Several Past Coca-Cola 600 Winners Nabbed First Sprint Cup Victory
Gordon isn’t the only Coca-Cola 600 starter to win for the first time in Charlotte’s spring race. The list of current drivers includes Sprint Cup champions Matt Kenseth (2000) Jeff Gordon (1994) and Bobby Labonte (1995); and Casey Mears (2007) and David Reutimann (2009). NASCAR Hall of Fame member David Pearson scored the first of his 105 Sprint Cup victories in the second running of the Coca-Cola 600 in 1961. Jamie McMurray’s first Sprint Cup victory came in Charlotte’s 2002 fall race.
Matt Kenseth
Race Recap: Matt Kenseth Surges To Third 2013 Victory At Darlington
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May 11, 2013
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
DARLINGTON, S.C.—Unsinkable.
Unsinkable Matt Kenseth capped a banner week for unsinkable Joe Gibbs Racing with a victory in Saturday night’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway with a substitute crew chief on his pit box—the unsinkable Wally Brown.
The past four days could hardly have been better for JGR, with Wednesday bringing a substantial reduction in penalties on appeal for an engine infraction Apr, 21 at Kansas. On Friday, Gibbs cars ran 1-2-3 in the Nationwide Series race at Darlington, and the organization followed that Saturday with a 1-2 finish from Kenseth and Denny Hamlin in the 11th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the season.
Kenseth took the lead from JGR teammate Kyle Busch on Lap 355 of 367 and pulled away to win by 3.155 seconds over Hamlin, as Busch faded to sixth. Hamlin also had much to celebrate in his first full race back from a compression fracture to his first lumbar vertebra, sustained during a last-lap crash at Fontana, Calif., in late March.
Continue reading “Race Recap: Matt Kenseth Surges To Third 2013 Victory At Darlington”
2013 NASCAR CUP RACE #11 RESULTS, DARLINGTON – MATT KENSETH WINS
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1 7 20 Matt Kenseth Home Depot / Husky Toyota
2 6 11 Denny Hamlin SportClips Toyota
3 8 24 Jeff Gordon Cromax Pro Chevrolet
4 2 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Emerald Green Chevrolet
5 10 29 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet
6 3 18 Kyle Busch Doublemint Toyota
7 17 99 Carl Edwards Geek Squad Ford
8 12 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet
9 16 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet
10 21 39 Ryan Newman Quicken Loans Chevrolet
Continue reading “2013 NASCAR CUP RACE #11 RESULTS, DARLINGTON – MATT KENSETH WINS”
2013 NASCAR Cup Series Richmond Starting Lineup – Matt Kenseth On Pole
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1 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 20.716 130.334
2 11 Brian Vickers(i) FedEx Delivery Manager Toyota 20.721 130.303
3 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet 20.729 130.252
4 5 Kasey Kahne Quaker State / Menards Chevrolet 20.740 130.183
5 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota Care Toyota 20.744 130.158
6 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Depend Chevrolet 20.793 129.851
7 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 20.808 129.758
8 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 20.828 129.633
LISTEN: THE FINAL LAP WEEKLY PODCAST – RICHMOND FEATURING INTERVIEWS WITH KYLE PETTY AND JEFF BURTON
9 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Brakes Toyota 20.834 129.596
10 55 Mark Martin Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 20.837 129.577
Continue reading “2013 NASCAR Cup Series Richmond Starting Lineup – Matt Kenseth On Pole”
Matt Kenseth Believes Penalties To His Team And Owner Are Excessive
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By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
Matt Kenseth thinks his Joe Gibbs Racing team—and in particular, team owner Joe Gibbs—was penalized excessively for violations Kenseth characterized as a mistake.
“I think the penalties are grossly unfair—I think it’s borderline shameful,” Kenseth said during a press conference Thursday at Richmond International Raceway.
KERRY AND TOBY DISCUSS #20 PENALTIES ON THE FINAL LAP WEEKLY
After Kenseth won last Sunday’s STP 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway, NASCAR took his No. 20 Toyota back to the R&D center in Concord, N.C. That’s where the sanctioning body discovered a connecting rod that weighed less than the 525-gram required minimum for the engine part.
NASCAR reacted by issuing one of the severest penalties on record, fining crew chief Jason Ratcliff $200,000 and placing him on suspension for six Cup points races. The sanctioning body also docked Kenseth 50 championship points and Gibbs 50 owner points.
Continue reading “Matt Kenseth Believes Penalties To His Team And Owner Are Excessive”
The Final Lap Weekly 