The rain finally let up at Loudon, so follow along for live highlights and updates from NASCAR at New Hampshire.
New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a tricky racetrack for Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers even under the best of circumstances. Suffice it to say that the conditions for the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 on Sunday did not resemble that description.
Rain in the forecast caused NASCAR to move up the start time of the race by an hour, but that proved fruitless because the precipitation came early. All that could be done was to wait things out, and after three hours and 15 minutes, cars finally hit the track.
With the rain washing out not just any rubber laid down from the XFINITY Series race on Saturday but some of the VHT compound used for extra traction to try to create an extra groove, there were more uncertainties than usual and definitely more than crew chiefs prefer. To help aid the teams, a competition caution was added at lap 35, preventing fuel from being added to any cars before that point.
Stage 1
Pole-sitter Kurt Busch got out in front of Martin Truex Jr. to lead the early laps. Meanwhile, several drivers complained over the radio that water was seeping out from beneath the SAFER barrier at the perimeter of the track, meaning running a high line was more fraught with peril than usual.
Was the racetrack slick in general? Landon Cassill would say yes, as he brought out the first caution of the day. Shortly after the race was restarted, AJ Allmendinger got into the wall as well, though his problem seemed to be tire-related.
The competition caution arrived with Kurt Busch still showing the way. He didn’t come off pit road with the lead, though, as a number of cars too only two tires and others, like the 48 of Jimmie Johnson, made earlier pit stops and stayed out for the scheduled yellow.
On the restart, the battle for the lead featured two drivers who haven’t been up front all that much in 2018, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Johnson. Stenhouse prevailed while Johnson found himself under heavy pressure from Truex, who had fresher tires.
Truex’s tires and skill at navigating New Hampshire proved to be too much, and he assumed the lead right before another caution for debris on the frontstretch. On the restart, he was easily able to get by Ryan Blaney to remain out front.
In the end, Truex had no serious challengers and easily claimed the Stage 1 win, along with a potentially important bonus playoff point.
Stage 1 results
- Martin Truex Jr.: 10 points plus 1 bonus playoff point
- Chase Elliott: 9 points
- Jimmie Johnson: 8 points
- Kurt Busch: 7 points
- Ryan Blaney: 6 points
- Kyle Busch: 5 points
- Kevin Harvick: 4 points
- Clint Bowyer: 3 points
- Joey Logano: 2 points
- Aric Almirola: 1 point
Stage 2
With Truex holding on tight to his lead, the racing heated up a little further back. Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones, Ryan Newman and others were stuck in a tight pack racing for position in the teens.
Somewhat quietly, Chase Elliott started turning in the fastest laps, catching Truex with just over 20 laps to go in Stage 2. The question was whether he could pass the reigning Cup Series champ.
To the delight of his many fans, Elliott was able to get by Truex and show the way.
The pressure in the closing laps of the stage came not from Truex, but from pole-sitter Kurt Busch. Elliott’s lead was down to less than half a second with three laps to go, but even with lapped traffic in the way, Elliott was able to grab only the third stage victory for Chevrolet as a whole in 2018.
Stage 2 results
- Chase Elliott: 10 points plus 1 bonus playoff point
- Kurt Busch: 9 points
- Martin Truex Jr.: 8 points
- Kevin Harvick: 7 points
- Aric Almirola: 6 points
- Kyle Busch: 5 points
- Clint Bowyer: 4 points
- Jimmie Johnson: 3 points
- Ryan Blaney: 2 points
- Joey Logano: 1 point
Final stage
Kurt Busch won the battle off pit road by a matter of inches, giving him lane choice for the restart.
He picked the outside, as everyone did all day, but the inside lane looked like it might be coming to life late, proving to be a particular boon for Aric Almirola, who drove all the way up to second behind his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate.
Almirola’s great long run continued, as he ran down his teammate and passed him for the lead with 90 to go.
Things turned bad in a hurry for Brad Keselowski, who had been enjoying a solid if not spectacular day, as his brakes went away.
The Closer himself, Kevin Harvick, made up a 3.5-second deficit by being the first of the leaders to come in for green flag service.
It didn’t matter to Almirola, who was able to catch and pass him on the track to take P1 back. What he didn’t want to see was a yellow flag, but he got one anyway when Clint Bowyer slid up into the outside wall.
And as often happens when up against the Big 3, Almirola’s team was just a tad slower, coming out third behind Kyle Busch and Harvick.
Truex eventually took over the third spot, trailing by several seconds as Kyle Busch attempted to hold off Harvick. The 4 caught the 18 with 10 laps to go, bumping the leader several times to let him know the Busch Beer Ford was there.
Eventually, he did more than that. With seven to go, Harvick nudged Kyle Busch out of the groove just enough to make him bobble and have to recover. The 18 never challenged again after that, giving Harvick his sixth victory of 2018.
Harvick’s win gives him the most in a single season in his stellar Cup Series career, as well as the lead in 2018 playoff points.