A week after his championship hopes took a substantial hit, Kevin Harvick appeared headed for a victory Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway that would have ensured advancement to the second round of NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff.
Matt Kenseth wins the 2015 Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
When Kevin Harvick ran out of fuel leading with three laps to go, Matt Kenseth was the beneficiary.
But when the Sylvania 300 concluded, it was Matt Kenseth standing in victory lane and not Harvick, who ran out of fuel while leading with three laps remaining.
“I thought (Harvick) was going to beat us and he had a better car today, but I guess he was a little short on fuel,” Kenseth said. “This is unbelievable. This feels unbelievable.”
Harvick, the defending Sprint Cup champion, finished 21st and will need to win next weekend at Dover International Speedway to avoid Chase elimination.
The victory was Kenseth’s fifth of the season and the fourth consecutive for Joe Gibbs Racing, which has taken 10 of the past 13 races. Following Kenseth across the finish line was teammate Denny Hamlin, who won the Chase opener last week at Chicagoland Speedway.
Knowing Harvick was close on fuel, Hamlin challenged Harvick over the final laps to prevent him from conserving. The strategy paid dividends.
“We were good on fuel and we had good tires, and it really allowed us to be aggressive and get through the pack pretty quick and put some pressure on (Harvick) to try to make him run as hard as possible because we knew he was close,” Hamlin said. “Overall, a good day for the company, good day for us, and we’ll look forward to Dover.”
Joey Logano finished third, with Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards fourth and fifth, respectively. Jimmie Johnson recovered from flat tire and falling a lap down to finish sixth. Jeff Gordon, Martin Truex Jr., Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman completed the top 10. Of the top-10 finishers, only Biffle and Kahne are not Chase participants.
In addition to Harvick and Johnson, several other Chasers encountered issues Sunday. Edwards was penalized for dragging equipment out of his pit stall, Brad Keselowski (finished 12th) was penalized for jumping a restart, while Kurt Busch (19th) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (25th) each ran out of fuel with less than two laps remaining.
But the most significant development besides Harvick letting an apparent surefire victory slip away saw Kyle Busch blow a right front tire and crash into the Turn 4 wall.
Busch, another Kenseth teammate, won four times during the regular-races despite missing 11 races having suffered serious leg injuries in a February crash. He entered the postseason expected to challenge for a first series championship and begin the Chase by leading the most laps and finishing ninth at Chicagoland.
Busch trails Earnhardt by one point for the final transfer position. NASCAR drops the lowest four ranked drivers without a win every three races. Dover is the Round 1 elimination race.
“There’s no reason we can’t go there and have a good day,” Busch’s crew chief Adam Stevens said. “But you know things like this happen, too. They happen to us and they can happen to anybody else, so it’s not a win at all costs situation at all, which is comforting.”
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