New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a 1.058-mile (1.703-kilometre) oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since the early 1990s, as well as an IndyCar weekend and the oldest motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mile", the speedway is often converted into a 1.6-mile (2.6-kilometre) road course, which includes much of the oval.
On September 16, BK Racing sidelined Ryan Truex and put Travis Kvapil in the No. 83 car. This was a decision made quietly and wasn't announced till Friday, September 19. No reason was given as to why this happened and the team has not announced the immediate future beyond this weekend. “I didn't have anything going on this weekend,” Kvapil said. “We had talked about doing something with the 93. These are my guys here. I had been with them for the last two years and feel I had a hand in building this team. I don't know what the plans are beyond this weekend, but it's good to be back.”[12]
Entry list
The entry list for the Sylvania 300 was released on Monday, September 15, 2014 at 10:01a.m. Eastern time. Forty-three drivers were entered for the race.
Brad Keselowski won the pole position, setting a new track record.
Brad Keselowski won the pole with a new track record time of 27.090 and a speed of 140.598mph (226.271km/h). “Loudon's always been one of my favorite tracks, and we’ve won a couple poles here before,” said Keselowski. “But this one is a little extra special with everything that's going on and going through the Chase and what not. I'm ready to get running tomorrow and hopefully, we'll get another win. I try not to get caught up in statements, I'm just trying to go out there and do our job. The Penske team has done phenomenal this season, and it's great to keep it rolling." “I thought we had a really good car in race trim,” said Jamie McMurray who qualified second. “We ran a few laps in race trim to start today. Very similar to the same car we had here the first race. We switched over to qualifying trim we were second quick so yeah our car has been good so far. The track will change a little bit tomorrow when the rubber gets laid down, but overall it's been a really good weekend so far.” “We qualified a lot better this time than we did the last trip here,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr. “We saved a set of tires in practice too that will be a big benefit tomorrow in race trim. It was a good day.”[14] Forty-three drivers were entered so no one failed to make the race.
Brad Keselowski was going for the "perfect weekend" (topping the charts in every practice session along with winning the pole), but he came up short as Jeff Gordon was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.139 and a speed of 135.357mph (217.836km/h).[16]Corey Lajoie, who was making his first Sprint Cup Series start, tagged the wall in turn 4. Greg Biffle spun out exiting turn 2. The only damage that was sustained was a flat right-rear tire. In the closing seconds of the session, Tony Stewart got loose coming off of turn 4 and spun sideways down the front stretch.[17]
The race was scheduled to start at 2:16p.m. Eastern time but started three minutes early with Brad Keselowski leading the way, the first caution of the race flew on lap 36, It was a planned competition caution due to overnight rain. Denny Hamlin took just two tires and assumed the lead after David Gilliland pitted after staying out. Keselowski took four and exited pit road 16th, The race restarted on lap 41.
Second quarter
Kevin Harvick took the lead on lap 71, Denny Hamlin was running second when he made an unscheduled stop for a fuel probe issue on lap 95.[18]
Second Caution and restart
Debris brought out the second caution on lap 105. The debris was from a Z-MAX decal that was located on the backstretch wall past the exit of turn 2. A NASCAR official eventually removed the logo. Harvick and Joey Logano traded the lead on pit road because of where Harvick's pit stall was located, The race restarted on lap 113, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was running sixth when he made an unscheduled stop for a loose wheel.[19]
Third quarter
Debris in turn 3 brought out the third caution on lap 170. Harvick and Logano once again traded the lead on pit road. Only this time, Logano exited first. The race restarted on lap 178, Caution came out for the fourth time on lap 180 when Martin Truex Jr. got into Cole Whitt and spun out taking David Ragan with him. Denny Hamlin slid into Ragan trying to avoid him. "Unfortunately, in this three-race deal you can't make any mistakes," Hamlin said of the new elimination format, in which four drivers will be out of contention after every third race in the 10-race run to the title. "And we didn't. But a parts failure put us down."[20] "I hate to say it, but maybe some guys get some trouble and let us back in it. Other than that, it's going to be hard for us to do it without some help."[21]
Restart and big wreck
The race restarted on lap 187, Caution flew for the fifth time on lap 188 for another multi-car crash in turn 2. Matt Kenseth got loose exiting turn 2. He pancaked the front of Kyle Busch and that accordioned into Kasey Kahne and sent Busch spinning down the backstretch.[22]
Fourth quarter
The race restarted on lap 193 and caution flew for the sixth time on lap 194 when Brad Keselowski, racing for seventh with Kenseth, got loose and turned himself around in turn 2.[23]
Restart
The race restarted on lap 198 and caution flew for the seventh time on lap 201 after Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got turned by a loose Dale Earnhardt Jr. exiting turn 4, The race restarted on lap 206, Caution flew for the eighth time on lap 211 for debris on the backstretch. Brian Vickers stayed out when the leaders pitted and assumed the lead, The race restarted with 85 laps to go.
Midway
Caution flew for the ninth time with 79 laps to go after Kurt Busch slammed the wall in turn 3 following blowing the right-front tire.[24]
Halfway
The race restarted with 75 laps to go, Brad Keselowski retook the lead with 73 laps to go and Debris on the backstretch brought out the tenth caution of the race with 55 laps to go, The race restarted with 50 laps to go, Caution flew for the eleventh time with 44 laps to go after Corey LaJoie spun out in turn 2.
Twelfth caution and restart
The race restarted with 40 laps to go. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. slammed the wall in turn 1 to bring out the twelfth caution of the race with 37 laps to go.
Restart
The race restarted with 32 laps to go and Kevin Harvick immediately retook the lead from Brad Keselowski. Caution came out for the 13th time with 31 laps to go after Paul Menard got loose and spun in turn 3. He collected Matt Kenseth and hit the wall in turn 4.[25]
Restart and 14th caution
The race restarted with 27 laps to go and Joey Logano retook the lead. Caution flew for the 14th time with nine laps to go after Jeff Gordon slammed the wall in turn 1.[26]
Restart and 15th caution
The race restarted with four laps to go. Caution flew for the 15th time with three laps to go after Tony Stewart got turned and spun exiting turn 4.
Joey Logano took off on the first Green-White-Checker attempt to score his fourth victory of the season. “It feels good to go into the next one,” Logano said. “We’ve got to keep doing what we're doing though. We’ve got to keep our eye on the prize and think about the big trophy at the end.”[27]
↑ "Entry List". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. September 15, 2014. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
↑ "First Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 19, 2014. Archived from the original on September 20, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
↑ "Qualifying Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 19, 2014. Archived from the original on September 22, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
↑ "Final Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. September 20, 2014. Archived from the original on September 23, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
↑ "Sylvania 300 Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. September 21, 2014. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
↑ "Points Standings". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. September 21, 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
↑ "Manufacturer Standings". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. September 21, 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
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