Bearden Breakdown: Foxwoods Resort Casino 301

By Aaron Bearden, Motorsports Editor

Post-race review and analysis from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Who Won? 

Kevin Harvick. The win was his sixth of 2018, and the 43rd of his Cup career.

Who Claimed the Stages?

Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Elliott. Truex took paced Stage 1 to claim his sixth stage victory of 2018, while Elliott earned his first stage triumph since last fall’s trip to Chicagoland Speedway in Stage 2.

Top Stories

Bump-and-Run

The Big Three surged when it counted to settle yet another race among themselves at New Hampshire. But the latest chapter in their dominant 2018 campaign came with a fresh story in the form of late-race drama between Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.

If you’re reading this story, you probably already know what happened. If not then you can find it here.

While battling for the lead amid a faint drizzle in the closing laps, Harvick – then in second – gave Busch a hearty nudge going through one of New Hampshire’s two sets of turns. He did it again on the next lap, and the lap after that.

With seven laps remaining Harvick finally decided he was done waiting. The 2014 Cup champ sent Busch’s No. 18 Toyota sailing up the track with a bump in Turn 1, surged to the lead and driving to a  comfortable victory at the end.

“I just didn’t know if I was gonna get there at the end and I felt like that was my best opportunity to do what I had to do to win,” Harvick said of the move. “I didn’t want to wreck (Busch), but I didn’t want to waste a bunch of time behind him.”

Busch followed in a distant second, and naturally wasn’t happy with the result. But the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran ruled off the contact with Harvick as fair play.

“I mean, it wasn’t a big deal,” he said. “He didn’t wreck me or anything like that, so he did it early enough, but he did it way harder and pushed me out of the groove three lanes and it just takes you so long to recover here that it was just no possible way I could get back to him, so – and I was slower anyways. I was in the way, so no harm, no foul.”

But while he accepted the move in the context of racing for the win, Busch also hinted that Harvick should expect the same move in return if the duo find themselves in a similar position moving forward.

“I’m not sure he (Kevin Harvick) had to do it, but he did,” Busch said. “It’s fine. How you race is how you get raced, so it’s fine.”

Harvick expected Busch to carry that mentality leaving the race, but the Stewart-Haas Racing ace felt his decision was justified. In fact he referenced a similar move from Busch at Chicagoland Speedway from three weeks prior.

“You do and you worry about that stuff later,” when asked if he worried about the move coming back to him down the road. “It’s not like I wrecked him. It’s the same thing as Chicago.”

Both drivers were understandably nonchalant after their run-in at New Hampshire, and rightfully so. This is far from the first time they’ve dueled for a victory, even with contact.

But Harvick’s bump also set up a storyline to watch moving forward. Recent history has shown that these two champions may find themselves battling for positions and wins in the closing laps of many races moving forward – perhaps even in the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. If either is within bumping range of the other when the time comes, don’t be surprised if Busch or Harvick opts to use the same controlled aggression that yielded Harvick a summer date with a Loudon lobster.

Another Letdown for Almirola

Harvick’s memorable rise for the win at New Hampshire overshadowed what once appeared to be SHR teammate Aric Almirola’s day to break through in the northeast.

With 50 laps remaining it appeared that the Floridian had made all of the right moves. His No. 10 Ford was arguably the best car on-track, and he led the way as the race entered the final planned round of pitstops.

A decision to short pit had placed Harvick ahead of Almirola during the final round of green-flag pit stops, but the SHR newcomer had quickly overtaken his teammate to regain the top spot and began driving off into the proverbial sunset. Almirola led 42 laps on the day, pushing his 2018 season total to a career-high 113 laps.

For the third time this season Almirola appeared to be in contention to claim his second-career race win. But for the third time he was denied.

Almirola held a comfortable lead when the day’s final caution flew on Lap 257, but a slow stop from his No. 10 team dropped him to third, behind both Busch and Harvick. A good restart would have still given Almriola a fighting chance at the win, but the 34-year-old spun his tires when the race went back green on Lap 263 and dropped to seventh.

The blunder led to a scene symbolic of the regular season to date – at least outside of restrictor-plate tracks. Almirola’s slow start allowed the top three drivers to shoot out to a sizable advantage. That trio of leaders just happened to be Busch, Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. – this season’s Big Three.

Almirola rebounded to crash the Big Three’s party, passing Truex in the closing laps to rise into third. But in the end he finished well behind Harvick and Busch. The third-place result was the best of his career at New Hampshire, but the frustration of another win that slipped away overshadowed any sense of pride or accomplishment from the run.

“You think I’d be really excited to run top five and I’m not,” he said. “We had the best car hands-down.  There’s no doubt in my mind.  We gave it away on pit road and then I gave it away again on the restart.  I spun the tires on the restart and didn’t even give myself a fighting chance, so I’m just really frustrated.”

Sunday wasn’t the first time Almirola has found himself in position to claim a win this year. He led the season-opening Daytona 500 until a fateful hook from Austin Dillon sent him into the Turn 3 wall on the final lap. A dominant run early on at Chicagoland ended in disappointment after two loose wheels dropped Almirola to a 25th-place finish.

Almirola has been close to topping the Big Three numerous times this year, but in doing so he’s provided the biggest lesson in the trio’s dominance. They’re beatable under the right circumstances, but accomplishing the feat requires a near-perfect day. Even the smallest mistake – such as an extra second on a pit stop – can be enough to spoil a driver’s chances.

Bowman’s Bubble Builder

Alex Bowman had a relatively quiet day in New Hampshire. He ran inside of the top 15 throughout the afternoon before slotting in a respectable 11th at race’s end.

The run wasn’t memorable, but it was just was he needed to boost his playoff hopes with the regular season slowly winding down.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s successor entered New Hampshire sitting 15th in the standings, holding the final spot in the 16-car playoff grid by just nine points over Ricky Stenhouse Jr. A boost of early speed from Stenhouse left that gap in jeopardy, but the Roush Fenway Racing star slammed the outside wall and fell multiple laps down during the race’s middle stages, opening the door for Bowman to make gains.

In the end Bowman did just that. His quiet run placed him ahead of both Stenhouse – who ultimately slotted in 30th – and 17th-place Paul Menard. The result wasn’t one for him to be proud of, but it did the job nonetheless.

“I hate that we unloaded with so much speed and just kind of I guess didn’t go the right way or the track changed on us,” Bowman said. “But (I’m) really proud of Greg (Ives, crew chief) and everybody for getting the car better there at the end.  Had a good restart there and almost got a top 10. It could have been a lot worse.”

As a result of his run, Bowman leaves New Hampshire with a 28-point edge on 16th-place Stenhouse for the final playoff spot on points. Menard follows a point behind Stenhouse in 17th.

Other Notes

• Whether you consider it an anomaly with the unique layout of New Hampshire or a sign of genuine progress, Chevrolet enjoyed a relatively solid day on the 1.058-mile oval. Chase Elliott earned his first top five since Sonoma Raceway in fifth, Ryan Newman finished a season-best sixth, Jimmie Johnson was consistent en-route to 10th and Bowman, Kyle Larson (12th) and William Byron (14th) all finished in the top 15.
• Kyle Busch still leads the point standings, but Kevin Harvick now has the most guaranteed playoff points in the field with 32. Busch follows with 30, while Martin Truex Jr. sits third with 26. The next highest driver on the list? Clint Bowyer with 10.
• Matt Kenseth quietly put together one of his strongest runs since returning to Roush Fenway Racing en-route to a 15th-place run at New Hampshire. The result was his second top 15 of the year – tying him with Bayne. Of the two, Bayne’s two runs were better overall, with finishes of 12th (Texas) and 13th (Daytona). But Kenseth also has eight fewer starts on the year.
• Ross Chastain quietly secured another top 25 run for Premium Motorsports – his fifth in 18 starts this season. Owner Jay Robinson only had seven such runs between all of his teams in 2017, and one of those also came from Chastain.

Next Up

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Pocono Raceway for the Gander Outdoors 400. Six races remain before the 2018 Cup playoffs.