Nascar Rules

Lap 4 Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano think hard about going three wide on the frontstretch.
Lap 2 Kasey Kahne gives Kyle Busch a couple of looks for the lead, but thinks better of it and drops back in line.

Lap 5 Kasey Kahne is still following in Kyle Busch's tire tracks, a couple of car lengths back

Lap 8 Denny Hamlin is working Kasey Kahne over for second place between Turns 3 and 4.
Lap 7 Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson get by Ryan Newman for sixth and seventh, respectively.

Lap 9 Denny Hamlin takes the runnerup spot from Kasey Kahne.

Lap 11 Michael Waltrip Racing teammates Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr. are running fourth and fifth.
Lap 10 Kyle Busch has a little more breathing room over second place, which is now held by Denny Hamlin. The gap is about 4/10ths of a second.

Lap 15 Kyle Busch has one previous Sprint Cup Series victory here at New Hampshire. It came in July 2006.
Lap 13 The margin between Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin is holding steady.

Lap 18 Third-place Kasey Kahne is just a few car lengths behind the battle for the lead.

Lap 19 Kevin Harvick gives Greg Biffle a bump entering Turn 3. Who could ever forget their battle royale following a Nationwide Series race at Bristol several years ago?

Lap 22 Kasey Kahne appears to be closing on Denny Hamlin for second place.
Lap 21 Denny Hamlin is within striking distance of leader Kyle Busch, but he's not pressing the issue for the time being.

Lap 25 Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are working well together. They get past Martin Truex Jr. for fifth and sixth.
Lap 24 Just 7/10ths of a second separate the first three cars. It's more than three seconds back to fourth-place Clint Bowyer.

Lap 30 Kyle Busch has about two or three car lengths over Kasey Kahne.
Lap 28 Kasey Kahne wrestles second place away from Denny Hamlin.


Lap 27 The fight up front got a little dicey in lapped traffic, but it got sorted out without incident.

Lap 32 Jeff Gordon continues his march to the front after taking fourth place from Clint Bowyer.
Lap 31 Dale Earnhardt Jr. gets by Martin Truex Jr. for seventh place.

Lap 34 The front three still have a healthy gap over fourth place Jeff Gordon.

Lap 37 Kasey Kahne is on Kyle Busch's bumper for the lead.
Lap 35 Jimmie Johnson joins Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne in the top five, dropping Clint Bowyer back to sixth place.

Lap 43 The lapped car of Josh Wise allowed Kasey Kahne to close on Kyle Busch for the top spot, but Kahne wasn't able to do anything with it.
Lap 41 Second-place Kasey Kahne has zero top-five and just two top-10 finishes here at New Hampshire.


Lap 38 The top-five drivers are currently Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.