Clint Bowyer’s No. 33 Chevrolet spun in a cloud of smoke as Bowyer celebrated victory in Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
In the same frame, Tony Stewart’s No. 14 Chevy coasted slowly across the finish line, out of fuel and out of the running for a race win that had seemed a distinct possibility barely more than a lap earlier.
Bowyer, the last driver to qualify for the Chase, and Stewart both gambled on fuel after pitting for the final time on Lap 208 of 300 at the 1.058-mile race track.
Bowyer won, beating resilient Denny Hamlin to the finish line by .477 seconds and surging into second place in the Chase standings after the first of 10 races. Hamlin leads Bowyer by 35 points as the Cup Series heads to Dover.
Stewart lost, running out of fuel off Turn 4 while leading with the white flag clearly in his sights. NASCAR.com
“I could not believe it, and then I thought I was going to run out,” said Bowyer, who led 177 of 300 laps. “As soon as you see [Stewart] run out, you’re wondering when it’s your turn. It happened on the burnout, thank God.”
Bowyer’s first career Sprint Cup victory came in the 2007 Chase-opening race at New Hampshire. He started his first Chase in 12th place that year, but finished the season third in points.
“To come in here the underdog just like we did in 2007, to win the first race of the Chase and set that tempo, not only for the Chase, but for our race team, our [Richard Childress Racing] organization, all three of our cars were up front, and that’s what it takes,” he added. MiamiHerald.com
Hamlin, the points leader, was spun by Carl Edwards on a mid-race restart and rallied from 22nd to finish second. Harvick, the points leader for most of the “regular season,” struggled through a series of bad pit stops to fall as low as 18th before finishing fifth.
Johnson was derailed by a loose right wheel late in the race to finish 25th, the lowest of the Chase drivers. And after stressing that New Hampshire was his biggest concern of the Chase, Matt Kenseth capped a weekend of struggles with a noncompetitive 23rd-place finish.
Then there was Stewart, who tried to stretch his gas the final 92 laps in pursuit of the victory.
When it backfired, he limped his car home to a 24th-place finish that cost him five spots in the standings.
“We went down swinging,” he said, shrugging. “It’s a tough way to start the Chase. I would have settled for second. If you knew exactly how much gas you have, it would be different, but you never know. It’s part of the sport, always has been. It’s what makes it exciting when you never know until the last lap who’s going to happen.” The Associated Press
Jamie McMurray finished third and Dale Earnhardt Jr. fourth. Kevin Harvick, who led the standings after the first 26 races, ran fifth despite fighting handling problems throughout the race and is third in the standings, 45 points out of the lead. Jeff Gordon, David Reutimann, Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch and Sam Hornish Jr. rounded out the top 10.
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire - Race Results
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