Almirola Pops Playoff Bubble with New Hampshire Victory

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Aric Almirola won the darkness-shortened Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 on Sunday afternoon to lock himself into the Playoffs.

The race began in a mist, which turned into a hard rainfall just six laps into the race, causing the race to be red-flagged for almost two hours.  Without lights at the New Hampshire track, NASCAR decided to call the race official eight laps from the scheduled distance due to darkness.

Almirola was ahead of Christopher Bell when the race was called, and he picked up his first victory since 2018 in what has been a difficult year for the veteran driver.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Almirola said it’s a testament to his team for continuing to fight through all the adversity that mired him outside the Top 20 in points.

“Everyone that works on this car…just keeps fighting,” Almirola said.  “There have been so many people who have continued to support us through the crappiest year ever.”

Almirola’s previous two career victories came at Daytona and Talladega, and he said he was glad to finally win on a non-superspeedway.

“I had this race won a couple years ago and I gave it away,” Almirola said.  “For so long we’ve been so close to winning at some of these racetracks…and I’ve let it slip away.”

“This feels so good to have something pay off for all the hard work.”

Bell was closing in on Almirola while the leader struggled with lapped traffic, but Bell ran out of time to get to the back of Almirola.

Bell said he hoped the race would go the scheduled distance and may have had something for Almirola with those extra eight laps.

“I didn’t know how many laps they cut it short but…saw that we were eight laps short, it stings,” Bell said.  “I feel like I probably had a little bit better pace than him and I was able to get to him.”

“Lapped cars were giving him a hard time.  It was going to be a heck of a race.”

Almirola’s victory locked him into the Playoffs, and that caused the cutline for the final spot to tighten up. Heading into the race, Richard Childress Racing teammates Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick were in the Playoffs by over 100 points, but they are now separated by just five points, with Dillon on the outside looking in. 

Teams on the bubble will use the upcoming two-week Olympic break to get ready for the final four races before the Playoffs begin.

Unofficial results:

1. Aric Almirola

2. Christopher Bell

3. Brad Keselowski

4. Joey Logano

5. Ryan Blaney

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Kyle Larson

8. Ross Chastain

9. Alex Bowman

10. Denny Hamlin

11. Matt DiBenedetto

12. Martin Truex Jr.

13. Tyler Reddick

14. Cole Custer

15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

16. Kurt Busch

17. Austin Dillon

18. Chase Elliott

19. Erik Jones

20. Daniel Suarez

21. William Byron

22. Ryan Preece

23. Corey LaJoie

24. Ryan Newman

25. Michael McDowell

26. Bubba Wallace

27. Chase Briscoe

28. Justin Haley

29. Chris Buescher

30. BJ McLeod

31. Cody Ware

32. Anthony Alfredo

33. Garrett Smithley

34. Josh Bilicki

35. Quin Houff

36. James Davison

37. Kyle Busch

James Gilbert/Getty Images

Keselowski Dominant in New Hampshire

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Brad Keselowski won the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 from New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon for his third win of 2020.

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Keselowski had a fast car all day, and battled Denny Hamlin throughout most of the race.  The two drivers restarted up front to begin the final stage of the race, and Keselowski was able to get to the lead and pull away from Hamlin.

Keselowski said his team has pushed him to continue to elevate his performance this season.

“I probably needed a kick in the ass,” Keselowski said.  “This whole team’s been a kick in the butt for me; they make me a little better.”

Keselowski led a race-high 189 laps on Sunday, including the final 80 laps.

After the dominant performance, Keselowski said a run like this was what his team needed to contend.

“We’ve had a lot of great races this year with the 2 car,” Keselowski said.  “We just hadn’t really gone out and dominated a race.  We’re right there…I’m in a great spot here and hungry for more wins.”

“I don’t want to stop here.  I want us to keep going and I know this team can do it.”

Unofficial results:

1. Brad Keselowski

2. Denny Hamlin

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Joey Logano

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Matt DiBenedetto

7. Aric Almirola

8. Cole Custer

9. Chase Elliott

10. Tyler Reddick

11. William Byron

12. Jimmie Johnson

13. Austin Dillon

14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

15. Alex Bowman

16. Ryan Preece

17. Kurt Busch

18. Clint Bowyer

19. Michael McDowell

20. Ryan Blaney

21. Ryan Newman

22. Ty Dillon

23. Bubba Wallace

24. Erik Jones

25. Chris Buescher

26. Daniel Suarez

27. Brennan Poole

28. Christopher Bell

29. JJ Yeley

30. James Davison

31. Garrett Smithley

32. Quin Houff

33. Timmy Hill

34. Joey Gase

35. Corey LaJoie

36. John Hunter Nemechek

37. Matt Kenseth

38. Kyle Busch

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Harvick Ends Drought, Wins at New Hampshire

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 from New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Harvick used pit strategy late in the race to pick up his first win of the season.  When a caution came out with 30 laps to go, Harvick stayed out while most of the field behind him pitted.  After retaining the lead on the restart, Harvick had to hold off Denny Hamlin, who was coming with two fresher tires.

Courtesy NASCAR

Harvick said he didn’t think the call would turn out to be the winning move.

“I didn’t think we had the best chance to win staying out, but Rodney and those guys made a great call,” Harvick said.  “Stayed out there and ran a lot of good laps.”

Harvick was able to hold Hamlin off for most of the final run, but the two made contact while racing around lapped traffic on the final lap.

Harvick said he knew Hamlin would use the bumper on the final lap.

“He tried to move me out of the way there and I knew that was coming as close as he was,” Harvick said.  “He dove to the outside of me and I just put a wheel on him.”

Hamlin used his bumper to try and move Harvick on the last lap, but he wasn’t able to complete the pass after the two made contact coming out of the final corner.

Hamlin said he didn’t want to completely ruin Harvick’s race by putting him in the wall.

“I wanted to just tap him there, but didn’t want to completely screw him,” Hamlin said.  “I at least wanted to give him a fair shot.”

“He saw that I had a big run and just turned right…I would do the same thing.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Denny Hamlin

3. Erik Jones

4. Ryan Blaney

5. Matt DiBenedetto

6. Martin Truex Jr.

7. Ryan Newman

8. Kyle Busch

9. Joey Logano

10. Brad Keselowski

11. Aric Almirola

12. William Byron

13. Paul Menard

14. Alex Bowman

15. Chris Buescher

16. Ty Dillon

17. Michael McDowell

18. Kurt Busch

19. Daniel Suarez

20. Clint Bowyer

21. Ryan Preece

22. Bubba Wallace

23. Corey LaJoie

24. Matt Tifft

25. Ross Chastain

26. Landon Cassill

27. Reed Sorenson

28. Andy Seuss

29. Chase Elliott

30. Jimmie Johnson

31. Quin Houff

32. Austin Dillon

33. Kyle Larson

34. David Ragan

35. Austin Theriault

36. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

37. Daniel Hemric

Harvick Moves Busch in the Closing Laps to Win at New Hampshire

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 on Sunday afternoon from the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Robert Laberge/Getty Images

Harvick had a strong car throughout the race and ran towards the front for most of the day, but he had to chase down Kyle Busch following a late restart.  Harvick got to the back of Busch’s bumper on numerous occasions, and finally moved him in the closing laps.

Harvick said might not have had another chance to pass Busch with the laps winding down.

“We were just running out of laps and I was worried I wouldn’t get back to him again,” Harvick said.  “I didn’t want to wreck him, but I didn’t want to waste a ton of time behind him.”

With the victory, Harvick now stands atop the point standings with just six races remaining before the Playoffs begin.

Harvick said wins are more important with himself, Busch and Martin Truex Jr. winning a majority of the races this season.

“Winning is important, and you try to take every opportunity,” Harvick said.  “You’ve got to be aggressive and do what you’ve got to do to win these races.  We want to win and points are everything.”

Busch said his car wasn’t as strong as Harvick’s at the end of the race, but that he’ll remember how Harvick raced him later in the season.

“We had a really poor performance today,” Busch said.  “The car just wasn’t there all weekend.  We kind of struggled with it through the race.”

“I’m not sure [Harvick] had to do it, but he did…how you race is how you get raced.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Kyle Busch

3. Aric Almirola

4. Martin Truex Jr.

5. Chase Elliott

6. Ryan Newman

7. Ryan Blaney

8. Kurt Busch

9. Joey Logano

10. Jimmie Johnson

11. Alex Bowman

12. Kyle Larson

13. Denny Hamlin

14. William Byron

15. Matt Kenseth

16. Erik Jones

17. Paul Menard

18. Jamie McMurray

19. Kasey Kahne

20. Chris Buescher

21. Austin Dillon

22. Daniel Suarez

23. Ty Dillon

24. Darrell Wallace Jr.

25. Ross Chastain

26. Michael McDowell

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Matt DiBenedetto

29. David Ragan

30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

31. Kyle Weatherman

32. Brad Keselowski

33. Blake Jones

34. BJ McLeod

35. Clint Bowyer

36. AJ Allmendinger

37. Landon Cassill

Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

Busch Dominates in New Hampshire

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kyle Busch won the ISM Connect 300 from New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Busch had a dominant car throughout the race, and led 187 of 300 laps on Sunday. 

Busch raced with Martin Truex Jr. throughout the first two stages, but it almost ended with a wreck on the final lap of Stage 2.  Truex was leading when an accident blocked most of the track.  Truex was involved in the accident, but Busch was able to squeeze by on the outside.

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Busch drove through a thick wall of smoke to avoid the wreck, and he said it was like a scene out of the movie Days of Thunder.

“You couldn’t see anything, it was just a wall of smoke over there off Turn 2,” Busch said.  “That was some Days of Thunder stuff right there.  Just checked up…trying not to get run into from behind.”

Busch said his dominance was a testament to how hard his team worked all week to help them advance to the next round of the Playoffs.

“It was just a great day for our team; we were able to execute all day long,” Busch said.  “We did everything right and everything we were supposed to do.”

“It’s a testament to this team and everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing…they’ve been fast and it’s a great opportunity for us to put them in victory lane when we can.”

Kyle Larson challenged Busch on the final restart of the race, but he ended up with a second-place finish.  Larson said his car just didn’t have the speed to compete with Busch on the short run.

“I felt like on fairly long runs I was pretty equal to those guys, but on the short run I…couldn’t get the throttle down and we’d get loose,” Larson said.  “He was just really good.”

“Solid effort for us.  We got a fifth last week and a second today; that was pretty much the day that we needed.  Obviously a win would have been great, but second is just as good.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Busch

2. Kyle Larson

3. Matt Kenseth

4. Brad Keselowski

5. Martin Truex Jr.

6. Erik Jones

7. Clint Bowyer

8. Daniel Suarez

9. Ryan Blaney

10. Joey Logano

11. Chase Elliott

12. Denny Hamlin

13. Ryan Newman

14. Jimmie Johnson

15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

16. Jamie McMurray

17. AJ Allmendinger

18. Danica Patrick

19. Austin Dillon

20. Paul Menard

21. Chris Buescher

22. Ty Dillon

23. Michael McDowell

24. Trevor Bayne

25. Landon Cassill

26. Aric Almirola

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Reed Sorenson

29. David Ragan

30. Cole Whitt

31. Matt DiBenedetto

32. Brett Moffitt

33. Gray Gaulding

34. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

35. Kasey Kahne

36. Kevin Harvick

37. Kurt Busch

38. Jeffrey Earnhardt

39. Cody Ware

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Hamlin Wins First Race of the Season in New Hampshire

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Denny Hamlin won the Overton’s 301 from New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Hamlin picked up the first victory of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing, which was in the midst of a 20-race winless streak.  Hamlin said he was happy to return to victory lane and lock himself into the Chase.

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

“It’s definitely been tough, but it’s not from a lack of trying,” Hamlin said.  “We’ve been getting better every week…but we definitely needed a win for the organization and for myself to just get some momentum going.”

Kyle Larson ran Hamlin down over the final run, cutting his lead to half a second.  Hamlin said he was concerned with Larson’s faster car coming from behind.

“I was just trying to do everything I could to keep pace,” Hamlin said.  “I really just ran a pace there which I felt comfortable with just in case we restarted; I didn’t want to burn the tires up.”

Larson had to start last after his car failed post-qualifying inspection, and he drove up through the field for the second week in a row.  Larson said he was fighting hard to catch Hamlin in the closing laps.

“Heck of a day for the Target team, can’t thank everybody enough,” Larson said.  “Wish we could have got a win, but a hard-fought effort all day.”

“We’ll keep fighting hard…if we could get to start up front and get some stage wins that would be nice.”

Unofficial results:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Kyle Larson

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Matt Kenseth

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Daniel Suarez

7. Clint Bowyer

8. Kurt Busch

9. Brad Keselowski

10. Jimmie Johnson

11. Chase Elliott

12. Kyle Busch

13. Danica Patrick

14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

15. Austin Dillon

16. Ty Dillon

17. Jamie McMurray

18. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

19. Ryan Blaney

20. Trevor Bayne

21. AJ Allmendinger

22. Paul Menard

23. Landon Cassill

24. Aric Almirola

25. Chris Buescher

26. Michael McDowell

27. Ryan Newman

28. Kasey Kahne

29. David Ragan

30. Matt DiBenedetto

31. Corey LaJoie

32. Ryan Sieg

33. Jeffrey Earnhardt

34. Reed Sorenson

35. Gray Gaulding

36. Josh Bilicki

37. Joey Logano

38. Cole Whitt

39. Erik Jones

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Harvick Wins at New Hampshire

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Kevin Harvick won the Bad Boy Off Road 300 from New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday after taking the lead on a late restart.

Harvick started deep in the field on Sunday, but he worked his way up to the front and took the lead at the end of the race.  He held off Matt Kenseth over the closing laps to pick up the victory.

 

Jonathan Ferrey (Getty Images)

“My team was pretty good on the restarts,” Harvick said.  “Once we got clean air there at the end, we wound up being pretty good out front.”

Harvick needed a good run to get into the next round of the Chase after a 20th-place finish last weekend at Chicagoland.  Harvick said his team came looking for a good run and got the victory instead.

“One of our main goals this year was to not stress ourselves out so bad, and I feel like the performance of the car and the things we’re doing are good enough to be competitive.  We just need to not make mistakes and go from here.”

Kenseth finished second after leading most of the final 100 laps.  Kenseth said his late-race battle with Martin Truex Jr. affected his chances of holding off Harvick.

“We were pretty good…we just didn’t get that last adjustment in,” Kenseth said.  “The 78 [of Truex] was a lot better than we were and we just burned the right rear off trying to hold him off.”

“Just went really late in the restart zone, and [Harvick] anticipated it just right and laid back, plus I spun the tires.  Got beat through 1 and 2 and then it was over.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Matt Kenseth

3. Kyle Busch

4. Brad Keselowski

5. Kurt Busch

6. Carl Edwards

7. Martin Truex Jr.

8. Jimmie Johnson

9. Kasey Kahne

10. Kyle Larson

11. Joey Logano

12. Ryan Blaney

13. Chase Elliott

14. Alex Bowman

15. Denny Hamlin

16. Austin Dillon

17. Aric Almirola

18. Danica Patrick

19. Jamie McMurray

20. Ryan Newman

21. AJ Allmendinger

22. Clint Bowyer

23. Tony Stewart

24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

25. Paul Menard

26. Michael McDowell

27. Casey Mears

28. Matt DiBenedetto

29. Landon Cassill

30. Chris Buescher

31. Brian Scott

32. David Ragan

33. Greg Biffle

34. Regan Smith

35. Cole Whitt

36. Reed Sorenson

37. Jeffrey Earnhardt

38. Trevor Bayne

39. Josh Wise

40. Michael Annett

Rainier Ehrhardt (Getty Images)