Kevin Harvick turned New Hampshire International Speedway into his personal playground, dominating Sunday’s race to take the early lead in NASCAR’s Chase for the championship.

Harvick, who started from the pole and paced almost every practice session, led 196 of the 300 laps to run away with the first round of the 10-race Chase. He moved to the top of the points standings for the first time in his career, and now holds a 35-point lead over rookie Denny Hamlin, who finished fourth.

Defending series champion Tony Stewart, who did not make the Chase this season and isn’t eligible for the championship, finished second.

Jeff Gordon finished third to jump to fourth in the standings, the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal day for Hendrick Motorsports. Chase drivers Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson both wrecked early, finished 38th and 39th, and dropped to the back of the 10-driver championship field.

It was yet another heartbreaking blow for Johnson, who led the standings for 22 weeks this year only to see his season fall apart with the Nextel Cup on the line. Although he has nine weeks to try to race back into contention, he knows how difficult it will be.

“Right now it looks like things are out of our control to get back in this thing right now,” said Johnson, who is 139 points out of the lead. “I can only judge on how guys are running today, and all the Chase guys are running up front.

“I hope I eat the words I said early on when I said, “You can’t win the championship here in New Hampshire, but you can lose it today.”‘

Indeed, the championship can be lost in the first round of the Chase, and it happened in each of the first two seasons of NASCAR’s new title-deciding format.

Stewart, Ryan Newman and Jeremy Mayfield all were taken out of contention in 2004 following an early accident at this 1.058-mile oval. Then defending series champion Kurt Busch suffered the same fate last season when he was wrecked moments into the race.

So the tone was set Sunday, with Harvick establishing early that he’s the driver to beat. The other Chase contenders held their own, with everyone but Johnson and Busch finishing in the top 16.

Sporting News

Pos St # Driver Sponsor Car Pts Status Laps

1 1 29 Kevin Harvick Reese’s Chevrolet 190 Running 300
2 32 20 Tony Stewart The Home Depot Chevrolet 170 Running 300
3 2 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 170 Running 300
4 5 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Chevrolet 165 Running 300
5 12 25 Brian Vickers GMAC Chevrolet 155 Running 300
6 14 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge 150 Running 300
7 22 31 Jeff Burton Cingular Wireless Chevrolet 151 Running 300
8 36 18 J.J. Yeley Interstate Batteries Chevrolet 147 Running 300
9 21 22 Dave Blaney Caterpillar Dodge 143 Running 300
10 25 17 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Ford 139 Running 300
11 26 6 Mark Martin AAA Ford 135 Running 300
12 4 12 Ryan Newman Mobil 1 Dodge 127 Running 300
13 13 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Chevrolet 124 Running 300
14 8 16 Greg Biffle National Guard Ford 121 Running 300
15 9 7 Robby Gordon Jim Beam Chevrolet 123 Running 300
16 33 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge 115 Running 300
17 31 41 Reed Sorenson Target Dodge 112 Running 300
18 19 99 Carl Edwards Office Depot Ford 109 Running 300
19 3 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 106 Running 300
20 6 40 David Stremme Lonestar Steakhouse Dodge 103 Running 300
21 24 42 Casey Mears Texaco/Havoline Dodge 100 Running 300
22 11 1 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 97 Running 300
23 35 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Dodge 94 Running 299
24 18 07 Clint Bowyer Jack Daniels Chevrolet 91 Running 299
25 30 14 Sterling Marlin Ginn Clubs & Resorts Chevrolet 93 Running 299
26 28 96 Tony Raines DLP HDTV Chevrolet 85 Running 299
27 34 32 Travis Kvapil Tide/Downy Chevrolet 82 Running 299
28 37 88 Dale Jarrett UPS Ford 79 Running 298
29 42 26 Jamie McMurray Crown Royal Ford 76 Running 297
30 40 49 Kevin Lepage LoansDepot.com Dodge 73 Running 297
31 39 4 Scott Wimmer Lucas Oil Chevrolet 70 Running 296
32 17 01 Joe Nemechek U.S. Army Chevrolet 67 Running 295
33 10 21 Ken Schrader Motorcraft Genuine Parts Ford 64 Running 294
34 38 61 Chad Chaffin Fairfield Inn Dodge 61 Running 292
35 27 45 Kyle Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 58 Running 290
36 23 10 Scott Riggs Stanley Tools/Valvoline Dodge 55 Running 290
37 15 38 David Gilliland M&M’s Ford 52 Running 290
38 16 5 Kyle Busch Kellogg’s Chevrolet 49 Running 275
39 7 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 46 Running 232
40 29 43 Bobby Labonte Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge 43 Accident 207
41 43 27 Ted Christopher Lilly Trucking Chevrolet 40 Out 123
42 41 89 Morgan Shepherd Racing w/ Jesus Dodge 37 Out 61
43 20 66 Jeff Green Best Buy Chevrolet 34 Accident 2

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