It was a few short weeks ago when Tony Stewart was unimpressed with his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing team’s performance, arguing that he was undeserving of a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
The times, they are a-changing.
After winning what became a fuel-mileage race Monday afternoon at Chicagoland Speedway, “Smoke” and crew chief Darian Grubb played the conservation game in a 300-lap event full of lengthy green-flag runs and little passing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Sunday.
The end result: Stewart’s second consecutive win to start the Chase, his only wins of the 2011 season. In a case of déjà vu, Stewart passed Clint Bowyer with three laps to go after the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet ran out of gas. Last season in Loudon, N.H., Bowyer passed Stewart in the final turn after the No. 14 Chevrolet started running on empty.
The late-race drama was by far the most intriguing moment in a Sylvania 300 that saw just three cautions for 14 laps, with most of the race’s 21 lead changes coming during green-flag pit stops.
Pole-sitter Ryan Newman looked to be the class of the field early on, leading the first 60 laps and living up to his “Rocket Man” nickname. However, Kasey Kahne passed Newman for the lead before diving onto pit road for the first set of pit stops.
Kahne would return to the lead after the field cycled through pit road, opening a huge advantage over second-place Jeff Gordon as Newman fell back to fifth. Relief would come to everyone chasing the No. 4 Red Bull Racing Toyota on Lap 86, when a debris caution slowed the field for the first time.
The fuel-mileage game began fairly early, as Mark Martin and Juan Pablo Montoya chose to stay out rather than pit during the first caution. It briefly worked out to Martin’s advantage, as the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was out front until Kahne took over the lead again on Lap 134.
Martin stopped on Lap 144, but the second round of stops began in earnest on Lap 150. Gordon had yet to pit when Landon Cassill spun out six laps later, bringing out the second caution of the afternoon.
When the cycle of stops ended under caution, it would be Kahne who would lead the field to green on Lap 162, but Gordon – on fresh tires – passed the No. 4 Toyota almost immediately.
The final caution of the day would wave on Lap 173, as Matt Kenseth spun out after making contact with Roush Fenway Racing teammate and fellow Chaser Carl Edwards.
Gordon chose to stay out, leading the field to what would be a 123-lap green-flag run to end the race.
“Super G” sailed away from the field through the sequence, opening up a huge lead over Kahne. When a long cycle of pit stops (Laps 225-246) finally ran through, it would be Kahne out front once again – but on a different sequence than the rest of the field, meaning he would have to pit before the checkered flag. He would do just that on Lap 284, surrendering the lead to Bowyer and setting up the finish.
Brad Keselowski passed Greg Biffle on the final lap to finish second, while Biffle, Gordon, Brian Vickers, Kenseth, David Ragan, Edwards, Juan Pablo Montoya and Regan Smith rounded out the top 10. Bowyer would wind up 26th, two laps down.
A pair of Chasers ran out of gas in the closing stages. Denny Hamlin had a top-10 run going until he ran out of gas on the final lap, finishing 29th. Dale Earnhardt Jr. went empty and blew a tire heading to the checkered flag, limping home with a 19th-place result.
Stewart holds a seven-point lead over Kevin Harvick in the Chase standings. Keselowski is third (-11), while Edwards (-14) and Gordon (-23) round out the top five. Kyle Busch, Kenseth and Earnhardt Jr. are knotted in a three-way tie for sixth, 26 points behind “Smoke.”
Next up for the Sprint Cup Series is the AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. Sunday.
Written by:
