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LOUDON, N.H. -- Kevin Harvick held off Tony Stewart in a four-lap shootout Sunday to win the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway and take the lead in the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup.
Jeff Gordon was third and moved to fourth place in the Chase. Chase competitor Denny Hamlin came home fourth, and Brian Vickers completed the top five. Hamlin, the only rookie in the Chase, jumped to second in points, 35 behind Harvick.
Stewart had fresher tires when the field restarted on Lap 297 after the 11th caution of the race. Stewart passed Gordon for second in the first two corners, but he couldn't catch Harvick, whose margin of victory was .777 seconds.
Harvick collected his second straight win, his fourth victory of the season and the ninth of his Cup career. Of the other Chase drivers, Jeff Burton was seventh, Matt Kenseth 10th, Mark Martin 11th, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 13th, Kasey Kahne 16th, Kyle Busch 38th and Jimmie Johnson 39th.
Early misfortune dropped Johnson and Busch to ninth and 10th in the standings, respectively. Johnson's engine was down a cylinder early in the race, but changing his spark plug wires under caution on Lap 84 didn't solve the problem.
On Lap 88, Greg Biffle bumped Sterling Marlin, and contact from Marlin sent Johnson spinning hard into the Turn 2 wall. After extensive repairs to the No. 48 Chevrolet, Johnson returned to the track on Lap 154.
"The engine problem had us a little slow, but the engine wasn't vibrating like there was something major wrong," Johnson said. "We came in and looked at the plug wires, but we couldn't find anything there. We were just trying to get to the next caution so we could look at it again, but unfortunately, we were the next caution."
Busch's troubles began on Lap 3, when the driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet got into Jeff Green's No. 66 Chevy. Busch's car was damaged in the accident, but Green's was totaled after it careened across the front stretch into the inside wall.
The rest of the day was a struggle for Busch, who spun into the Turn 4 wall after contact from Joe Nemechek on Lap 200 and lost 24 laps in the garage for repairs.
LOUDON, N.H. -- Kevin Harvick held off Tony Stewart in a four-lap shootout Sunday to win the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway and take the lead in the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup.
Jeff Gordon was third and moved to fourth place in the Chase. Chase competitor Denny Hamlin came home fourth, and Brian Vickers completed the top five. Hamlin, the only rookie in the Chase, jumped to second in points, 35 behind Harvick.
Stewart had fresher tires when the field restarted on Lap 297 after the 11th caution of the race. Stewart passed Gordon for second in the first two corners, but he couldn't catch Harvick, whose margin of victory was .777 seconds.
Harvick collected his second straight win, his fourth victory of the season and the ninth of his Cup career. Of the other Chase drivers, Jeff Burton was seventh, Matt Kenseth 10th, Mark Martin 11th, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 13th, Kasey Kahne 16th, Kyle Busch 38th and Jimmie Johnson 39th.
Early misfortune dropped Johnson and Busch to ninth and 10th in the standings, respectively. Johnson's engine was down a cylinder early in the race, but changing his spark plug wires under caution on Lap 84 didn't solve the problem.
On Lap 88, Greg Biffle bumped Sterling Marlin, and contact from Marlin sent Johnson spinning hard into the Turn 2 wall. After extensive repairs to the No. 48 Chevrolet, Johnson returned to the track on Lap 154.
"The engine problem had us a little slow, but the engine wasn't vibrating like there was something major wrong," Johnson said. "We came in and looked at the plug wires, but we couldn't find anything there. We were just trying to get to the next caution so we could look at it again, but unfortunately, we were the next caution."
Busch's troubles began on Lap 3, when the driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet got into Jeff Green's No. 66 Chevy. Busch's car was damaged in the accident, but Green's was totaled after it careened across the front stretch into the inside wall.
The rest of the day was a struggle for Busch, who spun into the Turn 4 wall after contact from Joe Nemechek on Lap 200 and lost 24 laps in the garage for repairs.
