Kenseth rallies past setbacks to move closer to Chase contention
By SceneDaily Staff
Monday, June 16, 2008
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Jerry Markland / Getty Images for NASCAR
Matt Kenseth (left) talks with team co-owner Jack Roush prior to Sunday's LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
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BROOKLYN, Mich. – Roush Fenway Racing's Matt Kenseth didn't fare very well on pit road during Sunday's LifelLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
First, he was going to be the first car off pit road with 52 laps to go when an official was still standing in his pits, causing him to slow again before he could exit into the line of cars that had pitted. That cost him a couple of positions. Then in his final pit stop with a handful of laps remaining, a tire changer had trouble with a lug nut. Throw in relative confusion over the cars that were later in front of him and nursing fuel being allowed to pass the pace car and Kenseth's day at Michigan was, in the least, an odd one.
Still, the end result turned out well for the driver. Kenseth finished third in the NASCAR Sprint Cup race for his fourth consecutive top-10 finish and his best result of the season. The run moved Kenseth up one spot to 14th in the standings. After being virtually written out of contention for the Chase For The NASCAR Sprint Cup by some earlier this season, the driver is now just 14 points outside the top 12 with 11 races to go before the championship-determining field is set.
For Kenseth, it was a rather bizarre route to a top finish.
"I thought it was a real fun race," he said. "I thought it was exciting three- and four-wide racing and [the] track was real challenging today, so I thought it was a good time. But I thought we just kind of got beat on the pit deal again. We had an official in front of your car when we did [a] two[-tire change] and that cost us two spots leaving the pits and that really hurt us. Then, we had a little miscue on our two-tire stop and that hurt us a little bit, too."
Kenseth also said he was a little surprised when NASCAR let some drivers, including leader Dale Earnhardt Jr., pass the pace car prior to the final restart as they tried to conserve fuel.
"There's nothing wrong with going down on the apron, that's what everybody's got to do to save fuel," he said. "… I didn't think you could pass the pace car, but the leader, [stayed] in the gas [to go] 10 car lengths in front of the pace car and shut the motor off and then coast back and not maintain a cautious pace and then take off again – and [he] took off on the apron, so it was just real confusing. I thought you kind of had to stay closed up, but if I was in their position, obviously I'd be doing the same thing trying to make it to the end on fuel."
Still, Kenseth was more interested in his own effort. He's back in contention for a Chase berth and looking to make the field for the fifth consecutive time.
Can he do it?
"I definitely feel like we're getting better," he said. "I mean, we had a string of miserable finishes there a couple months ago - I think we had three … that were 38th or worse or something, so things have definitely been in the upswing. We've been pretty good."
Kenseth has made every Chase since the format began in 2004.
"If you bring fast cars to the track every week and they're competitive and they're fast and they can run in the top five and run in the top 10, you know you'll hopefully gather your points and win some races sooner or later," Kenseth said.
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Matt Kenseth
Comments
1 response to "Kenseth rallies past setbacks to move closer to Chase contention"
wayne lesesne, sr said:
Jun 17, 2008 at 9:02 AMI agree with Kenseth, If that had been most anyone else to pass the pace car, they would have been sent to the tail end of the longest line. But it was NASCAR's fair head child, so it was Okay to do what he wanted to do. I'm so tired of the favorable treatment given to Jr, it's like they don't care how the fans, old and new, feel when infraction's like this are ignored.
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