NASCAR: Kenseth takes New Hampshire as Harvick runs dry

Autosport

Matt Kenseth won at New Hampshire to secure his place in the second round of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase, as long-time leader Kevin Harvick ran out of fuel.

Harvick dominated the race, leading 216 of the 300 laps, but slowed with just two laps remaining after trying to stretch fuel mileage through a wild end to the event.

That handed the lead to Kenseth, who came home to claim his fifth win of the campaign by eight seconds from Joe Gibbs Racing team-mate Denny Hamlin.

Defending Cup champion Harvick dropped to 21st after his late stop and now sits 15th in the Chase rankings with just a single race left in the opening round of the playoffs.

Joey Logano was third for Penske, ahead of non-Chase runner Greg Biffle and polesitter Carl Edwards, who made it three Joe Gibbs Racing cars in the top five.

Jimmie Johnson dropped down the order after a front-left tyre failure but battled his way back through to finish sixth, from Jeff Gordon and Martin Truex Jr.

Kasey Kahne was ninth, while Ryan Newman rounded out the top 10.

Brad Keselwoski featured at the front of the pack for the opening 250 laps, but picked up a penalty for a restart violation that dropped him to the back of the lead lap.

The Penske racer, who was judged to have jumped the restart after the 10th caution, fought his way through the field to finish 12th.

Like his Stewart-Haas team-mate Harvick, Kurt Busch ran out of fuel in the closing stages, dropping to 19th at the chequered flag.

Kyle Busch’s Chase ambitions took a dent when he crashed heavily just after the halfway mark, losing 36 laps and finishing 37th.

NASCAR: Kenseth takes New Hampshire as Harvick runs dry

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