- Commissioner’s statement on Ventura, Marte
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- Smith challenges Warner to go big in India
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Road to the Sprint Cup: Part 4
- Updated: December 29, 2016
Share: This is the fourth of a five-part series recapping the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, in which Jimmie Johnson would claim a record-tying seventh Cup championship.CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY The 2016 Chase opened at Chicagoland Speedway, where Martin Truex Jr. stormed past race leader Ryan Blaney on the day’s final restart and drove away to his third victory of the season. Truex and others pitted for fresh tires on the day’s final caution while Blaney rolled the dice and stayed out to preserve track position. Truex’s crew got him back on the speedway first. He then easily dispatched Blaney en route to his sixth career win, which automatically qualified Truex for a spot in the next round of the Chase. Joey Logano finished second with rookie Chase Elliott grabbing third place. Blaney held on for fourth with Brad Keselowski completing the top five. Jimmie Johnson led a race-high 118 laps but was slowed by a speeding penalty on pit road and finished 12th. Truex’s win came after he rallied from one lap down. He made an unscheduled pit stop about one-fourth of the way through the race to replace a flat right-front tire. By mid-race, Truex was back on the lead lap and then steadily worked his way into position for the victory.
Top-seeded Kyle Busch finished eighth and trailed Truex by four points heading into the second post-season race. Race Results | Race Story | Race Photos
NEW HAMPSHIRE Kevin Harvick was masterful on the day’s final restart, roaring past race leader Matt Kenseth to claim victory and advance to the next round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Harvick started 19th and led just eight laps all afternoon. But after dispatching Kenseth on the decisive restart, he kept his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet in front over the final six circuits to notch his third victory of the season and at the same time, deny Kenseth his third straight win on “The Magic Mile.”Harvick, the No. 4 seed, thus joins Martin Truex Jr. in the Round of 12. Kenseth took second place, a half-second behind. Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch completed the top five. Chase drivers filled the top eight spots in the final running order with Kasey Kahne the highest-finishing non-title contender, in ninth place. Carl Edwards started from the pole, led the first 30 laps and finished sixth. Truex dominated the first half of the race, leading 141 of the first 178 laps en route to a seventh-place finish. Keselowski’s fourth-place finish was enough to lift him into the post-season points lead, by one over Truex and two over Kyle Busch. In winning, Harvick overcame his sub-par qualifying effort of 19th. It’s the farthest back a New Hampshire race …
