Keselowski beats Hamlin at Loudon

Keselowski smokes polesitter Almirola
Keselowski smokes polesitter Almirola
Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Brad Keselowski won Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, besting Denny Hamlin to the finish line by 1.647 seconds and leading the final 81 circuits of the 318.46-mile event.

The victory marked Keselowski’s third of the 2020 season. His No. 2 Team Penske Ford led 184 of the 301 laps at the 1.058-mile track in Loudon, New Hampshire.

Keselowski, 36, led a race best 184 of the 301 laps around the “Magic Mile" and held off runner-up Denny Hamlin by 1.647-seconds to hoist his 33rd career NASCAR Cup Series trophy and mark the fifth consecutive season he’s had at least three wins.

“We’ve had a lot of great races this year with the 2-car, but we just hadn’t really gone out and dominated a race, you know," Keselowski said. “I was talking with (crew chief) Jeremy Bullins and we were like maybe that’s what we need to get to the next level. We’re right there. We need to just go and dominate a race and that’s what today was for us.

“I’m really proud of my team and the effort they gave today and great race car. Thank you."

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Although Keselowski’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford certainly topped all the important statistics, Hamlin and his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota kept him honest for most of the day. The two accounted for 18 of the race’s 23 lead changes, with Keselowski ultimately passing Hamlin and holding the point for the race’s final 81 caution-free laps.

“We just kind of were second there to the two (Keselowski)," the five-race winner Hamlin conceded. “We could really do well on restarts and we were going back-and-forth. Wow, that was some really, really good short track racing there. Hopefully, the fans liked what they saw there with me and the two (Keselowski) for most of the day.

“Some great side-by-side racing. We treated each other fair and it’s good that we got one-two out of it."

Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. finished third, followed by Keselowski’s teammate Joey Logano and the season’s championship leader Kevin Harvick. Matt DiBenedetto, Aric Almirola, rookie Cole Custer, Chase Elliott and rookie Tyler Reddick rounded out the top 10.

It marked Almirola’s series-best ninth consecutive top-10 finish. And it was the second time in the last four races that at least two rookies finished inside the top 10.

Harvick’s fifth-place finish was good enough to hold onto an 81-point advantage over second place Keselowski in the series driver standings.

Byron pits.  Fans were allowed into the race, but spread out
Byron pits. Fans were allowed into the race, but spread out
Andrew Coppley/HHP for Chevy Racing

Jimmie Johnson finished 12th to keep his playoff hopes alive in the seven-time champion’s final full-time season in the series. The result represented a huge rally on the day for Johnson, who was involved in an incident with Clint Bowyer early in the race. He crept closer to the all-important top 16 in the standings that will represent the playoff field.

Johnson trails 16th place William Byron — his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, by 25 points. Reddick is 15 points behind Byron with only six races remaining to decide the playoff challengers.

Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch suffered more bad luck in what’s been a frustrating season for his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team. Busch’s car had a tire go down only 15 laps into the race — while he was running among the top five – and it put his car hard into the wall.

Busch has three runner-up finishes (at Fontana, Atlanta and Darlington) this season but hasn’t won a race since his championship-clinching victory in the 2019 season finale at Homestead. He arrived in New Hampshire ranked ninth, but his last-place finish (one of four finishes of 30th or worse) leaves him ranked 10th in the standings.

“Way too early in the going for anything to be wrong or even to build enough brake temp or brake heat," a clearly disappointed Busch said. “I don’t know. Just hate it for our Pedigree team and the fight that we’ve been having this year seems to be continuing."

Results

Pos Str No. Driver Team Laps Status Led
1 4 2 Brad Keselowski Western Star/Alliance Parts Ford 301 Running 184
2 2 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota 301 Running 92
3 11 19 Martin Truex Jr. Sport Clips Toyota 301 Running 0
4 9 22 Joey Logano AAA Insurance Ford 301 Running 0
5 7 4 Kevin Harvick Mobil 1 Ford 301 Running 6
6 19 21 Matt DiBenedetto Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 301 Running 0
7 1 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Hometown Original Ford 301 Running 2
8 14 41 Cole Custer # HassTooling.com Ford 301 Running 0
9 3 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 301 Running 9
10 13 8 Tyler Reddick # Feeding America Chevrolet 301 Running 0
11 16 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 301 Running 0
12 20 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet 301 Running 0
13 23 3 Austin Dillon Freightliner Chevrolet 301 Running 3
14 31 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Kroger Chevrolet 301 Running 0
15 8 88 Alex Bowman ChevyGoods.com/Adam's Polishes Chevrolet 301 Running 0
16 30 37 Ryan Preece Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet 301 Running 0
17 10 1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet 301 Running 0
18 6 14 Clint Bowyer Haas Automation Ford 301 Running 0
19 18 34 Michael McDowell Chicago Pnuematic Ford 301 Running 0
20 12 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Sylvania Ford 301 Running 5
21 22 6 Ryan Newman Guaranteed Rate Ford 300 Running 0
22 25 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Chevrolet 300 Running 0
23 15 43 Bubba Wallace Cash App Chevrolet 300 Running 0
24 17 20 Erik Jones Toyota Camry Toyota 300 Running 0
25 24 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 300 Running 0
26 37 96 * Daniel Suarez Genuine Parts & Service Toyota 299 Running 0
27 34 15 Brennan Poole # Remember Everyone Deployed Today Chevrolet 299 Running 0
28 35 95 Christopher Bell # Rheem/Watts Toyota 299 Running 0
29 29 27 JJ Yeley(i) Ford 299 Running 0
30 26 53 James Davison Signing Day Sports Chevrolet 298 Running 0
31 27 77 Garrett Smithley(i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 295 Running 0
32 32 0 Quin Houff # Permatex Chevrolet 294 Running 0
33 38 66 * Timmy Hill(i) CrashClaimsR.US Toyota 294 Running 0
34 28 51 Joey Gase(i) Page Construction Ford 293 Running 0
35 33 32 Corey LaJoie Trump 2020 Ford 262 Running 0
36 36 38 John Hunter Nemechek # Citgard Ford 212 Accident 0
37 21 42 Matt Kenseth Clover Chevrolet 203 Accident 0
38 5 18 Kyle Busch Pedigree Toyota 15 Accident 0

(#) Rookie
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series