NASCAR

Kevin Harvick wins at New Hampshire, clinches spot in Chase second round

Jeff Gluck
USA TODAY Sports
Kevin Harvick celebrates with the traditional lobster given to the winner at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

LOUDON, N.H. — Kevin Harvick has battled back from adversity once again in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

One week after his playoff got off to a bad start after he caught an untimely caution at Chicagoland Speedway, Harvick used a late restart to pass Matt Kenseth with five laps remaining and went on to win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, putting himself into the second round of the Chase.

Harvick, who had the inside line on the restart after Kenseth chose the outside line, said, "’That worked out really good. My car was really good on restarts, and once we got clean air there at the end, wound up being really good out front. ... For me, it was a smooth restart. I didn’t want to spin the tires. I just timed it right.”

Kenseth blamed himself for losing the lead on the restart.

"I let Kevin lay back on me and we’re supposed to be side-by-side," Kenseth said. "I should have known better. I went really late in the zone and (let him) get up to my nose. He anticipated it just right, plus I spun the tires and got beat through (Turns) 1 and 2 and it was over.”

Harvick has won races in the Chase several times following a bad week, using the win-and-advance rule top save himself multiple times, including a win at Phoenix International Raceway to advance to the finale in 2014, where he won the race and his first title.

It was Harvick's third victory of the season and the first at the one-mile New England track in 10 years.

Kenseth finished second, followed by Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch. Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson rounded out the top 10.

SUNDAY'S RESULTS

Lap length: 1.058 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (19) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 300 laps, 115.6 rating, 44 points.

2. (8) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 300, 130.4, 40.

3. (12) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 300, 118.7, 39.

4. (11) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 300, 91.7, 38.

5. (13) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 300, 91.7, 36.

6. (1) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 300, 107.7, 36.

7. (2) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 300, 132.7, 36.

8. (4) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 300, 106.2, 33.

9. (9) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 300, 89.4, 32.

10. (6) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 300, 95.7, 31.

11. (15) Joey Logano, Ford, 300, 77.8, 30.

12. (16) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 300, 76.0, 29.

13. (10) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 300, 106.5, 29.

14. (18) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 300, 82.3, 0.

15. (5) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 300, 90.7, 26.

16. (29) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 300, 62.0, 25.

17. (26) Aric Almirola, Ford, 300, 67.9, 24.

18. (24) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 300, 67.5, 24.

19. (7) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 300, 86.7, 22.

20. (3) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 300, 79.7, 21.

21. (17) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 300, 70.2, 20.

22. (37) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 300, 47.5, 19.

23. (22) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 299, 71.8, 18.

24. (21) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, 299, 57.6, 17.

25. (14) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 299, 62.5, 16.

26. (20) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 298, 56.5, 15.

27. (31) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 298, 50.0, 14.

28. (33) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 298, 39.5, 13.

29. (34) Landon Cassill, Ford, 298, 40.9, 12.

30. (28) Chris Buescher, Ford, 298, 48.8, 11.

31. (25) Brian Scott, Ford, 298, 46.0, 10.

32. (23) David Ragan, Toyota, 297, 39.5, 9.

33. (32) Greg Biffle, Ford, 297, 41.9, 8.

34. (30) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 297, 37.5, 7.

35. (36) Cole Whitt, Ford, 294, 30.8, 6.

36. (38) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 293, 28.3, 5.

37. (40) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ford, 290, 24.8, 4.

38. (27) Trevor Bayne, Ford, accident, 282, 49.5, 3.

39. (39) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 268, 25.2, 2.

40. (35) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, garage, 236, 29.0, 1.

———

Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 109.292 mph.

Time of Race: 2 hours, 54 minutes, 15 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 0.442 seconds.

Caution Flags: 6 for 31 laps.

Lead Changes: 14 among 8 drivers.

Lap Leaders: C.Edwards 1-30; M.Truex 31-75; C.Edwards 76; Ky.Busch 77-78; B.Keselowski 79-80; M.Truex 81-124; Ky.Busch 125; M.Truex 126-166; C.Elliott 167; M.Truex 168-178; M.Kenseth 179-231; K.Harvick 232-233; D.Patrick 234-242; M.Kenseth 243-294; K.Harvick 295-300

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): M.Truex, 4 times for 137 laps; M.Kenseth, 2 times for 103 laps; C.Edwards, 2 times for 29 laps; D.Patrick, 1 time for 8 laps; K.Harvick, 2 times for 6 laps; Ky.Busch, 2 times for 1 lap; B.Keselowski, 1 time for 1 lap; C.Elliott, 1 time for 0 laps.

Wins: Ky.Busch, 4; B.Keselowski, 4; D.Hamlin, 3; M.Truex, 3; C.Edwards, 2; K.Harvick, 2; J.Johnson, 2; M.Kenseth, 2; C.Buescher, 1; Ku.Busch, 1; K.Larson, 1; J.Logano, 1; T.Stewart, 1.

Top 16 in Points: 1. B.Keselowski, 2087; 2, M.Truex, 2086; 3. Ky.Busch, 2085; 4. M.Kenseth, 2078; 5. J.Logano, 2073; 6. K.Harvick, 2071; 7. D.Hamlin, 2071; 8. J.Johnson, 2070; 9. C.Elliott, 2068; 10. C.Edwards, 2068; 11. Ku.Busch, 2067; 12. K.Larson, 2057; 13. J.McMurray, 2052; 14. A.Dillon, 2052; 15. T.Stewart, 2046; 16. C.Buescher, 2027.