Stewart-Haas Racing drivers Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart finished the way they started at New Hampshire, first and second. Newman had some anxious moments in the final laps with his crew telling him he was short on fuel while teammate Stewart was reeling him in. At the end of the day the SHR organization had a lot of celebrating to do.

VICTORY LANE
Stewart-Haas Racing – finished 1-2 for the first time and Ryan Newman got his first victory of the season.
Joe Gibbs Racing – with Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano finishing third and fourth, New Hampshire accounts for two out of the seven top-fives this season for these guys.
New Points System – six drivers are within 26 points of each other.

THE GARAGE
Kyle Busch – one week after moving to first finishes 36th to lose four spots in the standings.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. – has now scored 19 points a race over the last five races.

Power Rankings
(Rankings will be based off of who is running the best, with an emphasis on the last several races but having respect for the duration of the 36 race schedule. Last Week’s Rankings can be found in parenthesis.)
1. (3) Kurt Busch – 184 points scored the last five races.
2.  (2) Matt Kenseth – Has scored 22 more points than Harvick over the last nine races.
3. (4) Kevin Harvick –  three wins this season is keeping him above Jimmie Johnson
4.   (5) Jeff Gordon – Is quietly solidifying his Chase Spot with constant top-10 runs
5. (6) Jimmie Johnson – Has only One win but sits seven points from first place in the points.
6.  (1) Kyle Busch –  three wins but also has three DNF’s
7.  (7) Carl Edwards – seven drivers have scored more points than Carl Edwards over the last five races but he still holds the points lead.
8.  (8) Denny Hamlin – tied for the 10th spot but has a win this season so he can still use the wild card spot.
9. (10) Joey Logano – has scored 177 points in the last five races, one less than Kenseth and seven less than Kurt Busch
10.  (9) Ryan Newman –first win of the season bumps him into eighth in the points
11.    (NR) Tony Stewart – would make the Chase but through the Wild Card Spot
12. (11) David Ragan – is in the Chase because of his win at Daytona

Driver of Week – Ryan Newman – Stewart Haas Racing has been silent but good this season, so it was great for them to get a win this season.

Stat of the Week: 3.4 – Average Spots Gained by A.J. Allmendinger in the last 10 percent of the race. Last year’s Best Closer Kevin Harvick is fifth with 2.1.

Last Week’s Prediction Results: Denny Hamlin – Finished in third place but did not lead a lap.

Prediction for the Brickyard 400: My prediction for the Brickyard 400 is a win by Tony Stewart and a good run by Jeff Gordon.

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