The 2016 New Hampshire 301 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on July 17, 2016 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. Contested over 301 laps on the speedway, it was the 19th race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Matt Kenseth won the race, his second win of the season, and Tony Stewart finished second. Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle rounded out the top five. The race had 13 lead changes among 8 drivers and seven cautions for 36 laps.
Report
Entry list The preliminary entry list for the race included 40 cars and was released on July 11, 2016 at 10:12 a.m. Eastern time. Among the changes is Alex Bowman subbing for Dale Earnhardt Jr. who'll sit out this race due to concussion symptoms.
Driver Team Manufacturer1Jamie McMurrayChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet2Brad KeselowskiTeam PenskeFord3Austin DillonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4Kevin HarvickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet5Kasey KahneHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet6Trevor BayneRoush Fenway RacingFord7Regan SmithTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet10Danica PatrickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet11Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota13Casey MearsGermain RacingChevrolet14Tony StewartStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet15Clint BowyerHScott MotorsportsChevrolet16Greg BiffleRoush Fenway RacingFord17Ricky Stenhouse Jr.Roush Fenway RacingFord18Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota19Carl EdwardsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota20Matt KensethJoe Gibbs RacingToyota21Ryan Blaney (R)Wood Brothers RacingFord22Joey LoganoTeam PenskeFord23David RaganBK RacingToyota24Chase Elliott (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet27Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet30Josh WiseThe Motorsports GroupChevrolet31Ryan NewmanRichard Childress RacingChevrolet32Eddie MacDonaldGo FAS RacingFord34Chris Buescher (R)Front Row MotorsportsFord38Landon CassillFront Row MotorsportsFord41Kurt BuschStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet42Kyle LarsonChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet43Aric AlmirolaRichard Petty MotorsportsFord44Brian Scott (R)Richard Petty MotorsportsFord46Michael AnnettHScott MotorsportsChevrolet47A. J. AllmendingerJTG Daugherty RacingChevrolet48Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet55Reed SorensonPremium MotorsportsChevrolet78Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota83Matt DiBenedettoBK RacingToyota88Alex Bowman (i)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet95Ty DillonCircle Sport – Leavine Family RacingChevrolet98Cole WhittPremium MotorsportsChevroletOfficial initial entry listOfficial final entry list
Practice
First practice Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.517 and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 28.517 133.562 2 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.556 133.380 3 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.616 133.100Official first practice results
Second practice Carl Edwards was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 28.974 and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime119Carl EdwardsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.974131.456211Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota29.012131.284320Matt KensethJoe Gibbs RacingToyota29.032131.193Official second practice results
Final practice Chase Elliott was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.998 and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime124Chase Elliott (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28.998131.347211Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota29.008131.302320Matt KensethJoe Gibbs RacingToyota29.065131.044Official final practice results
Qualifying
Jimmie Johnson scored the pole for the race with a time of 28.430 and a speed of . He said afterwards that his car "had a really weird set of tires or something odd go on on our mock run at the end of practice," Johnson said. "It felt like something was broken on the car. So to come back and have good speed in the car and advance, I knew after round two we would have a shot at the pole, because we were able to keep our lap count down and advance to the next round on our first lap in each session. And then put together a smooth lap. I felt like it could have been faster, but certainly a good smooth one, and it was enough." He commented further that he has "had, as everybody knows, a tough month or two. To be back in the media center is a nice feeling. I even forgot that I had to come here. It’s amazing how fast things change." He also added that qualifying at New Hampshire is important because it's "the most important track for track position. It’s a short race, very difficult to pass. You need track position. The key is to keep it, but at least we’re starting with it.”
Kyle Busch, who qualified second, said his "car wasn’t quite as good as I had hoped it would be as far as the feeling that I had with grip. It was fast though, the second round and third round were certainly high up there on the speed charts, but just didn’t quite have the comfort that I was looking for out of the car to be able to push it a little bit more and get some more time out of it, actually had to give up a little time because of the lack of grip that I felt off the exit of four and ended up p2 today.”
Qualifying results Driver Team Manufacturer 148Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28.88428.63028.430 218Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.77928.40728.460 378Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingToyota28.70128.67528.558 441Kurt BuschStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet28.67428.66828.625 511Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.62628.56428.625 622Joey LoganoTeam PenskeFord28.60228.63228.656 724Chase Elliott (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28.74028.61528.698 84Kevin HarvickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet28.68228.65828.703 92Brad KeselowskiTeam PenskeFord28.92528.63828.704 1047A. J. AllmendingerJTG Daugherty RacingChevrolet28.92428.67228.720 115Kasey KahneHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28.88328.61928.827 1214Tony StewartStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet28.90128.63628.857 1319Carl EdwardsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.76128.676 1421Ryan Blaney (R)Wood Brothers RacingFord28.90128.681 153Austin DillonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet28.72828.685 1683Matt DiBenedettoBK RacingToyota28.90828.706 1742Kyle LarsonChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet28.81928.752 1820Matt KensethJoe Gibbs RacingToyota28.67528.794 191Jamie McMurrayChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet28.92528.802 2088Alex Bowman (i)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28.83828.842 2113Casey MearsGermain RacingChevrolet28.80028.915 2217Ricky Stenhouse Jr.Roush Fenway RacingFord28.94928.925 2323David RaganBK RacingToyota28.91928.928 2427Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet28.94729.035 2531Ryan NewmanRichard Childress RacingChevrolet28.964 2643Aric AlmirolaRichard Petty MotorsportsFord28.986 2795Michael McDowellCircle Sport – Leavine Family RacingChevrolet29.085 2816Greg BiffleRoush Fenway RacingFord29.139 2910Danica PatrickStewart–Haas RacingChevrolet29.171 3038Landon CassillFront Row MotorsportsFord29.171 316Trevor BayneRoush Fenway RacingFord29.173 3215Clint BowyerHScott MotorsportsChevrolet29.216 3344Brian Scott (R)Richard Petty MotorsportsFord29.248 347Regan SmithTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet29.341 3534Chris Buescher (R)Front Row MotorsportsFord29.599 3655Reed SorensonPremium MotorsportsChevrolet29.740 3746Michael AnnettHScott MotorsportsChevrolet30.044 3832Eddie MacDonaldGo FAS RacingFord30.064 3930Josh WiseThe Motorsports GroupChevrolet30.101 4098Ryan Ellis (i)Premium MotorsportsChevrolet30.502 Official qualifying results
Race First half Under mostly sunny New Hampshire skies, Jimmie Johnson led the field to the green flag at 1:41 p.m. Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch tried to pass Johnson exiting turn 4, but Johnson edged ahead and led the first lap. Kyle got right beside him exiting turn 4 and edged him to the line to lead the second lap. By lap 30, he held a three-second lead over Johnson. By lap 35, Johnson fell from second to fourth. The first caution of the race flew on lap 36. It was a scheduled competition caution for overnight rain.
The race restarted on lap 41. After 20 laps, his lead was half a second over Martin Truex Jr. By lap 80, the gap shrunk to four-tenths of a second. By lap 81, Truex closed up to his rear bumper. After working on Kyle for seven laps, Truex took the lead on lap 89. After 10 laps, Kyle fell from second to fifth. The second caution of the race flew on lap 100 for a single-car spin on the backstretch. Exiting turn 2, Chris Buescher got loose, slammed on the brakes to avoid slamming Josh Wise – but hit him anyway – and spun down the track. Wise went on to finish 40th.
The race restarted on lap 109. By lap 120, his lead grew to three seconds over Kurt Busch. By lap 140, the lead shrunk to 1.3 seconds. By lap 173, Kyle reeled in Truex and passed him in turn 1 to retake the lead. Truex didn't give up and stayed close to Kyle to try and pounce on him for the lead. A number of cars began making green flag stops on lap 181. Kyle hit pit road on lap 183 and handed the lead to Brad Keselowski. He pitted the next lap and the lead cycled back to Kyle. Ryan Blaney was tagged for speeding on pit road and was forced to serve a pass through penalty.
Second half
Debris in turn 3 brought out the third caution of the race with 80 laps to go. Truex exited pit road with the race lead. A. J. Allmendinger was tagged for his crew being over the wall too soon and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.
The race restarted with 74 laps to go. He was unable to pull away from the field as Matt Kenseth pulled up to him looking for the lead. He spent the next 30 laps tailing Truex until he got to his inside exiting turn 4 and took the lead with 44 laps to go. Debris in turn 3 brought out the fourth caution of the race with 36 laps to go. Denny Hamlin opted not to pit under the caution and assumed the lead. During the caution, Truex reported that his shifter had broken and that he had no clutch.
The race restarted with 33 laps to go. Truex's car, being stuck in fourth gear, stalled on the restart and caused a log jam with cars swerving to avoid him, which led to a number of cars making contact with one another. Kenseth worked on Hamlin for a number of laps before retaking the lead with 30 laps to go. The fifth caution of the race flew with 29 laps to go for a two-car wreck on the frontstretch. Entering turn 1, Alex Bowman – subbing for the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr. – suffered a tire blowout and slammed the wall. Chase Elliott also suffered a tire blowout, but avoided the wall. Bowman said after the race that he thought Edwards "was backing up because he was blocked in as I was leaving the pit box. My left-rear hit his right-rear as I was leaving. It caved it in enough, we thought we would be fine, but obviously, when I got into (Kurt Busch) it was already going down. They knew we were here for sure and I had a blast.” He added that what happened was "really unfortunate — the worst we would have finished was about seventh or eighth. I hate the circumstances obviously, and I hope Dale Jr. is feeling better, but we had a top-10 car all day long.”
The race restarted with 24 laps to go and a number of cars made contact on the restart, notably the No. 41 of Kurt Busch. Three laps later, he suffered a left-rear tire blowout and hit the wall. Brad Keselowski also suffered a tire blowout.
The race restarted with 17 laps to go. A three-car wreck on the backstretch brought out the sixth caution of the race. It started with Ryan Newman made contact with Carl Edwards. He turned down into Kasey Kahne who turned up into Kyle Larson who turned down through the grass.
The race restarted with 11 laps to go and Kenseth drove on to score the victory.
Post-race
Driver comments Kenseth expressed satisfaction with his victory and credited crew chief Jason Ratcliff and the team for their adjustments to the car during the race.