 0 | 28 |
| 35 | Allan Heinke | 36 | 382 | -1,729 | -6 | 35 | 0 | 28 |
| 36 | Ron Devine | 83 | 379 | -1,732 | -3 | 36 | 0 | 28 |
| 37 | Joe Falk | 33 | 363 | -1,748 | -16 | 37 | 0 | 28 |
| 38 | Frank Stoddard Jr. | 32 | 362 | -1,749 | -1 | 38 | 0 | 28 |
| 39 | Jerry Freeze | 35 | 277 | -1,834 | -85 | 39 | 0 | 28 |
| 40 | Andrea Nemechek | 87 | 216 | -1,895 | -61 | 40 | 0 | 28 |
| 41 | Glen Wood | 21 | 186 | -1,925 | -30 | 41 | 0 | 9 |
| 42 | Mike Curb | 98 | 121 | -1,990 | -65 | 42 | 0 | 25 |
| 43 | Michael Hillman | 140 | 107 | -2,004 | -14 | 44 | 1 | 8 |
| 44 | Bob Leavine | 95 | 104 | -2,007 | -3 | 43 | -1 | 17 |
| 45 | Randy Humphrey | 19 | 44 | -2,067 | -60 | 45 | 0 | 23 |
| 46 | Bob Keselowski | 152 | 17 | -2,094 | -27 | 46 | 0 | 5 |
| 47 | John Cohen | 44 | 10 | -2,101 | -7 | 47 | 0 | 9 |
| 48 | Roger Penske | 12 | 7 | -2,104 | -3 | 48 | 0 | 1 |
| 49 | J D Gibbs | 81 | 4 | -2,107 | -3 | 49 | 0 | 2 |
| 50 | Larry Gunselman | 37 | 0 | -2,111 | -4 | 50 | 0 | 1 |
Moments that changed the course of the second race in the 2013 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup
KENSETH SETS FAST CHASE PACE WITH BACK-TO-BACK WINS
For the second straight week, in the second race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Matt Kenseth led Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch to the finish line.
The top seed in the Chase, Kenseth won Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway as JGR asserted its superiority for the second consecutive week. With 93 laps to go, Kenseth bumped Clint Bowyer on the backstretch to take the top spot for good.
Kenseth led a race-high 106 laps in winning for the seventh time this season, for the first time at the Magic Mile and for the 31st time in his career. Winning in his 500th start in the Cup series, Kenseth extended his Chase lead to 14 points over Busch.
“They just had a special car,” Busch said. “Sometimes you unload with them, and they’re just phenomenal. The 20 had that here this weekend. We tried everything to try to keep up with him and to get pace with him, but it was tough to do.”
AGGRESSIVE BIFFLE MOVES FROM 11th TO FIFTH IN CHASE
Greg Biffle drove from sixth to third after the final restart on Lap 258 of 300. Five-time champion Jimmie Johnson finished fourth, followed by Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
“I was doing all I could do to try and gain spots, and I was three wide on the bottom and got that to work a couple times, and then the last bit of that, the outside really worked well for me,” Biffle said.
“It’s so hard to get a run off the bottom. The 48 was underneath me, and he just couldn’t get the throttle down on the bottom. The 48 was probably faster than me that first 15 laps. He was all over my rear bumper but couldn’t really do anything, and then I was able to ‑‑ after his tires leveled off I was able to drive away from him.”
KAHNE CRASH DROPS HIM TO LAST IN THE CHASE
Kasey Kahne saw his Chase hopes dim when he spun on the frontstretch on Lap 252 and nosed into the inside wall. Kahne came home 37th. At the time of Kahne’s trouble, he was battling Brian Vickers, the July winner at the 1.058-mile track, who started in the rear and finished seventh.
The NASCAR Wire Service contributed to this report.
Michael Waltrip Racing driver salutes crew’s focus despite uncertain future
LOUDON, N.H. – He led four times for 98 laps and finished 10th for his 12th top-10 of the year, but Martin Truex Jr. was obviously disappointed as he climbed from behind the wheel of his No. 56 Toyota.
There was the frustration of a good car gone bad in the latter stages of Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. And there was the stress and strain of two weeks spent riding an emotional rollercoaster.
"I’m not sure what the future holds," Truex Jr. said as teams scrambled to load cars and pack up their belongings in the aftermath of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. "But I’m proud of these guys for staying focused and not letting it get to them.
"We’ll just see how it goes. We’ve got some good tracks coming up. It sure would be nice to win a race or two before it’s over."
The Michael Waltrip Racing driver was supposed to be one of 12 drivers competing in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, having earned a berth after the season’s 26th race. But penalties levied against the MWR organization took the wind out of the group’s sails, Truex Jr. out of the Chase field, and left the 33-year-old wondering what his team did wrong.
The final blow came Thursday, a day before teams arrived here for this weekend’s race when NAPA announced that because of MWR’s actions in the Richmond race and the penalties that followed, it would withdraw its sponsorship of the No. 56 team at the conclusion of the 2013 season.
Fifth in Friday’s qualifying, Truex Jr. led briefly (one lap) during the day’s first round of pit stops under caution, then shot back in front on the ensuing restart. He led the next 73 laps.
But changing track conditions in the second half of the race and a late-race restart that saw him lose several positions before the field sorted itself out was the team’s undoing.
"We were fast early on," Truex Jr. said. "But even when we were leading the car was getting tight."
Crew chief Chad Johnston made several calls in an attempt to correct the problem, but "we just couldn’t make any headway on it," Truex Jr. said.
"As it started cooling off those last 100 laps, it really started going away.
"We just could never get it turning good; I burned the rear tires off trying to turn on the longer runs. Then I couldn’t turn, couldn’t step on the gas. The last 100 laps were tough but really the last 50 was where we got killed."
MWR is trying to recover from the damage of the past two weeks, and Truex Jr. has to decide if he will stick around or seek opportunity elsewhere.
With a chance to finally get back on the track and race, the distractions could be momentarily put aside.
But they aren’t forgotten.
"Those distractions are going to follow us all year long," he said. "It’s just the way it is. Guys are worried about what they’re going to do next year. I can’t blame them. They’ve got families. There are 300 people at MWR that are thinking about it as well.
"It’s one of those things that’s always going to be there but I’m proud of the way the guys worked through it; they stayed focused, they had a great attitude this weekend. I was very proud of that.
"It was definitely a difficult week for all of us. We can worry about it tomorrow. Between Friday and Sunday we need to worry about race cars and they were able to do that. And that means a lot to me."
Two of the three MWR teams finished in the top-10 Sunday as Brian Vickers finished seventh after starting from the rear of the 43-car field. Kenny Wallace had qualified the car on Friday to allow Vickers to be in Kentucky for Saturday’s Nationwide Series event.
Teammate Clint Bowyer, the only MWR driver in this year’s Chase, struggled on Sunday and finished 17th. He fell one position in the points standings and is now 10th, 48 points behind leader Matt Kenseth.
"This is definitely the worst track (for me) on the circuit," Truex Jr. said. "To come here and run like we did today says a lot about the guys and what they were able to do."
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Johnson’s 2006 run proves Earnhardt Jr., Logano aren’t out of the Chase despite slow starts
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LOUDON, N.H. — Joey Logano and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have a difficult task ahead of them. Not an impossible one, but an improbable one.
The two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers must find a way to climb back into contention in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, the 10-race playoff run that is now only nine weeks from completion.
Those clouds of smoke trailing Logano a week ago at Chicagoland Speedway were warning signs that the engine in his car wasn’t planning to stick around for the checkered flag. It didn’t.
Logano, 23 and making his first appearance in the Chase, won the Coors Light Pole and led laps but none of that mattered when he pulled his No. 22 Penske Racing Ford behind the wall after just 175 of 267 laps.
Previously sixth in points, he finished 37th, and fell to 12th in the 13-car Chase field. The gap between himself and points leader Matt Kenseth is a gulf greater than a full race — 52 points.
The engine in Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 Chevrolet lasted a little longer, but the Hendrick Motorsports driver eventually coasted into the garage with a 35th-place finish. His reward for the unexpected start? He’s holding down the rear of the Chase field, 53 points out of the lead.
"It’s unfortunate when something like that happens because we had a really fast race car last week, one that I felt like could have won the race, and instead we came home with a 30-something-place finish and that part is just really hard, but it happens," Logano said following his qualifying run Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. "That’s what our sport is — you have to rely on a lot of things and sometimes you have a mechanical issue like that and the guy who wins the championship usually doesn’t have that, but that’s not to say we can’t come back.
"This team is strong. We’ve been digging out of a hole all year, and every time we get our head just above water, we get pulled back under again and we keep fighting to get back up. We’ll be fine. I’m not worried about it."
Logano will start sixth in Sunday’s Sylvania 300. The first of his three career Cup wins came here in 2009. On Saturday, he was 13th and eighth, respectively, in the day’s two practice sessions.
Earnhardt Jr. will line up a bit deeper after putting his car 17th on the 43-car grid. What happened the previous week seemed to be of little concern — Earnhardt Jr. was more focused Friday on getting his car to turn better on the 1.058-mile track before Sunday’s race.
"We haven’t talked about (last week) much," Earnhardt Jr. said. "We’re just trying to qualify here and get through the day.
"We’ll practice our car (Saturday) and see if we can make a good car out of it. That’s all we’ve been thinking about. Just worried about my car today … worried about trying to win this race this weekend."
Perhaps the focus on what’s ahead and ignoring what’s behind will pay off. Earnhardt Jr. was second fastest in Saturday’s opening practice and fastest overall in the final shakedown.
Time and opportunities are limited. Success stories are few for those who have found themselves falling behind early in previous Chases. Jimmie Johnson finished 39th in the first Chase race in 2006 at New Hampshire but came back to win his first of five titles.
"You can’t give up hope," Johnson said.
"Last year I had two bad races — really one in Phoenix where we crashed — and still had a chance going into Homestead. So I think there’s still a chance for them. Unfortunately they’re losing control, and that’s what no one wants to have happen."
Johnson had an outside chance a year ago, but the timing of his Phoenix troubles left him punching at air, hoping to land a haymaker in the final round at Homestead.
It never landed.
"It is, I think, slightly deflating for the driver and probably the team," said Chase points leader Kenseth, the last driver to win a title before the advent of the Chase. "They’re like, ‘Oh man, we just got ourselves who knows how many points behind because we busted something.’
"Nobody likes to have that happen early; I’ve been in that spot a lot where we’ve had problems the first couple of weeks and been so far behind. You keep (up) the talk and you keep thinking it and you keep working toward it. Anything can happen. They can have trouble and (you’re) right back in it.
"But it is somewhat deflating to start it off with a bad week."
Jeff Gordon won all four of his titles before 2004 and the arrival of the Chase. The Hendrick driver took a hit last year in the opener when he finished 35th. Already 12 points behind the leader before the start of the 10-race playoff, the result put him 47 points behind with only nine races in which to make up ground.
"I think that in that position, you have absolutely nothing to lose," Gordon said of the situation faced by Earnhardt Jr. and Logano. "Instead of maybe having a game plan where you were going to try to fine tune a setup, you can just go completely outside the box and just go for broke and make very gutsy calls on pit road. You can be more aggressive as a driver. The engineers can be more aggressive in the set-up as well.
"I think there is a part of you that just says ‘OK, let’s just see how high up in points we can get’ and there is a part of you that says ‘we go for broke, and if we get on a heck of a role, we can still do this.’ You certainly never stop giving up hope."
It’s not an uncommon feeling, Logano said, adding that his team has "had to fight like that and fight from behind all year.
"We’ll just have to keep doing that," he said.
Ryan Newman will start from the pole for Sunday’s race, with fellow Chase driver Kasey Kahne also on the front row. Gordon, Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. will line up third through fifth, respectively.
Kenseth, the series’ points leader, will start ninth.
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