NASCAR: Sylvania 300 Race Recap

Sep 22, 2013; Loudon, NH, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Bobby Labonte (47) spins-out during the Sylvania 300 race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Truex Jr’s hard work is again undone when Bobby Labonte’s rear left tyre lets go and spins him in the middle of the track and the 38 of David Gilliland making contact with the 47. There are only a few takers for pit road with the most high-profile of them being Dale Earnhardt Jr who had an issue with lug nuts at the earlier stop and tries a new strategy, taking fuel only. There is no hint that Truex Jr is laying off this time at the restart as he floors it and is easily in the lead heading into turn one. Behind him Keselowski is right behind the 5 but Keselowski can’t hold his line and he falls back a few places as it is now the turn of Newman to run side by side with Kahne as Kenseth catches the battling pair and sits right behind the 5 car. But Newman gets slightly loose and has to lift dropping him back a few places. All this fighting has let Truex Jr slip away and in only a few laps his lead is up to 1.7 seconds, but is has also meant that Kahne and Kenseth have established a gap from the rest of the pack, and after a few laps of fighting seem to be now trying to close the gap on the 56.

Back down the field title contenders Jr and Bowyer are brining up the rear as far as the Chase contenders are concerned running 18th and 17th respectively. But we won’t know how well Jr is truly running until a bit later in the race as he is on a different pit strategy to the other contenders. There is no reigning in the 56 at the moment as his lead goes out to over 2 seconds, but behind him Newman and Johnson are fighting for 6th with Keselowski and Gordon sitting in 4th and 5th. Johnson though is really struggling to find a way around Newman and although he is able to get his nose inside the 39 he can’t make a move stick with the fight lasting well over 15 laps. Back up front Kenseth finally gets round Kahne for second and sets off in pursuit of the 56. His chase doesn’t last long though as green flag pit stops get underway when Truex Jr comes down pit road. Most of the Chase contenders take this opportunity lead a lap and get an extra bonus point before coming in for their stop but after the stops have all cycled through it is the 88 of Jr who is out front having not made his stop.

Sep 22, 2013; Loudon, NH, USA; Racers restart after a caution flag during the Sylvania 300 race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Jr is trying to hang on as long as possible before making his stop but he seems to leave it to late as his tyres start giving up and cars begin unlapping themselves. As his lead dwindles with each passing lap he comes to pit road earlier than was planned, handing the lead back to Truex Jr with Kenseth 1.3 seconds back and Keselowski, Kahne, Gordon completing the top five. The plan didn’t work out for the 88 as he comes back out a lap down in 25th, while before the stops got underway he was only 14 seconds behind the leaders. Kenseth is slowly but surely starting to reel in the 56 with him taking 0.3 seconds out of the lead in just four laps. Then Truex Jr hits some slower traffic and gets significantly slowed down trying to get round them with his lead getting slashed to just over 0.3 seconds. Right on the halfway point of 150 laps Kenseth makes him move to the inside of the 56 and easily takes the lead for the first time in the race and in the space of ten laps has pulled out a lead of nearly half a second.

It’s now the 20’s turn to have his hard work undone as a caution comes out for debris on the track. All the leading cars take this opportunity to come to pit road where some pit strategy comes into play as the top five leaving it are Gordon, Brian Vickers, McMurray, Jr and Logano who all only took 2 tyres while Truex Jr is in 6th being the first car that took four tyres. On the restart Gordon gets a good push from his team-mate Jr and easily takes the lead with the 88 in second. A battle for third between team mates Truex Jr and Vickers is a short-lived affair with the 56 getting into third. Johnson has started his march to the front after restarting in 8th he has clawed his way up to 4th and is closing at a fast rate of knots on the 56. Up front the 24’s lead is out to over a second and looks to be in control.