Matt Kenseth has won his second straight race at Loudon with a strong run at the end earning him victory in the New Hampshire 301.
Kenseth’s Toyota subsequently failed a post-race inspection at a laser station however NASCAR typically does not strip a driver of the victory.
The normal action is to deduct points and hand out a fine to the crew chief which are likely to be imposed sometime this week.
Kenseth took the lead for first time at Lap 258, passing Martin Truex Jr. Kenseth then got passed Denny Hamlin on Lap 271 after a caution period. He was never headed from that point.
The win is Kenseth’s second of the season, third at New Hampshire (all in Gibbs cars) and the 38th of his Sprint Cup career.
“You’re always pleased to be in Victory Lane,” said Kenseth
“The farther down the road you get, the better they feel for sure. Thanks to everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing – I’ve said it a million times, but I’m blessed with this opportunity to be over here with the guys I get to work with and my great sponsors.”
Tony Stewart scored the runner-up spot. This was his second straight top-five finish and fourth top-10 result in the past five races. Joey Logano finish third ahead of Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle. It was Biffle’s best of the season and his third straight top 10.
Kyle Busch and Truex dominated the first two-thirds race. Busch led a race-high 133 laps but came home eighth. However, he along with Carl Edwards secured their spots in the top 30 in the point standings and thus locked in their Chase spots. Truex guided his Toyota to lead 123 laps but suffered a broken shifter and had clutch issues late in the race. He wound up 16th.
Dale Earnhardt Jr replacement Alex Bowman finish 26th. It was his first Sprint Cup start since last season’s finale at Homestead. Bowman did suffer a blown tyre that brought out a caution on Lap 273. Before that, he spent much of the race in the top 15 with some time spent in the top 10.
VIDEO: Race recap
RESULTS: New Hampshire 301 – New Hampshire Speedway
| POS. | CAR # | DRIVER | MAKE | START | LAPS | LAPS LED | FINAL STATUS | POINTS | BONUS POINTS |
| 1 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 18 | 301 | 38 | Running | 44 | 4 |
| 2 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 12 | 301 | 0 | Running | 39 | 0 |
| 3 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 6 | 301 | 0 | Running | 38 | 0 |
| 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 8 | 301 | 0 | Running | 37 | 0 |
| 5 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 28 | 301 | 0 | Running | 36 | 0 |
| 6 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 19 | 301 | 0 | Running | 35 | 0 |
| 7 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 25 | 301 | 0 | Running | 34 | 0 |
| 8 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 2 | 301 | 133 | Running | 35 | 2 |
| 9 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 5 | 301 | 5 | Running | 33 | 1 |
| 10 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Ford | 22 | 301 | 0 | Running | 31 | 0 |
| 11 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 14 | 301 | 0 | Running | 30 | 0 |
| 12 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 1 | 301 | 1 | Running | 30 | 1 |
| 13 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 15 | 301 | 0 | Running | 28 | 0 |
| 14 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 29 | 301 | 0 | Running | 27 | 0 |
| 15 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 9 | 301 | 1 | Running | 27 | 1 |
| 16 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | Toyota | 3 | 301 | 123 | Running | 26 | 1 |
| 17 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 17 | 301 | 0 | Running | 24 | 0 |
| 18 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 24 | 301 | 0 | Running | 23 | 0 |
| 19 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 26 | 301 | 0 | Running | 22 | 0 |
| 20 | 19 | Carl Edwards | Toyota | 13 | 301 | 0 | Running | 21 | 0 |
| 21 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 10 | 301 | 0 | Running | 20 | 0 |
| 22 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 4 | 301 | 0 | Running | 19 | 0 |
| 23 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 31 | 301 | 0 | Running | 18 | 0 |
| 24 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | 32 | 301 | 0 | Running | 17 | 0 |
| 25 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 11 | 301 | 0 | Running | 16 | 0 |
| 26 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 20 | 301 | 0 | Running | 15 | 0 |
| 27 | 13 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | 21 | 300 | 0 | Running | 14 | 0 |
| 28 | 38 | Landon Cassill | Ford | 30 | 299 | 0 | Running | 13 | 0 |
| 29 | 34 | Chris Buescher | Ford | 35 | 299 | 0 | Running | 12 | 0 |
| 30 | 23 | David Ragan | Toyota | 23 | 299 | 0 | Running | 11 | 0 |
| 31 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto | Toyota | 16 | 299 | 0 | Running | 10 | 0 |
| 32 | 7 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | 34 | 297 | 0 | Running | 9 | 0 |
| 33 | 46 | Michael Annett | Chevrolet | 37 | 295 | 0 | Running | 8 | 0 |
| 34 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 7 | 294 | 0 | Running | 7 | 0 |
| 35 | 55 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 36 | 294 | 0 | Running | 6 | 0 |
| 36 | 32 | Eddie MacDonald | Ford | 38 | 293 | 0 | Running | 5 | 0 |
| 37 | 98 | Ryan Ellis | Chevrolet | 40 | 292 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | 44 | Brian Scott | Ford | 33 | 278 | 0 | Running | 3 | 0 |
| 39 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Chevrolet | 27 | 191 | 0 | Electrical | 2 | 0 |
| 40 | 30 | Josh Wise | Chevrolet | 39 | 94 | 0 | Accident | 1 | 0 |
STANDINGS
| POS | DRIVER | POINTS | BEHIND | STARTS | WINS | TOP 5 | TOP 10 | DNF |
| 1 | Kevin Harvick | 636 | Leader | 19 | 1 | 8 | 15 | 1 |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | 622 | -14 | 19 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 0 |
| 3 | Kurt Busch | 602 | -34 | 19 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 0 |
| 4 | Carl Edwards | 587 | -49 | 19 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 3 |
| 5 | Joey Logano | 571 | -65 | 19 | 1 | 8 | 12 | 3 |
| 6 | Kyle Busch | 556 | -80 | 19 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 4 |
| 7 | Martin Truex Jr | 540 | -96 | 19 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| 8 | Matt Kenseth | 521 | -115 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 2 |
| 9 | Jimmie Johnson | 514 | -122 | 19 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 3 |
| 10 | Denny Hamlin | 505 | -131 | 19 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 3 |
| 11 | Chase Elliott | 499 | -137 | 19 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 1 |
| 12 | Ryan Newman | 497 | -139 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| 13 | Austin Dillon | 488 | -148 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| 14 | Jamie McMurray | 474 | -162 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| 15 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | 461 | -175 | 18 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 4 |
| 16 | Trevor Bayne | 447 | -189 | 19 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 17 | Ryan Blaney | 445 | -191 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| 18 | Kasey Kahne | 439 | -197 | 19 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| 19 | Kyle Larson | 436 | -200 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| 20 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 420 | -216 | 19 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| 21 | AJ Allmendinger | 418 | -218 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| 22 | Greg Biffle | 395 | -241 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 23 | Paul Menard | 366 | -270 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 24 | Danica Patrick | 354 | -282 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 25 | Aric Almirola | 347 | -289 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 26 | Clint Bowyer | 339 | -297 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| 27 | Casey Mears | 293 | -343 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Tony Stewart | 287 | -349 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| 29 | Landon Cassill | 284 | -352 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | David Ragan | 274 | -362 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 31 | Brian Scott | 220 | -416 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 32 | Regan Smith | 219 | -417 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 33 | Chris Buescher | 210 | -426 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 34 | Michael McDowell | 196 | -440 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 35 | Cole Whitt | 190 | -446 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 36 | Matt DiBenedetto | 189 | -447 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 37 | Michael Annett | 173 | -463 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 38 | Josh Wise | 93 | -543 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 39 | Brian Vickers | 86 | -550 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 40 | Reed Sorenson | 85 | -551 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 41 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 61 | -575 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 42 | Bobby Labonte | 51 | -585 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | David Gilliland | 46 | -590 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Michael Waltrip | 42 | -594 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Alex Bowman | 15 | -621 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 | Eddie MacDonald | 5 | -631 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | Patrick Carpentier | 4 | -632 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | Robert Richardson | 3 | -633 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 49 | Ty Dillon | 0 | -636 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 50 | Jeb Burton | 0 | -636 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 | Joey Gase | 0 | -636 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | Dylan Lupton | 0 | -636 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 53 | Ryan Ellis | 0 | -636 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 54 | Cody Ware | 0 | -636 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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