Byron wins at New Hampshire in 1st NASCAR Trucks Chase race

Erik Jones, who entered the race with the championship lead, was denied a series win at Kentucky for the second time this season despite leading the 300-mile event five times for 100 laps.

“We wound up where should have been last year, this year”, Harvick said. “He’s in. That’s good for Kyle Busch Motorports and the company”.

This was perceived as unfair, and NASCAR reacted by changing the language of the rule book to avoid penalties unless the infraction was a P4, P5 or P6 – those considered to be far enough above the tolerance that it would invalidate – not take away – a victory for the purposes of automatic Chase advancement.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway is hosting the second race of the Chase today, and MLive will be providing updates throughout the Bad Boy Off Road 300. With another weak finish at New Hampshire, Harvick would have faced yet another race at Dover he may have had to win to advance.

Early in the race, Toyotas often held the top-three positions in the running order and four spots inside the top-five with Truex, Kenseth, Edwards and Busch showing the way for the manufacturer and Chevrolet driver Jimmie Johnson as interloper.

NASCAR issued a stern warning to the Sprint Cup garage before the race not to “circumvent what happens with postrace inspection”. Martin Truex Jr. earned a spot in the next round of the Chase with a win in the playoff opener last week at Chicagoland Speedway.

Starting in the top 10, Elliott and Kahne could both ruin my lineup with a bad finish and a negative place differential. “We know that’s subjective, but ask all of you not to put it in our hands, because we will react if we have to”. We want to concentrate on the race. In the first practice, I was extremely loose on entry and this one I felt better.

On Tuesday, NASCAR announced it will increase the tolerances at its post-race laser-inspection stations during the Chase, removing all lower-tier penalties.

With a whopping 1,266 laps led, Truex has few opportunities these days to bump a vehicle out of his way. He also has three wins and six top 10s in seven starts here since joining Joe Gibbs Racing.

Kevin Harvick (4) keeps up with Matt Kenseth (20) and Martin Truex Jr.

William Byron dominated Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and won the inaugural Chase race in NASCAR’s Trucks Series.

NASCAR executive vice president Steve O’Donnell issued a strong warning to drivers and crew chiefs prior to Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Those speeds left Larson, now 15th in Chase points coming out swinging at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Larson should hope that translates into success in Sunday’s race.