Kenseth wins in Loudon after Harvick runs dry

Matt Kenseth gets under teammate Denny Hamlin

Matt Kenseth zoomed to victory in Sunday's Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, driving past an out-of-gas Kevin Harvick with three laps remaining to win the second event in the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.

Kenseth led 27 of the 300 laps, powering the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota to a 8.942-second margin of victory over teammate Denny Hamlin at the checkered flag. His fifth win of the season was his second at the 1.058-mile track and the 36th of his Sprint Cup career.

The win automatically advances Kenseth into the Chase's Contender Round, the next three-race stage of the playoffs. He joins Hamlin, last week's winner at Chicagoland Speedway, among the 12 drivers who will avoid elimination after next weekend's race at Dover International Speedway.

Joey Logano, last year's winner of the fall race at New Hampshire, took third place. Greg Biffle finished fourth with Carl Edwards, the Coors Light Pole winner in a third JGR entry, coming home fifth.

Defending Sprint Cup champion Harvick, trying to recover from a 42nd-place finish in the Chase opener, led six times for a race-high 216 laps, but was forced to pit after his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet sputtered and slowed with three laps left as an alternate fuel strategy failed to pan out. The 21st-place result, the first driver one lap down, places his chances for a championship repeat in doubt, as he sits 15th in the Chase grid standings with just one race left in the opening round of the playoffs.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Kenseth's performance came on a discouraging day for a handful of Chase drivers. Kyle Busch's hopes took one of the hardest hits as his No. 18 Toyota smacked the wall on the 159th lap, forcing him to lose 36 laps in the garage for extensive repairs. He finished 37th.

Edwards went backward during that fifth caution period with a pit-road penalty when his crew's gas can stuck in the fueling seal, falling out of his pit box. He rallied from the tail end of the lead lap to finish fifth.

Kurt Busch suffered the same fate as his SHR teammate Harvick, running out of gas with two laps remaining and sinking to a 19th-place finish.

Jimmie Johnson made an unscheduled stop at Lap 200 for a flat left-front tire, losing a lap and fading to 30th place. Johnson rallied back onto the lead lap as the beneficiary of the ninth caution period and finished sixth.

Brad Keselowski became the first driver bitten by the renewed emphasis on policing restarts, serving a pass-through penalty on Lap 248 and falling to the tail end of the lead lap. He was ruled to have jumped the restart after the race's 10th caution period, edging ahead of race leader Greg Biffle in the restart zone.

"I've got the wrong number on my door," lamented Keselowski, who asked his team for a review before taking his penalty. He rallied to finish 12th.

Clint Bowyer, already reeling from a P4-grade penalty assessed midweek to his Michael Waltrip Racing No. 15 team, faded to a 26th-place finish after an unscheduled stop for what he thought was a flat right-front tire. Bowyer will remain in the basement of the 16-driver Chase field pending the outcome of MWR's Wednesday appeal of its post-race infraction from Chicagoland.

The race was red-flagged at Lap 205 for a severe crash that littered the track with debris from the cars of Danica Patrick and David Ragan.

MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 1st

Were you surprised to get this victory?

"We had to be there to win. These Dollar General guys did a great job today. We didn't pit that one time and I was like, ‘Ahhh,' and Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) was like, ‘It's fine, relax.' We made it to the front faster than we thought. I was giving it everything I've got and I thought he (Kevin Harvick) was going to beat us and he had a better car today, but I guess he was a little short on fuel. This is unbelievable. This feels unbelievable. Thanks to everybody – thanks to Dollar General, DeWalt, Toyota, TRD (Toyota Racing Development) – I say it all the time, but we've got great partners. I really appreciate these guys a lot and thank the Lord for putting me here. This has been so much fun."

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]How will you approach Dover now that you have a win in the first round of the Chase?

"It's funny, it doesn't change. I thought about it a little bit today and we were running second to Kevin (Harvick) and third behind Denny (Hamlin) and I'm like, ‘Well, this is first round and if you get all top-10s then you're going to advance. Then I'm like, ‘Forget that, you have to work and try to catch them and beat them.' These things are just too hard to win. We'll go there and bring our good stuff and try to run as good as we can next week and go on from there."

What can you say about the roll that Joe Gibbs Racing has been on recently?

"The thing about rolls and momentum, it can stop at any given moment so you have to enjoy it while it's here. I've been enjoying driving this 20 car and working for Coach (Gibbs, team owner) and Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and this whole group. It's been awesome and I think we still have some more coming. It feels good."

How does it feel to get the win at New Hampshire and transfer to the second round of the Chase?

"Last time we were here, we didn't win again for 50 races so I hope that doesn't happen again. It feels great to win here, a lot of great race fans here at New Hampshire. We had a great car today – Kevin (Harvick) definitely had the field covered and Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) did a great job on pit strategy there and those new tires paid off better than we thought to get up through the field and was able to keep the pressure on enough and he came up a little short."

Did you expect Kevin Harvick to run out of fuel?

"Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) kept saying he was low on fuel, but you never know unless they really run out. I was trying to run hard, but I was trying to save a little bit. I got racing Denny (Hamlin) pretty hard and I wanted to save the tires a little bit, but I also know I needed to get by him to pressure the 4 (Harvick). That was as hard as I could run. I was planning on running up there and trying to pass him, I just couldn't get there. Kind of resigned to finish second with about four or five (laps) to go there. I couldn't get much closer and he ran out with a couple to go."

Is there anything stopping the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas with the recent streak of victories?

"Momentum and all that is a funny thing, it could stop at any given second. You never know what's going to go wrong so enjoy it while it's here and we're enjoying it."

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 2nd

How was your race?

"Our run was good. We had a really good car. Thought we had like a third, fourth-place car most of the day. Just never could get it to do quite the things I needed to do at the right time, so either way it's still a really good run and it's a good Chase start."

How was the race?

"We had a pretty good race, really. I thought we had a topâ€'five car pretty much most of the day. At best I thought we were a secondâ€'place car, at worst a fifth. We had everything kind of work out well there for us at the end. We came in, took tires and fuel with 60â€'something to go, so 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 the 4 to try to make him run as hard as possible because we knew he was close. Overall a good day for the company, good day for us, and we'll look forward to Dover."

What is the secret to your success with the win last week and a second-place finish today?

"You know, we just have really been on a roll here lately, just getting good finishes and just everything is kind of clicking really well. You know, I wish we could get more race wins. That's the greedy part about it. But either way, very proud of â€'â€' this is all because of the work that Toyota and JGR puts into our race cars every week. Very proud to be driving for them.

What happened on the last run of the race? Was there some type of problem with the car?

"Yeah, we had something going on with the right front. I'm not sure what it was and we'll try to diagnose it, but it was something major, and so I had to back off and try to make sure I finished the race."

What can you say about the roll that Joe Gibbs Racing has been on in recent weeks?

"Well, to sustain it is the hardest part, and I think that we've just got to keep working to make our cars better. Really, I don't feel like we were dominant today by any means. Yeah, our cars finished oneâ€'two, but I'm not sure that we had oneâ€'two cars most of the day. So I think we've been very fortunate with some strategies and things that we've played that's worked out in our favor. You know, you've got to just keep working. That's the only way you can stay on top is to not rest."

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