Brad Keselowski outduels Denny Hamlin to win Foxwoods 301

LOUDON, N.H. — Brad Keselowski won the race and Penske Racing ruled the day.

The operator of the No. 2 Western Star/Alliance Parts Ford dominated Stage 3 of Sunday’s Foxwoods 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and cruised to his third victory of the season and 33rd of his career.

Keselowski’s Penske teammates put in a strong showing, with Joey Logano coming in fourth while Ryan Blaney finished 20th.

Defending champion Kevin Harvick remains atop the drivers’ standings with 803 points followed by Keselowski (722), Denny Hamlin (688), Blaney (685), Chase Elliot (660) and Logano (653). Three of the top six drivers in the Cup Series compete for Roger Penske.

An estimated crowd of 13,000 saw Keselowski play a cat-and-mouse game with Hamlin (12 lead changes) throughout. But Keselowski had too much power on the straights and went unchallenged over the final 88 laps. Keselowski led for 144 laps while Hamlin was in front for 92.

“We’ve had a lot of great races this year with the No. 2 car, but we haven’t really gone out and dominated a race,” said Keselowski.

“I talked to (crew chief) Jeremy Bullins what we needed to do to get to the next level. We are right there but we needed to go out and dominate a race and that’s what we did.”

Hamlin was denied his fourth NHMS victory and finished runner-up for the second year in a row. Harvick, who was going for a record three straight wins, finished fifth. Martin Truex Jr. finished third despite being penalized track position for a tire violation. Hamlin and Truex compete for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Rookies had a fine showing with Cole Custer finishing 8th while Tyler Reddick was 10th.

Seven-time Cup series champion Jimmie Johnson was 12th in his final run on the Magic Mile.

Stage 1

Keselowski took the lead on pole sitter Aric Almirola at the start of the third lap and began a solid uninterrupted run at the front of the pack. The race went under caution twice early in the first 31, prompting many of the cars to pit for fresh tires. Keselowski completed lap 13 in 29.76 seconds, the fastest in the stage.

Keselowski elected to stay on the track and maintain his track position and fended off repeated challenges from Hamlin and Blaney. Hamlin took the lead from Blaney on the 70th lap and picked up 10 points for being the front-runner at the end of stage 1, his fourth stage win of the season.

“We were just kind of second to the No. 2,” said Hamlin. “We could really do well on restarts and we were going back and forth.

“Wow, that was some really good short-track racing there. Hopefully the fans liked what they saw from me and the No. 2 for most of the day. There was some great side-by-side racing and we treated each other fair so it’s good we got the 1-2 out of it.”

Stage 2

The second stage, which consumed 110 laps, began under caution with Hamlin in front. Hamlin engaged in an early battle with Truex on the lap 82 restart and enjoyed a short stretch of clean-air racing. The race went under caution for rain on the 92nd lap.

Harvick took the lead on the restart on the 100th lap with Hamlin on his bumper. Hamlin took the lead and enjoyed a long stretch of clean-air racing with Keselowski and Logano in pursuit. Keselowski and Hamlin pitted when the race went under caution. Keselowski outdueled Hamlin to win stage 2.

Stage 3

The final stage began with three quick cautions and Keselowski and Hamlin pitted on lap 205. Hamlin was back in front when the race went under caution and maintained it on the restart. Keselowski regained the lead and went green flag to the finish line.

Go green

Harvick pitted on lap 167 lap near the end of 71 laps of green flag racing and took four tires and fuel. Nothing puts a hornet in the back pockets of a pit crew more than when a top driver visits pit road while the race is going full throttle. The crew did a good job and Harvick made his escape without a hitch.

Contact sport

Three-time winner Kyle Busch blew a right front tire and made contact with the wall on the 16th lap, putting the race under caution. Busch exited the track and entered the infield garage area for repairs to the No. 18 Pedigree Toyota and never returned.

“I blew a right front tire, I have no idea why,” said Busch. “Way too early in the going for anything to go wrong. I just hate it for the Pedigree team and the fight we’ve been having this year seems to continue.”

Johnson was riding on the apron when he was bumped by Clint Bowyer and spun out. The race went under caution and Johnson retreated to pit road for tires before rejoining the fray. Rookie John Hunter Nemechek lost control on turn 3 on lap 213 and crashed violently into the wall. The No. 38 Ford exited the track on the back of a tow truck.

New accord

NHMS and Foxwoods Resort & Casino entered into an agreement on Sunday to extend their partnership into 2021. Foxwoods has been the sponsor of the 301 since 2017.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/30kMyNt