NASCAR at New Hampshire 2016: Winners and Losers from the New Hampshire 301
The New Hampshire 301 saw Matt Kenseth win his second race of the year, his third lobster at New Hampshire and his 38th career race.
Loudon unfolded slowly with few cautions early in the race and then close to 44 million in the final 40 laps.
“Then we see our typical cautions at the end, a lot of mix-up, a lot of chaos and you see a guy finish on top,” said NBCSN’s Kyle Petty during the broadcast. “To me that’s typical New Hampshire race.”
Cars that looked terrible early in the race drove their way into the top 10, while strong cars found ways to lose.
New Hampshire proved to be a crew chief’s race in many ways: many calls, many adjustments.
So let’s get to the winners and losers from Loudon.
Loser: The Fate of the No. 88 Car
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Alex Bowman, who made his 72nd career Sprint Cup start while subbing in for Dale Earnhardt Jr., showed his true talent when given the proper tools. Problem is, the result won’t show how well he did.
Bowman finished 26th on the day after cutting a tire while driving in eighth place. He was set for a top-10 finish and instead fell 18 spots.
“They took me to my worst race track by far and made me look good,” Bowman said during the NBCSN broadcast. “I’ve got to thank Mr. H[endrick]. I hate the circumstances and hope Dale’s feeling well. We didn’t get the finish we deserved.”
The real problem surrounds the No. 88’s points situation. After New Hampshire, the car sits in 16th on the Chase Grid—14 points above the cut.
“I raced with a lot of these guys for the first time,” said Bowman. “I’ve raced around them, but I’ve never had a chance to race with guys like Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and all those guys. I had a lot of fun passing a lot of those guys.”
It’s unclear whether the No. 88 car will have its usual driver for the Brickyard 400, and it’s unclear whether this team will make the Chase.
As we proceed with the remainder of the season, this will be the storyline to follow.
Winner: The Withdrawal of Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s best move on the track this season didn’t involve racing at all. Skipping the New Hampshire 301 due to concussion-like symptoms was a big statement and makes him a big winner this week.
“It’s leading by example,” said NBCSN’s Jeff Burton during the broadcast. “It’s what Dale Earnhardt Jr. did in this case.”
There is no timetable for Junior’s return, which is the right course of action. The fact the No. 88 driver skipped this race with his team’s Chase hopes against the proverbial ropes speaks to the severity and urgency of his cranial condition.
"He's running through a bunch of tests, and he's going to have some more tests the first of the week," team owner Rick Hendrick said in Bob Pockrass’ ESPN.com report. "He's doing good. He wants to be in the car. The doctors are going to tell him when it's OK for him to be back.
"I know he's anxious, and we want him back as soon as the doctors give clearance."
Jeff Gordon, the recently retired former driver of the No. 24 car, will sub in for the No. 88 car at the Brickyard if Junior can’t return. That’s where the buzz is, but something more pressing could be Earnhardt’s long-term status as a driver.
Earnhardt already said he’d donate his brain to research once he passes (h/t USA Today). Clearly, the head injuries worry Earnhardt, so he may retire and choose to quit while he has his wits about himself.
Hendrick expects Earnhardt to keep racing, but that could merely be his hope as the owner of the car driven by NASCAR’s most popular driver. Cynical, yes, but that’s the nature of sport on this level.
If Junior retires, I say bully for him. There’s a lot he’ll accomplish in the next 40 years of his life that’s not worth sacrificing for a few a more seasons on the Sprint Cup Circuit.
Loser: The Epic Run of Brad Keselowski
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Brad Keselowski's epic run ended in New Hampshire.
Kez won the past two races and headed to a track where he performed so well a year ago, finishing second to Kyle Busch.
Keselowski would finish 15th, but up until that point he spent much of the race inside the top five.
Some bad luck led to a busted up car, which kicked him out of contention.
Now he heads to Indy where he has three top-10s from six tries—the perfect place to reassert himself as the title contender.
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Winner: Jamie McMurray's Point Parade
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Jamie McMurray finished in sixth place on the day and vaulted to 14th in the driver standings and to 15th on the Chase Grid.
He finished 20 spots ahead of Bowman, giving McMurray a nice 14-point cushion over the No. 88 car.
“It’s a big day,” McMurray said during the NBCSN broadcast. “We made good pit stops and restarts. The race drew out for a while. The last 40 laps were crazy on all restarts. Some want to be on top or bottom. It’s a really solid day.”
It’s safe to say McMurray won’t win a race. He doesn’t have that kind of speed. He has won at the Brickyard, but the speed McMurray conjures from week to week is more top-15 speed, not winning speed.
“We’re getting better at the right time,” said McMurray.
He’ll need to pop off more top-10s because now it’s getting tight at the bottom of the Grid.
Loser: Kevin Harvick's Pit Crew
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It’s a testament to how strong a driver Kevin Harvick is when he can finish fourth and be irascible. You could see cartoon steam coming out of his ears after the race.
“We just got to perform better. We under-execute as a team on a weekly basis,” Harvick said during the NBCSN broadcast. “Our cars are always fast. We always do something wrong.”
ICYMI, Harvick hates his pit crew like Steve Rogers hates Tony Stark.
At one point during the race, Harvick came over the radio and said, “Every f--king time we have a good racecar we f--k it up on pit road.”
“It’s really going to have to come from the top,” he added after the race. “They’re going to have to clamp down. There’s no way we can win a championship like this unless they straighten some of this stuff out.”
Their collective tails must be between their legs because it’s not like Harvick isn’t doing his part. He’s still No. 1 in points and by and large the best driver in the Sprint Cup.
But with a B-plus pit crew, he won’t get out of the Eliminator Round. It won’t happen. He knows it, and the team knows it.
Winner: Veteran Moves
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Greg Biffle.
When was the last time you heard this name with any degree of regularity?
The Biff took fifth place, which granted him his third straight top-10.
“I tell you what. It’s the first time we had a fast enough car to catch them,” Biffle said during the NBCSN broadcast. “Once I got by the [No.] 18 and the [No.] 1 and ran down those cars, we had good speed.”
Roush Fenway Racing has suffered the past few years. Certainly losing Carl Edwards to the new Dark Side in Joe Gibbs Racing was a sub-navel dropkick of sorts. It has taken a long time to find speed, and Biffle doesn’t have much of that (time) anymore.
“We just keep working at it,” Biffle said. “Our pit stops were good. We need to get our cars a little bit better. It’s frustrating as a car and a team. It’s a big mountain, and we’re chipping away.”
Said NBCSN NASCAR analyst Dale Jarrett, “This is veteran talking about making his way back. With the struggles they’ve had, he’s done a tremendous job. That was a veteran race driver making his way through the field.”
Biffle could muddy up the Chase picture. He’s capable of winning races, and any winner from outside the top 16 in points makes things tight for those looking to reach the playoffs on points alone.
Loser: The Bad Fortune of Martin Truex Jr.
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What must it be like for Martin Truex Jr. to dominate a race but know deep down something will inevitably go wrong?
Truex led 123 laps at New Hampshire and was the car to beat late in the race. Then he lost his gear shifter. Then his clutch broke and then unbroke. Then he could only start in fourth gear. The litany of his late-race foibles goes on and on.
“Lots of positive we can take from today,” Truex said during the NBCSN broadcast.
Say what?
“We’re looking forward to the Chase and what we can do. It’s a big relief to come here and run well. We knew this was one of our tough tracks,” he said.
Truex, who finished 16th in the end, went on to say how well the pit crew did, that it was its best collective performance of the season.
Truex has shown at times that the No. 78 car is perhaps the most dominant car week to week. Problem is, it can’t close. Championships are for closers, and with the exception of his perfect Coca-Cola 600, Truex can’t close.
“We’re doing everything right, but taking it on the chin here,” he said. “This isn’t where it counts. Sooner or later we’ll get everything straight.”
We’re seven weeks out from the Chase. This team better iron out those wrinkles soon.
Winner: The Patience of Matt Kenseth
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Matt Kenseth was, in a word, patient at New Hampshire.
“Patience isn’t one of my best qualities,” Kenseth said on the NBCSN broadcast.
But it was Sunday at Loudon.
Kenseth, who started 18th, slowly worked his way through the field and to the lead. Once he reached clean air, he was gone.
“Things change a lot,” he said. “They change pretty quickly. Some things are fairly different than what we remembered last fall. I think it’s always changing, and you have to be willing to change with it. We’ve got a good baseline.”
Kenseth won this race in the first round of the Chase in 2015, making it two in a row for the No. 20 car.
There was a time, Kenseth conceded, that he was lucky to finish back-to-back races at New Hampshire. Now he has won two in a row.
The win should give JGR a shot in the arm too. It hasn’t won a race since Kenseth won at Dover over two months ago.
It was a reclamation of sorts and a positive sign as these teams head toward the Chase.
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