The 2011 Lenox Industrial Tools 301 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series motor race held on July 17, 2011, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. Contested over 301 laps on the 1.058-mile (1.703 km) asphalt oval, it was the 19th race of the 2011 Sprint Cup Series season. The race was won by Ryan Newman of Stewart–Haas Racing, his first win of 2011. Newman's teammate and owner, Tony Stewart finished second and Denny Hamlin clinched third.

There were 10 cautions and 21 lead changes among 14 different drivers throughout the race. Following the race, Carl Edwards led the Drivers' Championship with 652 points, seven ahead of Jimmie Johnson and eleven points ahead of Kurt Busch. Chevrolet led the Manufacturer Championship with 127 points, 17 ahead of Ford and 22 ahead of Toyota. A total of 95,000 people attended the race, while 4.6 million watched it on television.

Report Background

New Hampshire Motor Speedway is one of ten intermediate tracks to hold NASCAR races. The standard track at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a four-turn oval track, long. The track's turns are banked at two to seven degrees, while the front stretch, the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at one degree.

Before the race, Kyle Busch led the Drivers' Championship with 624 points, and Carl Edwards stood in second with 620. Kevin Harvick was third in the Drivers' Championship with 614 points, eight ahead of Kurt Busch and nine ahead of Jimmie Johnson in fourth and fifth. Matt Kenseth with 602 was 49 ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr., as Ryan Newman with 538 points, was nine ahead of Denny Hamlin, and eleven in front of Tony Stewart. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 118 points, 12 ahead of Ford. Toyota, with 99 points, was 27 points ahead of Dodge in the battle for third.

Practice and qualifying

Three practice sessions are scheduled before the race; the first on Friday, which lasted 90 minutes. The second and third were both on Saturday afternoon, lasting 60 minutes each. Clint Bowyer was quickest with a time of 28.379 seconds in the first session, around two hundredths seconds faster than Stewart. Newman was just off Stewart's pace, followed by A. J. Allmendinger, Paul Menard, and Kurt Busch. Regan Smith was seventh, still within a second of Bowyer's time.

Forty-six cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three could qualify for the race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Newman clinched the 47th pole position of his career, with a record time of 28.165 seconds. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Stewart. David Reutimann qualified third, Kurt Busch took fourth, and Brad Keselowski started fifth. Jeff Burton, Gordon, Juan Pablo Montoya, Menard and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top ten. The three drivers that failed to qualify for the race were Tony Raines, Scott Riggs, and Dennis Setzer. Once the qualifying session completed, Newman commented, "This has been a track that's been really good for me for firsts and I'm looking for that first win again. It's extremely important here to start up front, it's a big track-position race, it's a relatively short race if you look at the mileage and the way the fuel stops work out. We've got a good start, we just need to have a good finish for the team. I want to get that victory on Sunday, that’s what I’m thinking about."

In the second practice session, Stewart was fastest with a time of 29.487 seconds, less than five-thousandths of a second quicker than second-placed Bowyer. Keselowski took third place, ahead of Gordon, Martin Truex Jr. and Hamlin. Burton was only quick enough for the seventh position. In the third and final practice, Johnson was quickest with a time of 29.391 seconds. Montoya followed in second, ahead of Newman and Burton. Keselowski was fifth quickest, with a time of 29.490 seconds. Joey Logano, Brian Vickers, Truex, Hamlin, and Kurt Busch rounded out the first ten positions.

Race

The race, the 19th in the season, began at 1:00 p.m. EDT and was televised live in the United States on TNT. The conditions on the grid were dry before the race, the air temperature at ; clear skies were expected.

Results Qualifying Grid Driver Team Manufacturer 1 39 Ryan Newman Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.165 135.232 2 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.200 135.064 3 00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.263 134.763 4 22 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 28.352 134.340 5 2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 28.392 134.150 6 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.398 134.122 7 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.408 134.075 8 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.469 133.788 9 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.471 133.778 10 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 28.476 133.755 11 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 28.484 133.717 12 33 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.510 133.595 13 56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.541 133.450 14 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.545 133.431 15 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.550 133.408 16 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.560 133.361 17 43 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.613 133.114 18 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.617 133.096 19 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.632 133.026 20 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.639 132.993 21 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 28.651 132.938 22 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.658 132.905 23 47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 28.671 132.845 24 5 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.697 132.725 25 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.702 132.702 26 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.710 132.665 27 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.739 132.531 28 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.767 132.402 29 30 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Chevrolet 28.804 132.232 30 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.826 132.131 31 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota 28.827 132.126 32 51 Landon Cassill Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 28.879 131.888 33 66 Michael McDowell HP Racing Toyota 28.985 131.406 34 34 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.986 131.401 35 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 29.007 131.306 36 55 Jeff Green Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.036 131.175 37 36 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 29.080 130.977 38 38 J. J. Yeley Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.086 130.950 39 60 Mike Skinner Germain Racing Toyota 29.128 130.761 40 46 Eric Darnell Whitney Motorsports Chevrolet 29.257 130.184 41 32 Mike Bliss FAS Lane Racing Ford 29.303 129.980 42 7 Scott Wimmer Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge 29.694 128.268 43 71 Andy Lally TRG Motorsports Ford 29.318 129.913 Failed to Qualify 37 Tony Raines Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.368 129.692 81 Scott Riggs Whitney Motorsports Chevrolet 29.499 129.116 92 Dennis Setzer K-Automotive Motorsports Chevrolet 29.521 129.020 Source:

Race results Pos Car Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Run Points 139 Ryan Newman Stewart–Haas RacingChevrolet 301 48 214 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas RacingChevrolet 301 43 311 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 301 41 420 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 301 41 548 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 301 40 64 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 301 39 747 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 301 37 856 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 301 36 99 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 301 36 1022 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 301 35 1124 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 301 34 1243 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 301 32 1399 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 301 32 146 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 301 30 1588 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 301 29 1631 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 301 28 1733 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 301 28 1816 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 301 27 1900 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 301 25 2017 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 301 24 2129 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 301 23 225 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 301 23 2338 J. J. Yeley Front Row Motorsports Ford 301 21 2427 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 301 20 2534 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 301 19 2651 Landon Cassill Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 300 0 277 Scott Wimmer Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge 300 0 2871 Andy Lally TRG Motorsports Ford 300 17 2936 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 300 15 3042 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 300 14 311 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 300 14 3232 Mike Bliss FAS Lane Racing Ford 299 0 3378 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 298 11 3483 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 283 10 352 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 257 9 3618 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 224 8 3730 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Chevrolet 159 0 3813 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota 83 6 3946 Erik Darnell Whitney Motorsports Chevrolet 72 0 4066 Michael McDowellHP Racing Toyota 46 4 4187 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 37 0 4260 Mike Skinner Germain Racing Toyota 17 0 4355 Jeff Green Front Row Motorsports Ford 11 0Source:

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Carl Edwards 652 2 Jimmie Johnson 645 3 Kurt Busch 641 4 Kevin Harvick 637 5 Kyle Busch 632

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 127 2 Ford 110 3 Toyota 105 4 Dodge 76

Note: Only the top five positions are included for the driver standings.

References