Loudon, NH – Tony Stewart led the way for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon by finishing 26th in the Camping World RV Sales 301 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.
Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS, led once for 84 laps before being passed by Brian Vickers with 16 laps remaining. Stewart restarted in second behind Vickers for the green-white-checkered finish, but ran out of fuel on the final lap.
Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 37th after being involved in an accident on lap 238 with Travis Kvapil and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Patrick’s car was too damaged to complete the race.
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 WIX Filters Chevrolet for SHR, finished 39th after getting collected in an accident on lap 226 with Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne. Like Patrick’s machine, Newman’s car was too damaged to continue.
Vickers won the Camping World RV Sales 301 to score his third career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his first at New Hampshire.
Kyle Busch finished .582 of a second behind Vickers in the runner-up spot while Jeff Burton, Brad Keselowski and Aric Almirola rounded out the top-five. Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Kenseth and Jeff Gordon comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were 12 caution periods for 58 laps, with six drivers failing to finish the 302-lap race, which was extended one lap by a green-white-checkered finish.
With round 19 of 36 complete, Stewart continues to lead the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He dropped three spots to 13th and has 518 points, 178 back of series leader Johnson and five points behind 10th-place Kahne. Newman also dropped three spots and is 19th in the standings. He has 487 points, 209 out of first and 36 behind 10th-place Kahne. Patrick dropped two spots to 27th and has 350 points, 346 behind Johnson and 173 away from Kahne.
Seven races remain before the 12-driver, 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins Sept. 15 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. Only the top-10 in points are locked into the Chase. Positions 11 and 12 in the Chase are wild cards, awarded to the two drivers between 11th and 20th in points with the most wins. In the event of multiple drivers having the same number of wins, a driver’s point standing serves as the tiebreaker.
Martin Truex Jr. (11th) and Stewart (13th) are the only drivers between 11th and 20th in points with a victory, so they hold the first and second wild-card spots, respectively.
Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Stenhouse, finished three spots behind him, as he placed 34th.
Sprint Cup teams will enjoy their second and final off-weekend of the 2013 season before embarking on a slate of 17 consecutive races, beginning with the July 28 Brickyard 400 at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The 20th running of the event begins at 1 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with its pre-race show at noon.
