The win places Biffle into 3^rd overall as Jimmy Johnson and Carl Edwards are tied for the lead. This is his first victory for 2008 and his 12^th top 10 finish. Biffle scored his first track victory here today. 

In it’s four years, two drivers who led in week one of the Chase went on to claim the championship. Tony Stewart (2005) and Jimmy Johnson (2007). Only once has the New Hampshire winner won the title: Kurt Busch (2004). Will this be Biffle’s year? In 2005 he finished 2^nd overall to Stewart. 

Biffle started his race 9^th today. His consistency kept him in the hunt for the win throughout the race as he led 58 of the 300 laps in the event. The 3M team stayed on top of the pit stops to keep Biffle in the top 5 for the majority of the event. 

The big challenge of the race, Jimmy Johnson. Johnson looked to be the odds on favorite with his inside second row start of the day. Johnson led 96 of the 300 laps today. At times, he and Biffle battle for the lead. Sometimes with a 3 to 4 second lead Johnson looked like no other driver could touch the Lowe’s Chevrolet.  

Later in the race Johnson battled with Biffle back and forth for the lead with less than 50 to go.  Johnson had the moves to show that he was going to take another win at the New Hampshire track.

After a late race caution then 12 to go, Biffle regained the lead to take his first win at the track. 

Your hard charger of the race was Johnny Sauter. Sauter started 43^rd to wind up 20^th for the day. Sauter spent most of his day battling with Reed Sorenson to be the first lucky dog driver of the event. With 17 to go and the second to last caution he was able to move back onto the lead lap. 

The tough luck day hit Kyle Busch who started on the pole. Busch’s car had broken a front sway bar that caused the car to roll over so much that Busch slammed the wall early in the race. When Busch spun out coming out of turn two, this set off a chain reaction of drivers checking up. Busch would end up with major rear end damage to his car and 13 laps down with a 34^th place finish. Busch would drop to 8^th in overall standings. 

PRE RACE CHATTER 

The 2008 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins with Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

It’s the fifth consecutive Chase, the process which determines the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, and, as always, intriguing title possibilities exist.

But Johnson — with 5,040 points — may be the frontrunner in the momentum department. 

He’s fresh off two consecutive victories, two weeks ago at Auto Club Speedway and last week at Richmond International Raceway — the cutoff event that set the 12-driver field for the Chase. 

And he’s putting both out of his mind. 

“I'm trying to show up at next week's race scared, worried about 11 other guys, and worry about doing my part,” Johnson said. “And the thing is I have confidence in what my abilities are and what my team is capable of and the packages we have put together in the last five or six months — short track, big track, all of it.” 

In addition to consecutive series titles, Johnson also has won 11 Chase races since the format’s 2004 debut, more than any other driver. He also owns the best Chase Driver Rating — 106.3. 

And while he’s seventh in pre-race Driver Rating for New Hampshire (98.3 compared to category leader Tony Stewart’s 118.6), Johnson has two wins, three top fives and eight top 10s in 13 career starts there. 

“With the way the pack is running, especially the 99 (Edwards) and the 18 (Busch), you can't show up and run at 80 percent and just hope that a top 10 is going to get the job done,” Johnson said. “You have to show up and bring your A Game each week. I feel confident that we are there now and that we can run with these guys.”  

TO WIN – IT’S USUALLY GOOD TO QUALIFY 

Unless it rains – which it did, so we start the race by points. 

NOW LET’S TURN AND BURN!! 

A early rainstorm hit New Hampshire this morning. NASCAR was able to get the track dry in time for the race. The drivers are on the track for about 10 laps before they will be let loose. We will have a competition caution on lap 35. 

GREEN FLAG as it looks like the drivers take it easy through turns one and two. Kyle Busch, Edwards and Earnhardt Jr. are your top three, single file in front of the field. Lap 4 Edwards rode the inside line to take over as the leader. Turn four Clint Bowyer grabs the inside line to get under Earnhardt for 3^rd place. 

Lap 6 Bowyer is looking for 2^nd place. Lap 8 for a bit it looked like the outside line where Kyle Busch and Earnhardt Jr. was getting a run, but it looks to be falling off now. Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon are able to run the inside line, putting the pressure on the guys on the outside. 

Lap 11 Stewart takes third, Gordon cannot make the pass. Lap 12 Earnhardt Jr. drops to the low side to pass Busch for 4^th. Lap 13 David Gilliland has a great hands move in turn one as his car is big time slide ways after a bump from David Reutimann. Gilliland falls back to 32^nd. 

Lap 16 some other drivers on the slide ways in positions are Matt Kenseth from 12^th to 14^th and Kevin Harvick from 11^th to 22^nd. Lap 18 Edwards leads Bowyer by 1.6 seconds. Kyle Busch’s car looks like his sway bar may have slipped as the front left of the car lifts almost a foot in the air. This makes his car way out of shape and he almost wrecks coming out of turn two. 

Lap 22 as Edwards continues to pull away to a 2.3 second lead over new second place Stewart. Lap 25 your top 10 are Edwards, Stewart, Bowyer, Earnhardt Jr., Johnson, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin and Kasey Kahne. Kyle Busch has dropped back to 19^th with his car issue. 

Lap 32 Edwards is starting to catch the slower drivers on the track. So far Patrick Carpentier is one lap down with Bill Elliott going down a lap on lap 33. The next ones would have been Joey Logano and Michael McDowell but we will have the… 

YELLOW FLAG lap 35 for the Competition Caution. Kyle Busch comes into pit road a lap early for to give the team extra time to assess what the issue is. He will go to the back of the field anyways for all the work that needs to be done. Elliott is the lucky dog. Edwards, Stewart, Johnson, Hamlin and Kurt Busch are the first five out of pit road. Ryan Newman is busted for speeding. He will go to the back of the field. 

Lap 39 Logano has to come back to pit road as the jack was hooked to his car when he left pit road.  

GREEN FLAG lap 41 as we are off to the races again. Lap 43 it’s side by side racing from Earnhardt Jr. (6^th) back to Burton (10^th). Lap 47 Edwards, like the first run is up to a 1.1 second lead. Johnson takes over second. 

Lap 50 your top 20 drivers are – Edwards, Johnson, Stewart, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Earnhardt Jr., Bowyer, Biffle, Burton, Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Juan Pablo Montoya, Martin Truex Jr., Travis Kvapil, Brian Vickers, David Ragan, Jamie McMurray, Harvick, Michael Waltrip and Matt Kenseth. 

Lap 56 Kyle Busch is currently 1 lap down in 43^rd with Edwards closing in. Out of the top five Edwards, Stewart, Hamlin took two tires. Johnson and Earnhardt took 4 and on lap 60 takes over 5^th, passing Hamlin. Busch’s team has not been able to fix the issue yet, so his car is junk and will not turn correctly. 

Lap 62 Johnson closes in on Edwards to close the gap to a few car length separation. Lap 66 Johnson is in the lead for the first time today. Lap 68 drivers on the move are Kurt Busch from his start of 20^th up to 4^th, Montoya from 22^nd up to 11^th, Kvapil 24^th to 14^th, Waltrip 32^nd to 18^th and Reutimann from 27^th to 20^th. 

Lap 70 drivers slipping back are Kenseth from 12^th to 21^st, Aric Almirola from 15^th to 24^th, Newman from 17^th to 32^nd and Kyle Busch from the pole to last, two laps down. Lap 75 your top ten drivers are Johnson, Stewart, Kurt Busch, Edwards, Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin, Bowyer, Biffle, Burton and Kahne. 

Lap 80 it looked like Kyle Busch bangs the wall again out of turn 4. Lap 83 Edwards is starting to fall off as Earnhardt takes over 4^th place. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 83 as Ragan and McMurray along with Kyle Busch wreck on the back stretch. Busch spins out of turn two in front of Earnhardt, who misses him. It looked like Ragan could not check up for McMurray in time, where Ragan tags him from behind, sending McMurray down into Busch, who is in the grass. Ragan spins out on the track. It looks like Chad McCumbee will be the lucky dog. Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., Edwards, Biffle and Kurt Busch are the first five back to the track. Stewart was part to the top five, but had to go back to pit road as he got hit on pit road and had to get his front fender fixed. 

GREEN FLAG lap 89 and we are off and running again. Lap 90 Earnhardt Jr. takes the lead. Lap 94 Jeff Gordon battles with Bobby Labonte for 15^th place. Lap 96 Kurt Busch has been having a great day so far as he takes over 3^rd from Edwards. Lap 97 Bowyer and Kenseth battle for 8^th place. Bowyer on the inside line. Lap 98 it does not pay off for Bowyer though as Kenseth has a better run out of the turn. 

Lap 100 your top 20 drivers are – Earnhardt Jr., Johnson, Kurt Busch, Edwards, Biffle, Hamlin, Burton, Kenseth, Montoya, Bowyer, Kahne, Truex Jr., Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Kvapil, Labonte, Vickers, McDowell, Scott Riggs and Casey Mears. So far we have seen 7 lead changes among 6 leaders with 2 cautions for 9 laps. 36 drivers remain on the lead lap. 

Lap 108 Earnhardt leads by 1.6 seconds. Lap 112 Biffle moves around Kurt Busch for 3^rd. Lap 114 where are the championship drivers on the track (In current points order) Johnson with 5215 points running 2^nd, Edwards 5206 in 7^th place, Earnhardt Jr. 5200 in the lead, Hamlin 5165 in 5^th, Biffle 5165 in 3^rd, Burton 5160 in 6^th, Bowyer 5148 in 9^th, Jeff Gordon 5130 in 11^th, Kenseth 5127 in 12^th, Kyle Busch 5122 in 42^nd, Harvick 5121 in 14^th and Stewart 5099 in 23^rd. 

Lap 120 33 drivers remain on the lead lap as Robby Gordon drops to a lap down along with Sam Hornish Jr., McCumbee, Elliott Sadler, Elliott, Dave Blaney and Carpentier. Logano is 2 laps down, Kyle Busch 9 laps and McMurray in the garage. 

Lap 125 your top ten drivers are – Earnhardt Jr., Biffle, Johnson, Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Burton, Edwards, Montoya, Bowyer and Truex Jr. Lap 128 action on the track as Mears and Riggs battle for 19^th, Almirola and Stewart for 22^nd. 

Lap 133 as we see Paul Menard, Joe Nemechek, McDowell, Ragan Smith and Johnny Sauter fall a lap down. Waltrip, Newman, Ragan and Gilliland would be the next drivers to go a lap down. 

Lap 140 Earnhardt leads the field by 4 seconds. Johnson and Biffle battle for 2^nd. Lap 142 Burton closes in on Kurt Busch. We are 15 laps from pit stops. Lap 147 Ragan in for his stop. A note to that when Ragan was involved in the accident, the team too the entire rear end of the car off. He still has the side panels though. 

Lap 150 (halfway) your top 20 drivers are – Earnhardt Jr., Johnson, Biffle, Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Burton, Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Truex Jr., Bowyer, Kahne, Harvick, Kenseth, Kvapil, McCumbee, Reutimann, Vickers, Mears, A.J. Allmendinger and Stewart. Montoya pits along with Gilliland. 

Lap 153 McCumbee, Sadler and Nemechek are in. Lap 156 Biffle is in along with Truex Jr., Logano and Almirola. Lap 157 Hamlin and Kvapil are in. Lap 158 as Earnhardt Jr., Waltrip, Burton, Edwards, Stewart and many others pit. Lap 159 Johnson, Blaney, Riggs and Sauter pit. Stewart picks up a speeding ticket and will have to come through pit road again. 

Lap 161 Biffle is the leader. Earnhardt Jr.’s crew has a mishap on pit road as the front tire changer is hung up from the right side to the left side as the air hose is hung up on the front splitter. 

Lap 166 Earnhardt is back in to the lead, Biffle second. They both lead the field by 2.2 seconds. Lap 171 battle for 3^rd as Johnson puts pressure on Hamlin for the position. Lap 175 your top ten drivers are – Earnhardt Jr., Biffle, Johnson, Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Burton, Edwards, Truex Jr., Montoya and Kahne. 

Lap 177 Earnhardt is loose out of the corner which allows Biffle to move into the lead. Lap 179 where are the chase leaders now (In order of overall points) Johnson 5215 in 2^nd place, Edwards 5201 in 7^th, Biffle 5190 1^st, Earnhardt Jr. 5185 in 3^rd, Hamlin 5170 4^th, Burton 5165 5^th, Bowyer 5144 10^th, Harvick 5127 12^th, Jeff Gordon 5124 13^th, Kyle Busch 5122 42^nd, Kenseth 5118 15^th and Stewart 5084 in 28^th. 

Lap 189 Jeff Gordon passes Montoya for 12^th. Earnhardt Jr. is falling back in positions to 5^th as Burton takes over 4^th. Lap 193 22 drivers remain on the lead lap. Waltrip, Sorenson and Allmendinger are a lap down. Riggs, Almirola and Gilliland would be the next ones to go a lap down. 

Lap 195 Kurt Busch is looking to take 5^th from Earnhardt Jr. Lap 197 Edwards on the low side to follow Busch to take 6^th from Earnhardt as well. Lap 199 Truex Jr. follows Edwards to put Earnhardt Jr. back to 8^th. 

Lap 200 (100 to go) your top 20 drivers are – Biffle, Johnson, Hamlin, Burton, Edwards, Kurt Busch, Truex Jr., Earnhardt Jr., Kahne, Harvick, Bowyer, Jeff Gordon, Montoya, Kenseth, Reutimann, Kvapil, Labonte, Mears, Vickers and Gilliland. So far there have been 12 lead changes among 8 leaders and 2 cautions for 9 laps. 21 drivers remain on the lead lap. 

Lap 209 Biffle in front of Johnson by a second. Both drivers lead the field by 4 seconds.  

YELLOW FLAG lap 213 for debris. Vickers is the lucky dog. The leaders head into pit road. Johnson is the first back to the track followed by Hamlin, Biffle, Edwards, Burton and Earnhardt Jr. 

GREEN FLAG lap 220 (80 to go) as Johnson and Hamlin get the race going again. Stewart, a lap down, starts as the first driver a lap down on the inside of Hamlin. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 221 as Nemechek spins out on the front stretch after contact from Smith and hits both the outside and inside walls. Stewart is the lucky dog. Hamlin was the only lead lap driver to come onto pit road. He could have had some type of tire issue. That will put Hamlin way back. 

GREEN FLAG with 72 to go as Johnson and Biffle lead the two rows of 40 drivers back to racing.  

YELLOW FLAG with 71 to go as we see that many drivers were three, four and maybe five wide as Hornish Jr. road along the apron, comes up and clips McCumbee’s car, which shoots his car up into the left rear of Bowyer’s car a bit (Bowyer kept going) and into the left front of Kenseth’s car, shearing the front end of his car off.  

Kenseth slides up to the outside wall. McCumbee hit’s Reutimann’s car then Gilliland’s car who is rear ended by Mears and Vickers. 

RED FLAG to give NASCAR time to clean the mess up. Almirola should be the lucky dog. Back to yellow flag after 10 minutes. 

GREEN FLAG with 66 laps to go as Johnson and Biffle lead the 42 drivers back to racing. 64 to go, Earnhardt works on Burton to take over 4^th. 63 to go Burton does the cross over move to take it back. Both drivers working through lapped traffic to move up in the field. 

Lap 240 (60 to go) Harvick looking to take 6^th from Kurt Busch. In front of those two Biffle challenges Johnson for the lead. 59 to go Edwards closes in on the two front runners followed by Burton and Earnhardt Jr.  

55 to go as Johnson and Biffle pull away from Edwards. 54 to go as Jeff Gordon challenges Harvick for 8^th place. Newman looks to be way off pace as the leaders pass him. 52 to go as Stewart wants to take 12^th from Labonte and behind them Montoya and Hamlin battle for 14^th. 

50 to go and your top 20 drivers are – Johnson, Biffle, Edwards, Burton, Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Truex Jr., Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Bowyer, Reutimann, Stewart, Labonte, Montoya, Hamlin, Almirola, Kahne and Kvapil on the lead lap followed by Riggs and Sorenson one lap down. 48 to go on the exit of turn two, Harvick taps the wall which allows Gordon to grab the inside line. 47 to go Gordon takes the position. Both drivers have to deal with Reed Sorenson and Riggs, who are a lap down as they battle each other. This bottles up the leaders. 

40 to go as Johnson starts to pull away again. He leads Biffle by 1.5 seconds and third place Edwards by 3.3 seconds. 39 to go Bowyer closes in on Harvick for 9^th. 35 to go the chase run looks like this – Johnson is the points leader at 5230 running as the leader, Edwards 5220 in 3^rd, Biffle 5175 2^nd, Earnhardt 5175 5^th, Burton 5170 in 4^th, Bowyer 5144 in 10^th, Jeff Gordon 5142 in 10^th (During pit stops), Kyle Busch 5140 in 36^th, Stewart 5139 in 11^th, Harvick 5138 in 9^th, Hamlin 5131 in 14^th and Kenseth 5046 in 39^th. 

YELLOW FLAG with 35 to go as Allmendinger slams the outside wall of the front stretch. It looks like Allmendinger came up into McDowell who does not lift. Riggs is the lucky dog. 

GREEN FLAG with 29 to go as Johnson and Biffle lead us back up to speed. They clear the lapped drivers in the turns. Turn three Edwards way on the outside of the lapped drivers clears them. 28 to go Bowyer pushes way high slipping back to 15^th. 27 to go Bowyer continues to slip back slipping on the marbles of the track back to 19^th. 

25 to go Jeff Gordon, Stewart and Harvick fight for 8^th through 10^th in that order. 24 to go Harvick nicks the outside turn two wall. 22 to go Earnhardt Jr. closes in on Burton for 4^th place. Heading into turn three Earnhardt makes the pass but by turn one Burton takes it back as they bang into each other. 

YELLOW FLAG with 20 to go as Ragan spins out on the back stretch. Waltrip hit the back of Ragan after possible contact from behind by Smith. Menard is the lucky dog. Your top ten drivers are Johnson, Biffle, Burton, Earnhardt Jr., Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Harvick. 

GREEN FLAG with 17 to go as Johnson clears the lapped down drivers and… 

YELLOW FLAG 17 to go as Robby Gordon hits Carpentier in turn two. Sauter is the lucky dog.  

GREEN FLAG 13 to go as we try to get going once again. By turn three the top 3 clear the lap down drivers. 12 to go Burton clears the traffic. By turn three Biffle takes the lead. 

11 to go Earnhardt clears the traffic and Biffle by three car lengths. 

10 to go as Biffle pulls away by a half second. Bowyer passes Montoya for 13^th. 

9 to go passes Reutimann for 12^th. 

8 to go no change. 

7 to go Biffle looks comfortable for the lead. 

6 to go as the top 5 are spread out. 

5 to go Johnson gains a car length closer to Biffle. 

4 to go as Biffle looks smooth on the track, Johnson closes. 

3 to go as the top ten are spread out now. 

2 to go Biffle has not made a mistake yet. 

WHITE FLAG for Biffle, Johnson still behind by three car lengths. Out of turn four… 

CHECKERED FLAG for Biffle who’s last win 33 races ago in Kansas in early 2007. 

Your top ten drivers are Biffle, Johnson, Edwards, Burton, Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Truex Jr., Stewart, Hamlin and Harvick. 

The chase picture (unofficial at the time of this story) looks like Johnson with 5220, Edwards ties with 5220, Biffle 5190, Burton 5170, Earnhardt Jr. 5170, Hamlin 5148, Stewart 5147, Kyle Busch 5146, Bowyer 5137, Harvick 5134, Jeff Gordon 5121 and Kenseth 5043.

Johnson led 96 laps for the day. Earnhardt Jr. led 79, Edwards 61, Biffle 58, Kyle Busch 3 and McDowell, Stewart and Vickers led 1. 

Your hard charger is Sauter with 23 positions from last to 20^th. The hard luck award is Kyle Busch from the pole to 34^th. 

The race lasted for 3 hours. We saw 14 lead changes among 8 leaders and 8 cautions for 36 laps. 21 drivers finished on the lead lap while 42 of the 43 drivers finished the race.