2019 Foxwoods Resort Casino 301

The 2019 Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 is a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on July 21, 2019 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. Contested over 301 laps on the 1.058 mi speedway, it was the 20th race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Background
New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a 1.058 mi oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since the early 1990s, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mile", the speedway is often converted into a 1.6 mi road course, which includes much of the oval.

The track was originally the site of Bryar Motorsports Park before being purchased and redeveloped by Bob Bahre. The track is currently one of eight major NASCAR tracks owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports.

Entry list

 * (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
 * (R) denotes rookie driver.

First practice
Chase Elliott was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 27.784 seconds and a speed of 137.086 mph.

Qualifying
Brad Keselowski scored the pole for the race with a time of 27.927 and a speed of 136.384 mph.

Second practice
Erik Jones was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 28.546 seconds and a speed of 133.427 mph.

Final practice
Ryan Blaney was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.515 seconds and a speed of 133.572 mph.

Stage 1
Despite being the second-fastest qualifier, Kyle Busch was dominating in Stage 1. Leading all but 15 of the 75 laps. Keselowski led for 12 circuits and Erik Jones(20) led 3 times around. Busch won the Stage with Jones 2nd. Keselowski used up his tires and faded back to 5th.



Stage 2
More of the same in Stage 2 as Kyle Busch continued to dominate. On Lap 109 Daniel Suarez(41) slipped coming out of Turn 2 and collected Daniel Hemric(8). Both spun bringing out the caution flag.

During the pit stops under yellow, Jones was exiting his pit at the same time Alex Bowman(88) was pulling in to his. They made contact and Jones had to pit two more times to repair the damage to the front bumper and splitter. He restarted at the rear of the field.

As Jones was working his way back through the field he made contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.(17) sending the Roush Fenway Racing Mustang into the wall and out of the race. Stenhouse was not happy with Jones, “The 20 ran over us. He’s been known to do that to us a couple of times now lately. He’ll get one coming his way before it’s over with, or at least before I’m through with it.”

Late Stage Caution
With seven laps to go in the Stage, Clint Bowyer(14) got loose out of Turn 4 and pinched Martin Truex Jr. up into the front stretch wall. The caution waved again. Fortunately, there was only minor damage to both cars and with repairs, they both continued in the race.

The late caution jumbled the field as teams employed different pit strategies trying to set themselves up for the final stage or gain as many Stage points as possible. Aric Almirola came away with the Stage win.

Kyle Busch was one of the drivers opting to pit during the late caution. On one of the few occasions he was out of the lead, Busch got tangled up in traffic, suffered minor damage and had to pit again during the Stage break.

The Final Stage
On the restart, Denny Hamlin(11) moved to the lead. He had started in the back of the pack after going to a backup car after an incident in practice.

Jones had worked his way back to the front of the field and ran second to Hamlin.

On Lap 213, Kyle Busch was working his way through traffic when he lost the front end and slid into the wall. The caution came out and Busch was able to make repairs and return to the track. However, his chances at the win likely disappeared.

Most of the field gambled that they would be able to make it to the end of the race and pitted for a final fill-up of Sunoco Racing Fuel. On the restart from the Busch incident, Kyle Larson(42) got loose and backed his car into the wall. Bringing out yet another yellow flag. It was a bonus for those worried about fuel mileage, as the caution laps helped save gas.

Good Timing for Newman
The yellow flag could not have come at a better time for Ryan Newman. After reporting he had lost a cylinder, Newman brought his car to pit road three times during the caution period. His crew was able to determine that a coil wire was the cause of the issue.

Repairing the problem was key for Newman who entered the race in the final playoff spot, just 3 points ahead of Daniel Suarez.

Late Caution
With 37 laps to go Larson again pounded the wall as the right rear tire on his race car let go. Damage to the front suspension sent Larson to the garage for the day. Which will not help his standings in the playoff points battle.

Most of the leaders chose to pit for fresh tires and insurance on fuel, including Hamlin who had led for 113 laps. Kevin Harvick(4), Jones and Martin Truex Jr.(19) stayed out. Hamlin lined up in 4th having taken two tires on his stop. Kurt Busch, the first driver to return to the track with four fresh tires restarted in 10th.

With 30 laps to go the green flag waved and Harvick, who has yet to post a win in 2019, drove off to the lead in Turn 1. Hamlin was able to move up to second and began to close the distance on the leader.

The Finish
Harvick saw Hamlin chip away at his lead, but he held him off until they caught lapped traffic with two laps to go. With the white flag waving Hamlin was on Harvick’s bumper and gave him a nudge going into Turn 1. Side-by-side down the backstretch, Harvick drove deep into Turn 3 edging ahead. They banged into each other off Turn 4, but Harvick was able to keep the nose of his Ford Performance Mustang in front and capture his first win of the season.

Playoff Implications
Harvick’s win means one less playoff spot is available to those battling to make the post-season. But, it really does not change the status of those driver’s as Harvick was well up in the standings based on his performance to date.

Erik Jones finished third, he entered the race three points out of the playoffs. He left New Hampshire two points ahead of elimination. Ryan Newman’s crew may have saved his playoff life with the late-race engine repair. Although he dropped out of the Top 16, he is just two points behind Jones for the final spot. Daniel Suarez continues to hang tough, one point behind Newman. Suarez’s 19 place finish.

Stage results
Stage One Laps: 75

Stage Two Laps: 75

Final stage results
Stage Three Laps: 151

Race statistics

 * Lead changes: 14 among 7 different drivers
 * Cautions/Laps: 9 for 48
 * Red flags: 0
 * Time of race: 3 hours, 3 minutes and 37 seconds
 * Average speed: 104.062 mph

Television
NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, four-time and all-time Loudon winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the action in the booth for the race. Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race.

Radio
PRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice, Mark Garrow, and Wendy Venturini called the race from the booth when the field raced down the frontstretch. Rob Albright called the race from turns 1 & 2 and Pat Patterson called the race from turns 3 & 4. Brad Gillie, Steve Richards, Jim Noble, and Brett McMillan handled the duties on pit lane.

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Manufacturers' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
 * . – Driver has clinched a position in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.