Tony Stewart made a strong statement in his bid for a third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) championship by winning the second race in the 2011 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS). It was the second win for the driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet in six days, coming on the heels of Monday’s rain-delayed win at Chicagoland Speedway.
He becomes only the second driver in the history of the Chase to win the first two races of the 10-race playoff for the title. It is his 41st career victory and his third time in Victory Lane at NHMS.
After qualifying 20th in the 43-car starting field for the Sylvania 300, Stewart worked his way up through the field to run consistently in the top-10. Good pit strategy and a car that continued to improve as the race wound down gave him the opportunity to take the lead and charge to the checkered flag. With the victory, Stewart takes control of the standings by seven points with eight races remaining.
Brad Keselowski (Dodge), Greg Biffle (Ford) and Brian Vickers (Toyota) completed the top-five finishers.
Jeff Gordon brought the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet to the checkered flag of the 300-lap/ 317.4-mile race in fourth position. The four-time NSCS champion led a race-high 78 laps. The strong run moved Gordon up six places in the standings to sixth place, 23 points out of the lead.
Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Budweiser Designated Driver Chevrolet, now sits second in the Chase standings after two races with a 12th place finish in today’s race.
Five-time defending NSCS champion Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, battled handling issues throughout the race and had to settle for the 18th finishing position. Johnson is 10th in points, 29 points out of the lead.
Pole sitter Ryan Newman, No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet, was poised for a strong finish but was forced down pit road with a cut right front tire in the waning laps of the race to finish in 25th position and drop to 11th in the standings. He is 34 points behind Stewart.
FIN CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 2 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 3 16 Greg Biffle Ford 4 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 5 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 6 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 7 6 David Ragan Ford 8 99 Carl Edwards Ford 9 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 10 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 11 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 12 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 13 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 14 20 Joey Logano Toyota 15 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 16 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 17 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 18 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 19 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 20 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 21 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 22 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 23 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 24 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 25 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 26 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 27 38 J.J. Yeley Ford 28 0 David Reutimann Toyota 29 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 30 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 31 32 Mike Bliss Ford 32 34 David Gilliland Ford 33 51 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 34 71 Andy Lally * Ford 35 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 36 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 37 66 Michael McDowell Toyota 38 30 David Stremme Chevrolet 39 37 Josh Wise Ford 40 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 41 46 Scott Speed Ford 42 13 Casey Mears Toyota 43 55 Travis Kvapil Ford
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