Kevin Harvick took home the win after outdueling Denny Hamlin in the final laps of the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway as the two banged doors all the way to the checkered flag on the final two laps.
A hot day at New Hampshire Motor Speedway heated up the competition as Kyle Busch battled against Brad Keselowski right away, with Busch leading the most laps through both Stage 1 and 2. Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr., and Aric Almirola were not too far behind within a few seconds of each other for the top five positions.
A caution happened on Lap 111 between the No. 8 of Daniel Hemric and No. 41 of Daniel Suarez, causing each to spin out. The No. 9 of Chase Elliot had to go into the pits, experiencing problems with water pressure, which put him at least 11 laps down.
Big changes were made as Kevin Harvick became second and Denny Hamlin moved up to fourth place to beat out Keselowski through the middle of Stage 2. Martin Truex Jr. fell behind Clint Bowyer and Jimmy Johnson.
Eric Jones in the No. 20 was making a pass when the No.17 of Ricky Stenhouse made contact with Jones in the left front tire and quickly slammed into the wall on Lap 137. The commentators noted that tire changes have not created much of a difference yet so far.
On the restart, everyone began to go three-wide when an accident occurred between Clint Bowyer in the No. 14 and Martin Truex Jr. in the No.19. During the wait, there was a short interview with Stenhouse who expressed his frustration. Eric Almirola ended up winning Stage 2.
Kyle Busch originally looked to be running away with the whole race, but over time he got pushed past tenth place by the beginning of Stage 3. The No. 4 of Kevin Harvick kept attempting to slide underneath the No. 11 of Denny Hamlin from the inside to no avail, as they fought for the lead.
On Lap 214, Busch in the No. 18 spoke about losing grip on the track and just couldn’t stop himself from hitting the wall to create the seventh caution of the day. The eighth caution soon followed with the No. 42 of Kyle Larson and the No. 88 of Alex Bowman getting into each other after the restart. The No. 6 of Ryan Newman needed the caution to see what was wrong with his vehicle and had it fixed.
With 72 laps to go, Denny Hamlin maintained his lead ahead of the No. 12 of Ryan Blaney with Brad Keselowski in third. A ninth yellow flag flew with 30 laps to go, as Larson found his no. 42 machine getting into the outside wall.
The final restart provided an even playing field as the field settled in for the final laps. Kevin Harvick held onto first, with Denny Hamlin breathing down his neck for the final ten laps. Hamlin would get to the back of Harvick’s bumper with just two laps to go as he tried to bump him to bump him out of the way. Then on the final lap, Hamlin made a pass for a moment for the lead as the two continued to battle. However, Harvick was able to regain the lead spot as the two bumped into each other out of the final turn with Harvick using the entire racetrack out of the turn and holding off Hamlin for an epic finish.
It marked Harvick’s first win of the season, ending a 21-race drought dating back to Texas last season. The field of drivers will now pack up and roll off to Pocono for the Gander RV 400.
Written by Amanda Greene
