Qualifying
Chevrolet drivers swept the top three starting spots since qualifying was rained out. Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon started on the front row with Jimmie Johnson in third. Dodge driver Kurt Busch started fourth and Carl Edwards rounded out the top five in his Ford.
Drop Of The Green
The outside lane got a jump on the start and Jeff Gordon lead lap one over Kurt Busch. Kurt seemed to be quicker and tried repeatedly to get past Gordon for the lead. He kept trying the bottom but couldn't make it stick.
Kurt finally got past and continued to lead until the first caution. Kurt chose the inside lane on the restart and Jeff Gordon was able to retake the lead when the race returned to green. Kurt Busch then retook the lead on the following restart.
This race got off to a slow start as NASCAR's competition caution on lap 46 was the third caution of the day.
Storylines
Weather was an issue this weekend in New Hampshire. Qualifying was rained out on Friday then Sunday's green flag flew with rain on the way. Gray skies loomed all day and drivers were more aggressive than normal since this one could come to an end at any moment.
Today's race saw eleven cautions at a race track that hasn't seen more than eight since 2006.
Chasing The Checkers
With fifty laps to go Ryan Newman was out front by five seconds ahead of Joey Logano who was also delaying his pit stop trying to get lucky. Jeff Gordon coming hard in third having already pitted. Newman stayed out as long as he could waiting for the rain but Newman ran out of fuel with 37 laps to go and had to pit.
While Newman was trying to get his car restarted on pit road the rain started to fall. The rain never relented and Logano had enough fuel to ride around until the red flag to claim the first win of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career.
Top Ten
- Joey Logano
- Jeff Gordon
- Kurt Busch
- David Reutimann
- Tony Stewart
- Brad Keselowski
- Kyle Busch
- Sam Hornish Jr.
- Jimmie Johnson
- Kasey Kahne
The Points
Today's race was uneventful for the point standings. Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart both posted top five finishes today so the top of the points did not change much.
The same holds at the back of the top twelve as Mark Martin and Juan Montoya held down their positions in 11th and 12th keeping Kasey Kahne and David Reutimann from cracking the top twelve.
The top twelve are now:
- Tony Stewart
- Jeff Gordon -69
- Jimmie Johnson -169
- Kurt Busch -270
- Carl Edwards - 367
- Denny Hamlin -392
- Ryan Newman -397
- Kyle Busch -416
- Greg Biffle -418
- Matt Kenseth -470
- Mark Martin -472
- Juan Montoya -475
