Harvick holds off Hamlin to win wild New Hampshire Image courtesy NASCAR


81 shares
share
tweet
email
By: Kelly Crandall | 22 hours ago


The call was made to keep Kevin Harvick on track for the run to the finish in the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301, and the former champion prevailed in what came down to a last-lap fight with Denny Hamlin.

Harvick held on, making it back-to-back wins at New Hampshire Motor Speedway as he claimed his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win of the season on Sunday afternoon. After getting a shove into Turn 1 on the last lap, Harvick and Hamlin drag raced down the backstretch before Harvick cut up in front of Hamlin in Turns 3 and 4 to beat him to the finish line.



“I didn’t think we had a chance to win staying out, but Rodney (Childers, crew chief) and those guys made a great call with our Busch Beer/National Forest Foundation car,” said Harvick of his 46th career win. “We had a good car all day, we just never could get track position. Stayed out there, ran a lot of good laps, I didn’t want to see that traffic there at the end — it really made my car tight — and he (Hamlin) got to me.

“He tried to move me out of the way down there,” Harvick continued, “and I knew that was coming as close as he was, so I just stood on the brakes, and I’m like half throttle down the back straightaway. I’m like, you’re not getting under me again, and he drove to the outside of me and I just waited until he got near me and I just put a wheel on him.”

More NASCAR!

Kyle Busch rues what might have been in New Hampshire

Harvick locked in to Cup Series playoffs grid

NASCAR to review controversial New Hampshire restart

Childers kept his driver on track for the race’s final restart with 29 laps to go, the idea being that either Harvick would hold off the field and finally win or slide back to around seventh, which is where his Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang had run most of the day.




Hamlin restarted third and set his sights on Harvick after getting around Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Erik Jones. But Hamlin didn’t get to Harvick’s bumper until the final lap, closing the gap into Turn 1 and making slight contact with his back bumper. Harvick then went low, and Hamlin stayed higher in the groove in the final two corners.

“I kind of shoved him up a little higher and tried to get him out of the groove,” said Hamlin, who started at the back in a backup car and led 113 laps. “I wanted to just tap him there, but I didn’t want to completely screw him. I at least wanted to give him a fair shot there, and then down the backstretch kind of let off and I’m like, all right, well I’ll just pass him on the outside and try to do this thing the right way.

“As I got that big run he just turned right — but I would do the same thing. It was a fun race. Congratulations to him and his team, they made a great call there at the end. It was fun … Shit. I don’t know. Second sucks.”

Impressive third for Jones after a drama-filled afternoon. Image by LaBounty/LAT


Jones finished third, with Ryan Blaney and Matt DiBenedetto rounding out the top five. The rest of the top 10 were Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, and pole-sitter Brad Keselowski.

Kyle Busch won Stage 1, his seventh stage win of the season. Aric Almirola, who finished 11th, won the second stage in a short dash to its conclusion.




The first half of the day had been dominated by Kyle Busch, who led a race-high 118 laps. However, multiple problems plagued Busch late in the day, such as losing his track position on pit road and even hitting the wall to bring the caution out.

There were nine cautions for 48 laps and 14 lead changes among seven drivers.

RESULTS


Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Stewart-Haas Racing, Monster Energy Cup, NASCAR

 

Hamlin keeps it clean in last-lap New Hampshire duel

Image by LaBounty/LAT


104 shares
share
tweet
email
By: Kelly Crandall 22 hours ago


Denny Hamlin said he “for sure” could have been dirtier battling Kevin Harvick for the NASCAR Cup Series win at New Hampshire, but that isn’t how he wanted to do things.

“When we were side by side through the center of (Turns) 1 and 2, I should have just drove straight, knocked him kind of up the groove, and he would have been in the (dirty) stuff, and it would have been over with,” said Hamlin. “But that’s not the way I want to do it.

“We’re two veteran guys; we know how to race these things clean and let’s just figure it out at the end. And he got the best of us.”




The Joe Gibbs Racing driver said he has a lot of respect for Harvick and that’s why he kept things as clean as he could. But Hamlin still needed to make a move to try and win for the third time this season, and he did give Harvick a nice knock in the bumper going into Turn 1.

Things just didn’t pan out as Hamlin hoped at the other end of the speedway.

“I just didn’t execute well,” Hamlin said.

More NASCAR!

Kyle Busch rues what might have been in New Hampshire

Harvick locked in to Cup Series playoffs grid

NASCAR to review controversial New Hampshire restart

Midway down the backstretch, the pair engaged in a drag race before Hamlin tucked back behind Harvick going into Turn 3. Harvick took the bottom — not wanting Hamlin to get underneath him — while Hamlin charged around the outside. Hamlin had the run, but Harvick admitted he “put a wheel on him.” Sideways off the corner, Hamling slotted in behind Harvick coming to the checkered flag.




“What I wanted to do was get position on the bottom, and then, stupid me, I backed off once I got there,” said Hamlin of his coming off Turn 2 and powering down the backstretch. “So, I don’t know. I needed to be more decisive about what move I wanted to make there.

“We gave ourselves a shot to win — we were really fast at the end of the race. But they made a great call to get that track position, and we couldn’t overcome the aero at the end.”

Starting at the back in a backup Camry, Hamlin still led the second-most laps. Image by LaBounty/LAT


Hamlin led the second-most laps of any driver Sunday afternoon at 113 in the Foxwoods Resort 301. And he quickly came from the rear of the field in a backup car after wrecking his primary in practice on Friday.

“I started getting position, I started getting to his door, and he turned right … and yeah, it was over after that,” Hamlin continued, talking about the finish.

“I would have liked to have drag raced side by side to the line there. I thought that’s what was gonna happen because I had a huge run on the outside of him off Turn 4. But he didn’t want to find out. He ended that discussion pretty early.”


Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, Kevin Harvick, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Monster Energy Cup, NASCAR