Matt DiBenedetto sponsored by NASCAR Heat Evolution at New Hampshire

BK Racing has announced Matt DiBenedetto will be sponsored by the new video game, “NASCAR Heat Evolution,” this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the New England 300.

DiBenedetto’s No. 83 Camry will be mostly black with the logos of the game that was released Sept. 13 for the Play Station 4, Xbox One and PC platforms.

The game is made by Dusenberry Martin Racing.

In the Challenge Mode of the game, you can try and recreate DiBenedetto’s sixth-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway last April.

The New England 300 is scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Entry list for Xfinity Series’ first Chase race at Kentucky Speedway

There are 39 cars on the preliminary entry list for the Xfinity Series’ Chase opening VisityMyrtleBeach.com 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

Ryan Blaney is the only Sprint Cup driver in the field, driving the No. 22 for Team Penske. Blaney is the defending winner of the race.

Matt Tifft will drive Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18. It will be Tifft’s first Xfinity start since undergoing brain surgery on July 1. Tifft made his first NASCAR start since the surgery last weekend in the Camping World Truck Series.

Only one car, the No. 72, does not have a driver attached to it.

Upon Further Review: Mirror image with No. 24 car

JOLIET, Ill. — While rookie Chase Elliott’s third-place finish puts him in a good spot to advance to the next round of the Chase, it doesn’t put away any frustration with trying to score that first Sprint Cup victory.

For the second time in the last four races, Elliott lost the lead in the late stages of a race.

Sunday, Elliott was leading at Chicagoland Speedway when a caution came out for Michael McDowell’s blown tire, sending the race into overtime. Elliott went to pit but came out second. Three cars did not pit. That meant Elliott restarted fifth. Martin Truex Jr. restarted fourth and took the lead shortly after the green flag waved to win his third race of the season.

“There are some things you just can’t control with the amount of guys that stay out and where you line up on a restart,’’ Elliott said. “We played the cards we were dealt and came up short.’’

So when will Elliott win?

Maybe one should look at the driver he’s replaced in the No. 24 — Jeff Gordon.

Sunday’s race was Elliott’s 32nd career Sprint Cup race. Comparing his stats to what Gordon accomplished in his first 32 races (his 32nd career start was the 1994 Daytona 500), the results are eerily similar. Consider their totals:

Wins: Gordon 0; Elliott 0

Runner-up finishes: Gordon 2; Elliott 2

Top-five finishes: Gordon 8; Elliott 8

Top-10 finishes: Gordon 12; Elliott 14

Poles: Gordon 1; Elliott 2

Laps led: Gordon 237; Elliott 238

Gordon scored his first career victory in the 1994 Coca-Cola 600. That was Gordon’s 42nd career series start.

Will Elliott beat that?

RESOUNDING DAY

Although Hendrick Motorsports saw its winless drought reach 22 races — tying its third-longest drought in team history — there was much for the organization to feel good about.

Three of its four drivers finished in the top 10 and its cars led 193 of 270 laps.

Chase Elliott led 75 laps and finished third.

Kasey Kahne finished seventh for his third consecutive top-10 finish.

Alex Bowman, driving the No. 88 in place of Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished a career-best 10th.

Jimmie Johnson led a race-high 118 laps but finished 12th after a speeding penalty on pit road late.

WHAT HARKENS AHEAD?

One of the fascinating aspects about the inaugural Chase in the Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity Series is that no one is quite sure what to expect.

This weekend completed the 12-driver lineup for Xfinity and eight-driver field for the Truck series. Their playoffs begin this week (Trucks in New Hampshire and Xfinity in Kentucky).

While many competitors professed excitement about the tracks in their Chase, some talked about being leery of the aggression surely to be seen in the coming races — just as it has in the Sprint Cup Chase, leading to driver confrontations on and off the track each of the previous two seasons of the elimination-style format.

“It’s going to be very interesting to see how everybody races,’’ said two-time Truck series champion Matt Crafton. “It’s going to bring a lot of different characters.’’

Said Timothy Peters: “I guess the unknown is that the Trucks are already aggressive anyway and the Chase is adding that to boot. The unknown is how many people want to be play bumper cars.’’

There’s also that feeling among some in the Xfinity Series, especially with five of the seven races on 1.5-mile speedways. Track position will be critical.

“I feel like restarts are going to be really important,’’ Brennan Poole said.

Justin Allgaier said aggression could be a key in the Chase but not how much.

“The aggression level is really high right now,’’ he said. “I don’t think it will elevate a whole lot, but I think you’re going to have to manage that through the Chase. You watch a guy get too aggressive and get himself in trouble, then you’re going to have to back yourself down to make sure that you are going to capitalize.’’

Most drivers anticipate the aggression will increase as it gets closer to the championship in Miami.

“Most of these young kids understand the Chase format because they’ve watched it,’’ Brendan Gaughan said. “The problem is understanding it. They see John Hunter Nemechek do what he did a couple of weeks ago (vs. Cole Custer ). They see Ryan Newman at Phoenix (move Kyle Larson out of the way two years ago to reach the final).

“They see all the exciting things. You can make the Chase pretty exciting.’’

PIT STOPS

— Martin Truex Jr. had three wins in his first 369 Sprint Cup starts. He has three wins in his last 27 Cup starts.

— Denny Hamlin’s sixth-place finish extended his career-best streak of consecutive top-10 finishes to nine races.

— Trevor Bayne was Roush Fenway Racing’s top-finishing driver Sunday at Chicagoland. He placed 23rd.

— Clint Bowyer finished 22nd for the third consecutive race.

— Austin Dillon (14th) has placed between 12th and 16th in each of the last four races.

— Jimmie Johnson led 118 laps Sunday. He had led 120 laps in the previous 22 races combined.

— Through 27 races, Kasey Kahne has led 0 laps this season.

— Tony Stewart (16th) has failed to finish in the top 15 in each of the last five races.

Entry list for opening Chase Truck race at New Hampshire

The inaugural Chase in the Camping World Truck Series begins this weekend with the UNOH 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

There are 32 trucks on the preliminary entry list for the race. Four trucks

– The No. 7, No. 11, No. 71 and No. 74 – do not have drivers attached to them yet. No Sprint Cup drivers are on the entry list.

Last years’ UNOH 175 was won by Austin Dillon.

Entry List

Chase tactics or accident? Martin Truex Jr. questions Kevin Harvick bumping him

Winner Martin Truex Jr. said Kevin Harvick hit him at one point during Sunday’s race at Chicagoland Speedway and questioned Harvick’s intention.

“Harvick ran into us and bent our fender, I think on purpose, and we had to come back from that,’’ Truex said after the race.

Truex later told NBC Sports that he wasn’t aware they were racing to be the first car a lap down at the time.

“I was ahead of him on the restart, he caught me,’’ Truex said. “Just going down the straightaway and he just hit me in the left rear. I don’t know why he did it. I don’t know if it was intentional. I don’t know what it was.

“Typically if you run into somebody on the straightaway it’s on purpose, but I don’t know if it is or not, so I guess I’ll just have to see what he says or what he said about it. I haven’t talked to him yet, so I don’t know. It just could have been a mistake. Maybe I came off the wall, I don’t think I did. Felt like I was going straight and got hit. Trying to figure that out.

“Fortunately, it didn’t screw us too bad. I had a tire rub on the left rear, and I was really nervous we were going to get a flat tire. Fortunately, we didn’t because we didn’t need another issue to ruin our day.’’

Harvick did not answer questions from reporters as he walked away from his car after the race.

LATE PIT STOP PROPELS TRUEX JR. TO CHICAGOLAND WIN

Martin Truex Jr. won the race off pit road on the final green-flag pit stop of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400, sparking him to the win at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday.

The speedy stop propelled Truex past rookie Chase Elliott, who had led 75 laps until the caution came out on Lap 262 of the 270-lap overtime race. The race was the first of 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Joey Logano came up second in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

Elliott in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Ryan Blaney in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford and Brad Keselowski in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford rounded out the top five.

Denny Hamlin, the defending race winner, finished sixth.

Kyle Busch, the reigning series champ, finished eighth.

Chase drivers Kevin Harvick and Kyle Larson were saddled with obstacles to overcome before the race even started when both were sent to the rear for modifications to their cars after qualifying. Harvick had qualified fourth, while Larson was to start 10th. Harvick quickly worked his way into the top 10, but went a lap down when he came in for a green-flag pit stop when a caution came out. He fought to return to the lead lap for much of the rest of the race; he finished 20th.

The 270-lap race tied the track-low with four cautions and featured nine different leaders. Jimmie Johnson led all drivers with 118 laps led. Johnson was slapped with a penalty for speeding on pit road late in the race, that pushed him back to a 12th-place finish.

The Sprint Cup Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway next weekend for the continuation of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in the New England 300 (Sept. 25, 2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

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