Bowyer made across the line half-a-second ahead of Denny Hamlin, who had plenty of fuel and the fastest car on the track.
Clint Bowyer and Tony Stewart traded the lead all day at the, with Bowyer leading more laps. Bowyer owned the middle of the race, while Stewart was strongest in the last third.
Stewart and Bowyer had two of the fastest cars on the track—no one but Denny Hamlin could catch either of them, and he was making up time lost when he had to pit after Carl Edwards spun him. Hamlin was fast, but running out of time.
Time wasn’t the issue. Fuel was. Bowyer and Stewart had stopped for fuel on lap 208, while Hamlin had come in nine laps later. For Bowyer, that made all the difference. For Hamlin, it almost did.
The first half of the race had seen only two cautions, while the last 150 laps had six. The leaders were hoping for one more wreck, to give them a chance to top off; they couldn’t afford to slow down and conserve, because Hamlin was charging.
Seconds later, Stewart too slowed, but somehow Clint Bowyer managed to make it across the line, winning the race and advancing from last place to second in the Chase. Bowyer’s Cheerio’s Chevrolet had just enough gas to do a victory burnout after the race while Stewart’s Office Depot Chevy fell from first to 24th.
Short-Track Crash Fest
The race started with hard charging, as the normally conservative Jimmie Johnson went three-wide into the first turn. Despite that, the first 150 laps were run fairly cleanly. That didn’t last, as everyone was beating and banging. On lap 213 Carl Edwards banged Denny Hamlin, sending cars dodging in every direction. A number of drivers, including Jimmie Johnson, had to pit with minor damage sustained as they tried to avoid the spinning Hamlin.
On lap 221, Jeff Burton moved down into Kurt Busch, and as Kyle Busch tried to dodge his brother, he collided with Jimmie Johnson. Johnson came in for tires, dropping him to 24th.
After only five laps of green-flag racing, Brad Keselowski nudged Matt Kenseth into the wall. Once that was cleaned up the field managed another five laps before Kurt Busch hit Joey Logano.
After the race went green again, Jimmie Johnson reported bad chatter in his tires, possibly a loose wheel. He pitted on lap 255, dropping him lap almost two laps down. Johnson finished 25th, dropping from second to seventh in the Chase.
Meanwhile Tony Stewart was fighting his way past Jamie McMurray, and Clint Bowyer soon followed suit. Stewart had a just over a second lead and it didn’t seem Bowyer could close the gap, but in both pits, crews were calculating how many yellow-flag laps they had run and how many green-flag laps they could run.
While Stewart and Bowyer worried about fuel, Denny Hamlin in the McDonald’s Chevrolet charged as hard as he could. He might have caught Bowyer if the race had goner another lap, fuel shortage or not. As it was, he had to settle for second.
Fourth went to Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet. Earnhardt might not have made the Chase but he certainly made the race, and his fans will certainly be happy with his performance, only his second top-five of the season.
The Chase Is On
Despite Denny Hamlin’s disappointment at not winning, he still holds a 35-point lead in the Chase. As the winningest driver of the season, he has to be considered a top contender to end Jimmie Johnson’s domination.But Jimmie Johnson isn’t far down, and certainly not out. He has always proven himself the master of the chase, abler to perform when he needed and well enough to win.
The Chase heads to Delaware next week, for the AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway on Sunday September 26. Another mile oval, Dover has 24-degree banking, so the racing should be faster and less physical than at Loudon.
Tickets are available through the Dover International Speedway website.
| Championship Points | ||||
|
| +/- | Driver | Points | Gap |
| 1 | -- | Denny Hamlin | 5230 |
|
| 2 | +10 | Clint Bowyer | 5195 | -35 |
| 3 | -- | Kevin Harvick | 5185 | -45 |
| 4 | -- | Kyle Busch | 5168 | -62 |
| 5 | +3 | Jeff Gordon | 5155 | -75 |
| 6 | -1 | Kurt Busch | 5144 | -86 |
| 7 | -5 | Jimmie Johnson | 5138 | -92 |
| 8 | +1 | Carl Edwards | 5135 | -95 |
| 9 | -2 | Greg Biffle | 5122 | -108 |
| 10 | -- | Jeff Burton | 5118 | -112 |
| 11 | -5 | Tony Stewart | 5106 | -124 |
| 12 | -1 | Matt Kenseth | 5094 | -136 |
| NASCAR Sprint Cup Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway | |||||||
|
| # | Driver | Make | Sponsor | Pts/bns | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Cheerios/Hamburger Helper | 195/10 | 300 | Running |
| 2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Small Business | 170/0 | 300 | Running |
| 3 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | McDonald’s | 170/5 | 300 | Running |
| 4 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | Amp Energy / National Guard | 160/0 | 300 | Running |
| 5 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Shell / Pennzoil | 155/0 | 300 | Running |
| 6 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | National Guard Facebook/DuPont | 155/5 | 300 | Running |
| 7 | 00 | David Reutimann | Toyota | Tums | 146/0 | 300 | Running |
| 8 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | U.S. Army | 142/0 | 300 | Running |
| 9 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M’s | 138/0 | 300 | Running |
| 10 | 77 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | Mobil 1 | 134/0 | 300 | Running |
| 11 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Aflac | 135/5 | 300 | Running |
| 12 | 43 | A.J. Allmendinger | Ford | Insignia HDTV/Best Buy | 127/0 | 300 | Running |
| 13 | 2 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Miller Lite | 124/0 | 300 | Running |
| 14 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Ford | Budweiser | 121/0 | 300 | Running |
| 15 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 118/0 | 300 | Running |
| 16 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Energizer | 115/0 | 300 | Running |
| 17 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M | 112/0 | 300 | Running |
| 18 | 12 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Penske/AAA | 114/5 | 300 | Running |
| 19 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row Companies | 106/0 | 300 | Running |
| 20 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 103/0 | 300 | Running |
| 21 | 19 | Elliott Sadler | Ford | U.S. Air Force | 100/0 | 300 | Running |
| 22 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | UPS | 97/0 | 300 | Running |
| 23 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Crown Royal | 94/0 | 300 | Running |
| 24 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Office Depot / Old Spice | 96/5 | 300 | Running |
| 25 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s/JKohns Manville | 88/0 | 299 | Running |
| 26 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Toyota | SpeedFactory.tv | 90/5 | 299 | Running |
| 27 | 83 | Reed Sorenson | Toyota | Red Bull | 82/0 | 299 | Running |
| 28 | 98 | Paul Menard | Ford | Sylvania/Menards | 79/0 | 299 | Running |
| 29 | 5 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | GoDaddy.com | 76/0 | 298 | Running |
| 30 | 47 | Marcos Ambrose | Toyota | Kingsford/Bush’s Beans | 73/0 | 298 | Running |
| 31 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | Mohawk Northeast | 70/0 | 297 | Running |
| 32 | 38 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | Long John Silver’s | 67/0 | 295 | Running |
| 33 | 37 | David Gilliland | Ford | Taco Bell | 64/0 | 295 | Running |
| 34 | 34 | Tony Raines | Ford | A&W All American Food | 61/0 | 295 | Running |
| 35 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 58/0 | 256 | Accident |
| 36 | 82 | Scott Speed | Toyota | Red Bull | 55/0 | 213 | Running |
| 37 | 71 | Andy Lally | Chevrolet | TRG Motorsports | 52/0 | 138 | Brakes |
| 38 | 13 | Casey Mears | Toyota | GEICO | 49/0 | 93 | Vibration |
| 39 | 09 | Bobby Labonte | Chevrolet | Phoenix Construction | 46/0 | 89 | Electrical |
| 40 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | FrontRowJoe.com | 48/5 | 60 | Clutch |
| 41 | 55 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | Prism Motorsports | 40/0 | 55 | Brakes |
| 42 | 164 | Landon Cassill | Toyota | Gunselman Motorsports | 37/0 | 40 | Brakes |
| 43 | 46 | Michael McDowell | Dodge | Whitney Motorsports | 34/0 | 29 | Engine |
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