ROCKETMAN
#11 Denny Hamlin vs #07 Clint Bowyer
Play On: 3* #11 Denny Hamlin -115
My 3rd favorite driver today, I have to go with Denny Hamlin. Hamlin has 1 win, 2 Top 5 finishes and 4 Top 10 finishes in his 5 starts in New Hampshire. Hamlin has an average finish of 6.8 here in New Hampshire which is best among all drivers. Past 2 years, Denny Hamlin's average finish at track type - FLAT TRACK is 7.7. In 6 races, he has 1 win and 4 top 10 finishes. Denny Hamlin's average finish over the past 3 races is 3.0. In 3 races, he has 0 wins and 3 top 10 finishes. We'll play Denny Hamlin to finish ahead of Clint Bowyer for 3 units today! Thanks and good luck, Rocky
Biffle wins round one in Sprint Cup Chase
Loudon, VA (Sports Network) - Greg Biffle snapped a 33-race winless streak by capturing the victory in Sunday's Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the first event in this year's "Chase for the Sprint Cup" championship. Biffle passed Jimmie Johnson for the lead with 11 laps remaining.
The victory was Biffle's 13th career victory, but his first since September 2007 at Kansas.
"I was holding back at the end, and we got those cautions there and that was my plan inside the car," Biffle said. "It closed us up to Jimmie Johnson to give me a shot at him. I was a little better than him on that shorter run. He was a little bit loose and I knew it."
With the victory, Biffle moved from ninth to third in the championship standings. He trails new leader Carl Edwards by 30 points.
Johnson, who was looking for his third-straight win, led a race-high 96 laps.
"On long runs, we were strong all day long," Johnson said. "The short runs were what hurt me the most."
Johnson's runner-up finish moved him into a points tie with Edwards after the first round in the "Chase."
After qualifying was rained out on Friday, Kyle Busch started on the pole and led the first three laps. But Edwards moved to the outside of Busch and grabbed the top spot on the fourth lap. Clint Bowyer took the second spot away from him four laps later. A mechanical problem was to blame for Busch's decline in the field as he ran in the 19th position by Lap 24.
NASCAR planned a "competition caution" on Lap 35 for teams to check their tire wear. Busch, who was running 26th at the time, was the first to enter pit road but was penalized for stopping too early. He fell one lap behind in 43rd place. Meanwhile, Edwards was the quickest out of the pits, followed by Tony Stewart and Johnson.
Edwards pulled away from Stewart and Johnson on the restart on Lap 40, but five laps later, Johnson passed Stewart for the second spot. Edwards held a one-second lead over Johnson by Lap 50.
However, Johnson gained momentum as he passed Edwards and took the top spot for the first time on Lap 65. Stewart and Kurt Busch followed Johnson to take second and third, while Edwards fell to fourth.
Busch's day turned for the worse on Lap 83 when he spun and then rammed from behind by Jamie McMurray. Busch suffered severe damage to the rear end of his No.18 Toyota. He returned to the track eight laps later after repairs. Busch ended up finishing the race 12 laps down in 34th-place.
"We had a part failure and it's one of those things you can't do nothing about," Busch's crew chief, Steve Addington, said. "We weren't very good when we unload here (on Friday), but I felt like we did the right things. The part failure cost us, and we'll just have to go back and re-evaluate."
Busch entered the race with a 30-point lead, but dropped to eighth in the standings, 74 points behind Edwards.
Biffle ran among the top-10 in the early stages of the race, but on Lap 126, Biffle passed Johnson for the second spot. He trailed Earnhardt, Jr. by a little more than a second. Johnson, however, reclaimed the second spot on Lap 136, while Earnhardt, Jr. held a four-second lead.
David Ragan began green-flag pit stops on Lap 146. Earnhardt, Jr. made his stop on Lap 158 and handed the lead over to Brian Vickers. Stewart was caught speeding as he exited pit road and had to serve a pass-through penalty. He fell one lap down in 30th.
After the cycle of stops was completed on Lap 159, Biffle grabbed the lead for the first time. He ran out in front for five circuits before Earnhardt, Jr. passed him for the top spot.
Biffle came right back 10 laps later when he moved around Earnhardt, Jr. for the top spot. Johnson was also on the move as he passed Hamlin for the third position and then Earnhardt, Jr. for the second spot. Johnson was just a half- second behind Biffle on Lap 182.
Earnhardt, Jr. struggled with a loose race car on Lap 198 as he fell back to eighth place.
The third caution for debris on Lap 214 set up another round of stops. Johnson was the fastest out followed by Hamlin. Biffle struggled to get out of his pit stall and came out in third.
When the race resumed on Lap 220, Joe Nemechek got loose and slammed into the inside wall. Hamlin gave up the second position during the caution when he decided to pit. He gave up valuable track position as he fell back to 17th. Stewart moved back on the lead lap in 16th place.
On Lap 229, Chad McCumbee got loose and spun up the track. Matt Kenseth slid into McCumbee, while David Gilliland hit Kenseth from the side. Casey Mears and Vickers were also involved in the incident.
"We were running great and the lap cars were all running side-by-side and everybody is fighting for their own position," Kenseth said. "I think it was (McCumbee) who got into somebody else and it started, and we all just kind of spun out."
Kenseth, one of the 12 drivers competing in the "Chase" was running 12th at the time but ended up finishing 40th. He is now 177 points out of the lead.
NASCAR halted the race for 10 minutes to clean up the track.
Johnson led the way with Biffle in the second position for the restart on Lap 234. Biffle pulled even with Johnson six laps later, but Johnson was able to fend off the challenge. Johnson built a 1.2 second advantage over Biffle by Lap 255.
Michael McDowell bumped A.J. Allmendinger, causing Allmendinger to spin and hit the wall with 35 laps remaining. None of the top-nine drivers pitted during the caution. Stewart and Hamlin were among the handful who stopped.
Stewart's pit strategy paid off as he moved back into the top-10 on Lap 275.
David Ragan spun after being hit by Michael Waltrip on Lap 279. Johnson brought the field to the green on Lap 283, but the race went back to yellow the next lap when Patrick Carpentier and Robby Gordon tangled.
Johnson pulled away on the restart on Lap 287, but Biffle quickly flew by Johnson to take the lead two laps later. Biffle held on for the final 11 circuits, beating Johnson to the finish line by 0.505 seconds.
Edwards finished third, followed by Jeff Burton and Earnhardt, Jr.
"My guys did awesome," Edwards said. "Just cool to be leading the points."
Kurt Busch, Martin Truex, Jr., Stewart, Hamlin and Kevin Harvick completed the top-10.
Presidential hopeful John McCain attended the event at New Hampshire briefly. McCain addressed the 43 drivers during their pre-race meeting and spoke to a crowd of more than 100,000 before Sylvania chief executive officer Rick Leaman gave the command to start engines.
The next race in the "Chase" is scheduled for Sunday, September 21st, at the Dover International Speedway.