LOUDON — Auto races are won and lost in a variety of ways.

Sometimes track action determines the outcome. Sometimes it's pit crew performance. But the NASCAR Sprint Cup Lenox Industrial Tools 301 was decided on the radio.

A misunderstood call for tires during a late-race caution dropped race leader Denny Hamlin from first to 13th and allowed Kasey Kahne to grab the lead and motor to his second Sprint Cup victory of the season and his first-ever checkered flag at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Sunday.

The win jumped Kahne into the No. 1 wild card position for the NASCAR Chase with two wins and 547 points with seven races remaining. He now has 14 career Sprint Cup victories.

“I think three (victories) will get you in a real good spot, but two helps,” said Kahne, the only wild card contender with two wins.

Hamlin, meanwhile, was seemingly headed for his third win of the season before a yellow flag on lap 235 brought the leaders down pit road for service. He had led the race for 150 laps.

But in the short time prior to the stop, Hamlin and crew chief Darian Grubb discussed what changes needed to be made to the car.

“Darian wanted to take two (tires),” said Hamlin. “I told him I just needed tires and that was it. He took it that I needed four tires. It was just a little miscommunication that turned into a second-place finish.”

Kahne, who started the race from the front row, seized the opportunity as he exited pit road first and led the remainder of the race.

“We ran in the top five the whole race, but Denny was obviously the best car,” said the race winner. “We had good pit strategy (two tires during the decisive last stop), got track position, and we were able to lead those final laps there.”

Hamlin staged a dramatic rally over the final 60 laps to weave through the field from 13th place and six seconds behind the leader to his eventual second-place finish. He closed to within one second of Kahne's car with three laps to race.

“That's as hard as I can drive and just came up about five car lengths too short,” lamented Hamlin. “Trust me, if I could have got to him, I would have made it real interesting. I just didn't have enough time there at the end and it's all we could do. We made our bed by taking those four tires.”

Kahne never took his good fortune for granted.

“I was definitely focused on the lapped cars I was going by and how I could clear them quick,” he said. “But I lost a ton of forward drive and I was getting pretty loose and Denny was coming on four (tires). So I was paying attention to where he was, but I felt pretty good about the lead we had.”

“You try to be as optimistic as possible, but you know in your head that was a death sentence basically for us,” added Hamlin. “I honestly didn't think that we would get back to where we did — Kasey stretched out so far on that lead when we were about 10th.”

Though the race featured eight different leaders, there were just three who held the advantage for substantial portions of the event.

Kyle Busch led the race from the pole for the initial 72 laps. Track debris allowed Hamlin to gain his advantage, and oil from David Reutimann's car caused the final stop that shuffled the field and gave Kahne the victory.

The first 10 cars in the starting grid were the top 10 cars after 50 laps as green flag passing at the head of the field was difficult. That trend, except for Hamlin's determined late-race quest for first, virtually carried through the race.

“Well, this track is hard to pass anyway,” said third-place finisher Clint Bowyer. “It's hard to roll the center better than the next guy and turn underneath somebody when they have the middle line, the preferred line, because of the (limited) banking. On the bottom line, not enough banking to complete the pass unless you're really a lot better than them.”

The long periods of green flag racing left more than half of the field either lapped or out of the race by the midpoint. Only 19 cars finished on the lead lap.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., finished fourth and Brad Keselowski, who won the Nationwide Series Race Saturday, was fifth.

Earnhardt, Jr., who is second in series points with 691, 16 behind leader Matt Kenseth (13th place finish Sunday), said, “Happy with another top-five, but need to get some better and win some more races.”

Keselowski noted, “That's good short-track racing. It just came down to finding track position and we just didn't have quite enough track position there at the end and give 'em a shot for it.”

He led twice for three laps.

Pole-sitter Busch fell out of contention during the race's first round of green flag pit stops. He had several issues with his initial stop including a penalty for speeding while entering the pits. He finished 16th.

Rounding out the top 10 were Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman.