NASCAR conducted the first of two races at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon as Ryan Newman claimed victory in the Lenox Industrial Tools 301. He edged out teammate Tony Stewart by .773 seconds in the first race since 2006 to feature the first two drivers at the start finishing one-two at the end. Points leader Kyle Busch finished 36th after blowing out a tire and dropped to fifth place. Carl Edwards took over the points lead with Jimmie Johnson moving into second place.
Bay Area racing enthusiasts saw their two representatives finish fairly strong. Vallejo born Jeff Gordon claimed 11th place while Los Gatos native A.J. Allmendinger finished 12th. Gordon had a roller coaster day on the track as he went from having a great chance of winning to falling to the back of the pack after alternator problems to climbing back into contention to finishing with a blown-out tire on the last lap that dropped him out of a sure top five finish. You can view video below of his team changing out one of his batteries midway through the race.
Following the race in Loudon, Gordon remains in seventh place in the Chase standings. Ryan Newman's victory propelled him past Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and leaves him one point back of Gordon. Allmendinger's finish allowed him to move up two spots from 18th to 16th, passing Juan Pablo Montoya and Paul Menard.