Chaos at the Start, Almirola saves his season at New Hampshire

NASCAR heads up to New England with both the Xfinity Series and NASCAR Cup Series before a two-week break for the Olympics. Kurt Busch comes off winning last weekend at Atlanta, holding off his brother Kyle for the win. Brad Keselowski won this even last season and Christopher Bell comes off winning the Xfinity race the day before. For the race, the stages are 75-110-106, making a total of 301 laps. There were on and off sprinkles leading up the to the green flag, but NASCAR was hopeful that the rain can stay away and they could go racing at New Hampshire.

The green flag dropped but something else was about to drop, as it suddenly began to rain, and like it was the 2001 All-Star Race all over again, three Joe Gibbs Racing cars were taken out as it down poured in turn one. Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex Jr spun and got damaged on the wet surface. Kyle Busch was the one frustrated the most as he drove up to the pace car afterward, bumping the rear bumper of the pace car lightly. Busch was very displeased with NASCAR’s decision to go racing despite the weather.

Joey Logano had to go down pit road when it was closed and due to that, he ended up serving a two-lap penalty. Logano had some sort of debris under the hood that they took up from the accident, fearing of a hung throttle. A crew member was working on Logano’s car during the red flag, which is a big no-no. There have been discussions as well as the race being shortened due to darkness, as New Hampshire Motor Speedway does not have lights. The race resumed on lap 24 with Chase Elliott leading. Kurt Busch would take the lead one lap later, picking up where he left off a week ago. Elliott would fight back to lead a lap later, Christopher Bell moved to second. The next caution came out on lap 32 as Anthony Alfredo went spinning, collecting heavy damage. Joey Logano earned a lap back, now making him one lap down. Bubba Wallace had a tire cut from contact with Alfredo. Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell led the field back to the green flag on lap 39. Bell nearly cleared Elliott down the backstretch, but Cody Ware went spinning on the backstretch. The race kept going as Elliott and Bell fought for the lead. Elliott then ended up taking the lead. On lap 61, Ryan Blaney was closing in on Chase Elliott for the lead as the end of stage one was nearing. Elliott lost some momentum going up the track and Blaney took the lead with 13 laps left in stage one. Keselowski would also get by Elliott with two laps left. Ryan Blaney goes on to win Stage One.

Stage 1 Results:

1. Ryan Blaney
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Chase Elliott
4. Kevin Harvick
5. Tyler Reddick
6. Christopher Bell
7. Denny Hamlin
8. Ross Chastain
9. Matt DiBenedetto
10. Kyle Larson

Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, and Brad Keselowski were off pit road first, big gains, especially for Harvick and Hamlin. On the restart on lap 83, Harvick had a huge jump with Hamlin spinning the tires on the restart. Ross Chastain also looked to make big moves as Blaney was back in ninth. Things were calm until lap 128 when Quin Houff ended up in the wall after contact with Ryan Newman. Houff went up to Newman and bumped into him under caution, unhappy with the #6. Harvick and Hamlin led the field on lap 136 as Harvick was able to pull away again with the lead as Hamlin cleared for second. Elliott and Almirola made contact as Larson made a three-wide move to get into the top five. Elliott lost some ground in the middle to back off. Trouble on lap 139 as Bubba Wallace and Chris Buescher went spinning, but luckily missed the inside wall. Buescher had a right-front tire down as both were able to keep going. Hamlin continues to struggle on restarts as Harvick pulled away on lap 145 on the restart. Keselowski jumped up to second place, then would take the lead a lap later. With 21 laps left in stage two, Almirola didn’t seem too happy with Elliott as they battled for fifth place. Brad Keselowski went on to get his second stage win of 2021.

Stage 2 Results:

1. Brad Keselowski
2. Kevin Harvick
3. Ryan Blaney
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Aric Almirola
6. Chase Elliott
7. Kyle Larson
8. Tyler Reddick
9. Ross Chastain
10. Kurt Busch

NASCAR has continued to monitor when it could get too dark out and will alert drivers when it’ll be ten laps to go if needed. The race resumed with 109 laps to go as Keselowski edged out his teammate, Ryan Blaney for the lead. Harvick got into third as Larson got a little loose and settled in fifth. At 104 to go, Blaney managed to get by Brad for the lead but Keselowski hung on and tried to upset Blaney’s car to take the lead back. They then went side-by-side with 102 to go. Keselowski slid up and had to settle behind Blaney as they are racing like it’s the last lap. They both made contact a lap later but Brad had to let up for Blaney as they continued to battle. This allows Kevin Harvick to chase down to two leaders. With 94 to go, the two Penske drivers have made more contact and are still exchanging battling for the lead. Harvick has now caught them and is waiting to pounce. Tyler Reddick smacked the wall with 89 to go but he was fine and was able to regroup. A few laps later, Aric Almirola got around Harvick to take third place as Almirola is in a must-win situation if he wants to make the playoffs. Almirola was continuing to charge his way through, at one point now being the fastest car. He had Brad Keselowski right in front of him and tried to get by the #2 but was unsuccessful. Almirola’s crew chief encouraged him on as he was then able to take second with 65 to go. The intensity was building. Almirola came into the race 27th in points and a win would turn the playoff picture upside down. Almirola had chased down Blaney and with 59 to go he looked to the inside, but Blaney had momentum coming off turn four. They were side by side a lap later and Almirola kept digging. Blaney had momentum on the outside line coming off of turn four, making Almirola think about what else to do.

With 56 to go, Almirola took the lead from Ryan Blaney as he now looks for his third career win. Chase Elliott came down pit road with 54 to go to begin a cycle of green-flag pit stops. Keselowski pit on the next lap before most of the leaders do. Harvick, among others, then began to pit. Blaney and Almirola pit with 51 to go. Ross Chastain, Matt DiBenedetto, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, and Chase Briscoe tried to stay out in case the 10 to go comes. Keselowski meanwhile passed Almirola for what could be the lead. Keselowski had terrific short-run speed. Chastain then went to the pits with 47 to go. DiBenedetto now leads as he is trying to stay out as long as he can. With 43 to go, Almirola took the position from Keselowski for what could be the win. Almirola was told to go as he was now less than five seconds behind DiBenedetto but now had to pit with 27 to go and taking him out of contention. With 19 to go, they called 10 to go due to darkness as Almirola had a 1.3 second lead over Christopher Bell. Almirola got up to Austin Dillon, which now was a few points out of the bubble if Almirola wins. So now Dillon has to hold off Almirola for points. With five to go, he finally got around Dillon but now had Bell not too far behind him. But Aric Almirola would hold him off to get his first win since October 2018 at Talladega to clinch himself in the playoffs! Almirola’s win has completely shook the playoff scene up massively. This is also the first win this season for Stewart Haas Racing. Austin Dillon is now the first driver out by five points with his teammate, Tyler Reddick in by five. Harvick is now 82 points to the good and he isn’t necessarily safe yet.

Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 Final Results:

1. Aric Almirola
2. Christopher Bell
3. Brad Keselowski
4. Joey Logano
5. Ryan Blaney
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Kyle Larson
8. Ross Chastain
9. Alex Bowman
10. Denny Hamlin
11. Matt DiBenedetto
12. Martin Truex Jr
13. Tyler Reddick
14. Cole Custer
15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
16. Kurt Busch
17. Austin Dillon
18. Chase Elliott
19. Erik Jones
20. Daniel Suarez
21. William Byron
22. Ryan Preece
23. Corey Lajoie
24. Ryan Newman
25. Michael McDowell
26. Bubba Wallace
27. Chase Briscoe
28. Justin Haley
29. Chris Buescher
30. BJ McLeod
31. Cody Ware
32. Anthony Alfredo
33. Garrett Smithley
34. Josh Bilicki
35. Quin Houff
36. James Davison
37. Kyle Busch