CHASE BUBBLE WATCH: ANALYZING THE PLAYOFF PICTURE AHEAD OF DOVER

Two races into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and several drivers are in jeopardy of not advancing past the Round of 16, which ends next Sunday at Dover International Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Let's find out which drivers are resting comfortably following Sunday's Bad Boy Off Road 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Who's hot: Kevin Harvick. Harvick came into Loudon one point shy of advancement after a dismal showing (20th) in the Chase opener in Chicago. The 2014 champion and the man nicknamed "The Closer" came on strong on the final restart to take the lead on Lap 295 and nab a win and a locked-in spot in the Round of 12. The victory, in which he only led eight laps, has to erase a little bit of the bitter taste from last fall's race at New Hampshire, where Harvick led 216 laps but ran out of fuel with two to go.

Matt Kenseth. Kenseth came into this race with two straight wins at the "Magic Mile" and looked to be closing in on his third-straight win before Harvick surged on a late restart. The 2003 champion led 105 laps en route to a runner-up finish and moved up to fourth in the standings, 25 points to the good of transferring into the next round.

Kyle Larson. A top-10 finish at Loudon moved Larson from 15th in the standings (two points back of the last transfer spot) to 12th and five points to the good. It was an up-and-down weekend for the third-year driver, who didn't show the same speed in the race he had shown in practice. Still, he is on the right side of the bubble heading to Dover, where the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates driver has an average finish of 6.2 and led 85 laps in the spring en route to a runner-up finish.

Who's not: Tony Stewart: The three-time champion was stuck a lap down for much of the second half of the race and finished 23rd, the second-lowest finish among the Chase field. The result had to be disappointing for "Smoke" after a runner-up showing at New Hampshire in July. Following a summer surge thanks to his Sonoma win, Stewart has not notched a top-10 finish in six races and is on the wrong side of the Chase cut line heading to Dover.

Austin Dillon. The weekend started rough when a wreck in the latter stages of the opening practice forced the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 team to pull out a backup car. Dillon's 16th-place finish was aided by a few late cautions to get him back on the lead lap, but he is still five points behind the cutoff line. On top of that, his overall numbers at Dover (see below) have the Chase rookie in a very tough spot to advance.

Four in, four out: Here's a look at the Chase bubble, with four drivers being eliminated after the third race of this round, at Dover International Speedway.
CHASE BUBBLE WATCH
STANDING DRIVER POINT DIFFERENTIAL FROM CUTOFF
9. Chase Elliott +16
10. Carl Edwards +16
11. Kurt Busch +15
12. Kyle Larson +5
------------ CUT-OFF LINE ------------
13. Jamie McMurray -5
14. Austin Dillon -5
15. Tony Stewart -11
16. Chris Buescher -30

Up next: Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway, Sunday Oct. 2, 2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Who it favors
Most wins: 10 (Jimmie Johnson, most all-time)
Best driver rating: 118.1 (Jimmie Johnson-29 races), 108.5 (Matt Kenseth-35 races)
Best average finish: 3.0 (Chase Elliott-one race), 6.2 (Kyle Larson-five races), 9.6 (Jimmie Johnson-29 races)

Who it hurts
Fewest top 10s: 0 (Austin Dillon-six races, Chris Buescher-one race)
Worst driver rating: 48.8 (Chris Buescher-one race), 66.2 (Austin Dillon-six races), 70.6 (Tony Stewart-34 races)
Worst average finish: 26.7 (Austin Dillon-six races), 18.6 (Denny Hamlin-21 races), 18.2 (Kurt Busch-32 races)

After win eludes Kyle Busch at Loudon, he's taking nothing for granted

After the second race in the opening round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Kyle Busch is third in the points standings and in position to advance to the Round of 12 to continue his title defense.

Kyle Busch seemed like he was right where he wanted to be as the laps wound down in last Sunday's Bad Boy Off Road 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

He had worked his way up to third and was on fresher tires than the two cars in front of him --€“ Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth. He was turning the faster laps and appeared to be running them down.

Then a couple things happened to prevent Busch from winning the race.
He ran out of time and the harder and longer he ran on his tires, the less fresh they became and the more his lap times started equaling out to the times being posted by the leaders. Busch ended up finishing third behind Harvick and Kenseth, who came home 1-2.

Busch also lamented the lack of lapped traffic the top three cars encountered over the closing laps. That could have slowed down the leaders and enabled him to catch them for a late run at the lead.

"It's always tough here to pass and it's always tough with the more laps you get on your tires compared to everybody else," Busch said after the race at New Hampshire. "They start to equal out and then you get into that aero disadvantage a little bit and probably with not ever getting into traffic, there was never going to be a chance for us to kind of mix it up with lapped cars."

Busch admitted that his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Toyota was not quite as fast as the other two cars with all things being equal. He just hoped his fresher tires and some lapped traffic would provide enough of a difference to tilt the circumstances in his favor at the end.

It just didn't quite play out that way.

"It was just going to be car-on-car, driver-on-driver and we just didn't get to see it," Busch said. "I felt like we could have stacked up against them having the tire advantage. We wouldn't have won if it was just heads up."

They didn't win, of course, but the third-place finish gives Busch a comfortable 33-point cushion heading into the final first-round Chase race. After this Sunday's race at Dover International Speedway, the current 16-driver Chase field will be trimmed to 12.

Despite the seemingly insurmountable advantage, the defending Sprint Cup champion insisted he isn't taking advancement into the next round of the Chase playoffs for granted.

"We've seen anything happen in this business, so I don't like it very much at all -- but it's certainly better than having a one-point cushion," Busch said. "There are pluses and minuses in this business, but anything can happen.

"We saw it with the 48 (car of Jimmie Johnson) last year --€“ they had issues at Dover. We've had issues before and we've been able to make our way through or we've been knocked out like in years prior. You just have to go and fight it out and try to keep track of that big picture and do what you need to do to move on."

Radioactive:Loudon-"He just hit me. That's all these [expletive] do."-'NASCAR Race Hub'

Check out all the best scanner audio from the Bad Boy Off Road 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Looking for the lobstah' in the Rearview

NASCAR.com's Costner Merrifield takes a look back at an exciting weekend for all three of NASCAR's top touring series that included a few lobsters in the 'Live Free or Die' state.

HARVICK CHARGES TO NEW HAMPSHIRE WIN WITH LATE-RACE SURGE

LOUDON, N.H. -- Remember last week, when Kevin Harvick was trapped a lap down at Chicagoland Speedway, finished 20th and fell out of the top 12 in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings?

Remember last year, when Harvick crashed at Chicagoland and ran out of fuel while leading at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and had to win at Dover to advance in the Chase?

That's all moot, now that Harvick redeemed himself with a victory in Sunday's Bad Boy Off Road 300 at New Hampshire, the second race in the Chase.

Surging ahead of Matt Kenseth after a restart with six laps left in the 300-lap event at the 1.058-mile track, Harvick pulled away to win by .442 seconds and joined Chicagoland winner Martin Truex Jr. in the Chase's Round of 12.

"One of our main goals this year was to not stress ourselves out so bad," said Harvick, who won last year's Dover race to escape the Round of 16 in his last opportunity. "I feel like the performance of the car and the things that we're doing are good enough to be competitive, and we just need to not make mistakes and go from there."

Harvick got his opportunity to win the race when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Reed Sorenson collided on the backstretch on Lap 291 to bring out the sixth and final caution of the race.

Starting on the inside lane and timing the restart perfectly, Harvick stayed side-by-side with Kenseth entering the first corner and cleared Kenseth's No. 20 Toyota through Turn 2. Kenseth was unable to get back to the rear bumper of Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet over the final six laps.

"Man, that worked out really good," said Harvick, who won for the second time at the Magic Mile, the third time this season and the 34th time in his career. "The car was pretty good on the restarts. Once we got clean air there at the end, it wound up being really good up front. I'm just really proud of our team. They did a great job."

NASCAR admonished Kenseth before the final restart not to slow down in the restart zone, as the sanctioning body believed he had done on the previous restart, when Kenseth held off Truex for the lead.

"They made it sound like I slowed down the last time," Kenseth said. "But in my opinion, the leader is always supposed to have the advantage. He's the leader. He earned that advantage. They said I slowed down a little bit last time, which I've got to re-watch it.

"I don't really think I did, but if I did at all, it's because the inside car (Truex) was laying back a little bit, and you want to make sure he gets up to your nose so it's a fair restart. If he's back at your door and anticipates a little bit, it's not a fair restart. He's going to be equal to you or a little bit better."

Then Kenseth second-guessed the way he handled the final restart with Harvick beside him.

"I saw Kevin at my door, and I should have known better," Kenseth said. "I should have went deep in the box and waited, and the acceleration was probably better down there anyway, but I didn't. I went right at the first line, and he anticipated a little bit of that and got rolling good through the gears, and then I got through the gears bad. I spun the tires in second (gear), I spun the tires in third, so I had a really bad restart besides all that."

Kyle Busch finished third behind Harvick and Kenseth after pitting for fresh tires under caution on Lap 265 and charging through the field. Brad Keselowski ran fourth and took over the Chase points lead by one point over Truex, who led a race-high 141 laps in a seventh-place run but wore out his tires trying to pass Kenseth after a restart on Lap 269.

Kurt Busch came home fifth, followed by polesitter Carl Edwards, Truex, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson.

Harvick escaped the bottom four in the standings, and that left Jamie McMurray, Austin Dillon, Tony Stewart and Chris Buescher all needing to improve their positions to avoid elimination next Sunday at Dover International Speedway.

McMurray and Dillon (19th and 16th, respectively, at New Hampshire) are five points behind Larson in 12th place. Stewart is 11 points back of Larson after a 23rd-place run on Sunday, and Buescher trails by 30 points, needing a Dover miracle.

CHASE BUBBLE WATCH: HARVICK, STEWART HEAD IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS

Two races into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and several drivers are in jeopardy of not advancing past the Round of 16, which ends next Sunday at Dover International Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Let's find out which drivers are resting comfortably following Sunday's Bad Boy Off Road 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Who's hot: Kevin Harvick. Harvick came into Loudon one point shy of advancement after a dismal showing (20th) in the Chase opener in Chicago. The 2014 champion and the man nicknamed "The Closer" came on strong on the final restart to take the lead on Lap 295 and nab a win and a locked-in spot in the Round of 12. The victory, in which he only led eight laps, has to erase a little bit of the bitter taste from last fall's race at New Hampshire, where Harvick led 216 laps but ran out of fuel with two to go.

Matt Kenseth. Kenseth came into this race with two straight wins at the "Magic Mile" and looked to be closing in on his third-straight win before Harvick surged on a late restart. The 2003 champion led 105 laps en route to a runner-up finish and moved up to fourth in the standings, 25 points to the good of transferring into the next round. Adding to his good karma: Kenseth is the most recent winner at Dover, the series' next stop before four drivers are eliminated from the Chase.

Who's not: Tony Stewart: The three-time champion was stuck a lap down for much of the second half of the race and finished 23rd, the second-lowest finish among the Chase field. The result had to be disappointing for "Smoke" after a runner-up showing at New Hampshire in July. Following a summer surge thanks to his Sonoma win, Stewart has not notched a top-10 finish in six races and is on the wrong side of the Chase cut line heading to Dover.

Austin Dillon. The weekend started rough when a wreck in the latter stages of the opening practice forced the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 team to pull out a backup car. Dillon's 16th-place finish was aided by a few late cautions to get him back on the lead lap, but he is still five points behind the cutoff line. On top of that, his overall numbers at Dover (see below) have the Chase rookie in a very tough spot to advance.

Four in, four out: Here's a look at the Chase bubble, with four drivers being eliminated after the third race of this round, at Dover International Speedway.
CHASE BUBBLE WATCH
STANDINGDRIVERPOINT DIFFERENTIAL FROM CUTOFF
9.Chase Elliott+16
10.Carl Edwards+16
11.Kurt Busch+15
12.Kyle Larson+5
------------CUT-OFF LINE------------
13.Jamie McMurray-5
14.Austin Dillon-5
15.Tony Stewart-11
16.Chris Buescher-30

Up next: Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway, Sunday Oct. 2, 2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Who it favors
Most wins: 10 (Jimmie Johnson, most all-time)
Best driver rating: 118.1 (Jimmie Johnson-29 races), 108.5 (Matt Kenseth-35 races)
Best average finish: 3.0 (Chase Elliott-one race), 6.2 (Kyle Larson-five races), 9.6 (Jimmie Johnson-29 races)

Who it hurts
Fewest top 10s: 0 (Austin Dillon-six races, Chris Buescher-one race)
Worst driver rating: 48.8 (Chris Buescher-one race), 66.2 (Austin Dillon-six races), 70.6 (Tony Stewart-34 races)
Worst average finish: 26.7 (Austin Dillon-six races), 18.6 (Denny Hamlin-21 races), 18.2 (Kurt Busch-32 races)

ALL 16 CHASE CARS CLEAR POST-RACE INSPECTION

LOUDON, N.H. -- Only Kevin Harvick emerged victorious Sunday afternoon at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but his other 15 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoff foes salvaged some shred of consolation alongside him.

All 16 championship-eligible cars won the race after the race Sunday, clearing without issue through the Laser Inspection Station (LIS) platform after the Bad Boy Off Road 300. Those cleared included the winning Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet driven by Harvick, who damaged his car's left-rear fender with a smoky, tire-ripping burnout after his third victory of the season.

Only the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota of third-place finisher Kyle Busch went through the inspection bay a second time, and that was due to the car failing to meet the weight limit by a nominal amount. After topping off fluids as permitted in the rules, the No. 18 also was cleared.

Scrutiny for the post-race inspection process rose after last weekend's Chase opener at Chicagoland Speedway, leading to midweek rules updates from NASCAR's competition department. Last weekend, the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 of race winner Martin Truex Jr. and the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 for Jimmie Johnson both were flagged for being outside of the allowable measurements at the LIS station.

NASCAR officials responded by scratching penalties for minor infractions. But they also required the full Chase field to make its way through the LIS inspection bay, a process that added a sidelight to the usual busy atmosphere in the post-race garage area.

Following stern warnings in the pre-race drivers' and crew chiefs' meeting against circumventing the LIS platform, the new post-race check was largely a breeze. All 16 cars received a thumbs up from competition officials in a tidy span of roughly 45 minutes.

As is customary, race officials announced that they would take a handful of cars back to the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, for further inspection. Those are:

-- Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet driven by race winner Kevin Harvick
-- Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota driven by runner-up Matt Kenseth
-- Team Penske No. 2 Ford driven by fourth-place finisher Brad Keselowski

That process will be live streamed on NASCAR.com on Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. ET.

MATT KENSETH: 'THE LAST RESTART IS MY FAULT'

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Matt Kenseth put the blame squarely on his own shoulders after his second-place finish Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Kenseth, who led 105 of 300 laps, including from Laps 243-294, ceded the lead on the final restart to eventual race winner Kevin Harvick.

"The last restart is my fault," Kenseth told NBCSN. "I let Kevin lay back on me, and I should have known better. … Plus I spun the tires and got beat in (Turns) 1 and 2."

Still, Kenseth sits fourth in the 16-driver standings with one race remaining until the Round of 12 is set. A win would have automatically advanced him to the next round.

This story will be updated.

HARVICK CHARGES TO NEW HAMPSHIRE WIN WITH LATE-RACE SURGE

LOUDON, N.H. -- Remember last week, when Kevin Harvick was trapped a lap down at Chicagoland Speedway, finished 20th and fell out of the top 12 in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings?

Remember last year, when Harvick crashed at Chicagoland and ran out of fuel while leading at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and had to win at Dover to advance in the Chase?

That's all moot, now that Harvick redeemed himself with a victory in Sunday's Bad Boy Off Road 300 at New Hampshire, the second race in the Chase.

Surging ahead of Matt Kenseth after a restart with six laps left in the 300-lap event at the 1.058-mile track, Harvick pulled away to win by .442 seconds and joined Chicagoland winner Martin Truex Jr. in the Chase's Round of 12.

"One of our main goals this year was to not stress ourselves out so bad," said Harvick, who won last year's Dover race to escape the Round of 16 in his last opportunity. "I feel like the performance of the car and the things that we're doing are good enough to be competitive, and we just need to not make mistakes and go from there."

Harvick got his opportunity to win the race when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Reed Sorenson collided on the backstretch on Lap 291 to bring out the sixth and final caution of the race.

Starting on the inside lane and timing the restart perfectly, Harvick stayed side-by-side with Kenseth entering the first corner and cleared Kenseth's No. 20 Toyota through Turn 2. Kenseth was unable to get back to the rear bumper of Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet over the final six laps.

"Man, that worked out really good," said Harvick, who won for the second time at the Magic Mile, the third time this season and the 34th time in his career. "The car was pretty good on the restarts. Once we got clean air there at the end, it wound up being really good up front. I'm just really proud of our team. They did a great job."

NASCAR admonished Kenseth before the final restart not to slow down in the restart zone, as the sanctioning body believed he had done on the previous restart, when Kenseth held off Truex for the lead.

"They made it sound like I slowed down the last time," Kenseth said. "But in my opinion, the leader is always supposed to have the advantage. He's the leader. He earned that advantage. They said I slowed down a little bit last time, which I've got to re-watch it.

"I don't really think I did, but if I did at all, it's because the inside car (Truex) was laying back a little bit, and you want to make sure he gets up to your nose so it's a fair restart. If he's back at your door and anticipates a little bit, it's not a fair restart. He's going to be equal to you or a little bit better."

Then Kenseth second-guessed the way he handled the final restart with Harvick beside him.

"I saw Kevin at my door, and I should have known better," Kenseth said. "I should have went deep in the box and waited, and the acceleration was probably better down there anyway, but I didn't. I went right at the first line, and he anticipated a little bit of that and got rolling good through the gears, and then I got through the gears bad. I spun the tires in second (gear), I spun the tires in third, so I had a really bad restart besides all that."

Kyle Busch finished third behind Harvick and Kenseth after pitting for fresh tires under caution on Lap 265 and charging through the field. Brad Keselowski ran fourth and took over the Chase points lead by one point over Truex, who led a race-high 141 laps in a seventh-place run but wore out his tires trying to pass Kenseth after a restart on Lap 269.

Kurt Busch came home fifth, followed by polesitter Carl Edwards, Truex, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson.

Harvick escaped the bottom four in the standings, and that left Jamie McMurray, Austin Dillon, Tony Stewart and Chris Buescher all needing to improve their positions to avoid elimination next Sunday at Dover International Speedway.

McMurray and Dillon (19th and 16th, respectively, at New Hampshire) are five points behind Larson in 12th place. Stewart is 11 points back of Larson after a 23rd-place run on Sunday, and Buescher trails by 30 points, needing a Dover miracle.

Carl Edwards wins sixth pole of year for New Hampshire race

Carl Edwards added to his series-leading pole total with his sixth of the year, winning the pole for Sunday’s Bad Boy Off Road 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Edwards claimed the top spot with a speed of 135.453 mph around the “Magic Mile.”

It is Edwards’ third pole in four races at New Hampshire.

Filling out the top five was Martin Truex Jr.(135.212), Ryan Newman (134.896), Jimmie Johnson (134.858) and Denny Hamlin (134.796).

“This is what we needed,” Edwards told NBCSN. “We didn’t run well at Chicago, that was really frustrating. Come here, start on the pole, get a great pit stall. Hopefully we can turn this into a good race. The car is built for speed.”

This will be Edwards’ 10th top-five start in the last 13 races.

Newman’s third-place start is his best of the season. His previous best was fourth (Atlanta, Fontana).

The biggest name not advancing to the final round is Kevin Harvick, who managed to put up the 19th best lap in the second round. It will be Harvick’s worst start at New Hampshire since he began the fall 2013 race in 18th.

Tony Stewart will start his final New Hampshire race in 22nd.

Chris Buescher and Austin Dillon were the only Chase drivers not to advance beyond the first round.

Buescher will start 28th, followed by Dillon, who is in a backup car after a practice crash.

Qualifying results

DILLON WRECKS IN LARSON-LED FIRST SPRINT CUP PRACTICE

Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Austin Dillon crashed into the outside wall of New Hampshire Motor Speedway's Turn 1 late in Friday's first Sprint CupSeries practice session, and suffered significant damage to the right rear of the No. 3 Chevrolet that will require a move to a backup car. He finished the session 32nd (132.813 mph).




WATCH: Dillon hit the wall

The session was led by Kyle Larson, who topped the leaderboard at 135.941 mph in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.


Right behind him was Chase Elliott in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet at 135.893 mph.


Rounding out the top five were Kevin Harvick in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas RacingChevrolet at 135.757 mph, Carl Edwards in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at 135.738 mph and series points leader Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota 135.709 mph.


Sprint Cup drivers return to the track at 4:45 p.m. ET for Coors Light Qualifying (NBCSN, NBC Sports App). The next practice session is Saturday at 9 a.m. ET (CNBC, NBC Sports App).

EDWARDS TO START FROM POLE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE ONCE AGAIN

Carl Edwards earned the Coors Light Pole Award for the Bad Boy Off Road 300 Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Sunday, 2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) by recording a third-round lap of 135.453 mph in his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

This is Edwards' third pole in the last four races at New Hampshire and his sixth of 2016.

Martin Truex Jr., the Sprint Cup Series points leader, will start second in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota after his final-round lap of 135.212 mph.

Rounding out the top five were Ryan Newman in the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet at 134.896 mph, Jimmie Johnson in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet at 134.858 mph and Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at 134.796 mph.

Ten cars did not make it through inspection before qualifying began at 4:45 p.m. ET. Among the drivers delayed were Chase drivers Kevin Harvick (P19), Austin Dillon (P29) and Tony Stewart (P22).

Others delayed included Danica Patrick (P24), AJ Allmendinger (P17), Regan Smith (P30), Matt DiBenedetto (P33), Kasey Kahne (P9), Greg Biffle (P32) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (P21). 

Clint Bowyer spun about eight minutes after the start of qualifying, bringing out the red flag -- which helped the cars that were waiting to clear inspection. He will start 37th.

All were able to get on the track before the first round ended, but Dillon and fellow Chase driver Chris Buescher (P28) did not advance past the first round.

Defending race winner Matt Kenseth will start eighth in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (134.363 mph).