Matt Kenseth

on

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Matt Kenseth has excelled in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series by maintaining an unrelenting focus on the next task at hand.

The 2003 series champion remains constant in that approach as he comes to Kansas Speedway, site of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (2:15 p.m. ET on NBC), even though he faces a formidable challenge with two races left in the Contender Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

A succession of mistakes, both major and minor, cost Kenseth dearly last week at Charlotte Motor Speedway, in the Contender Round’s first race.

But the beginning of the end was contact with Ryan Newman’s Chevrolet. Kenseth hit the outside wall and damaged the suspension in his No. 20 Toyota. Ultimately, he would slam the outside wall and drop out of the race.

The resulting 42nd-place finish left Kenseth at the bottom of the Chase standings, 32 points behind eighth-place Brad Keselowski with only two opportunities — at Kansas and Talladega — either to advance to the Eliminator 8 Round by winning or to make up that enormous points deficit.

But for Kenseth, it’s business as usual.

“For me, it’s really no different,” Kenseth asserted before Friday’s opening Sprint Cup practice at Kansas Speedway.

“We show up and try to do the best we can every week. Same this week.

“Obviously, a win moves you on, but I don’t feel like it’s a must-win. It would make it easier if we could win. (But we’ll) just try to do the best we can to qualify as good as we can and hopefully start up front and get working on the race (in Saturday’s practice) and hopefully be up front Sunday.”

There’s one statistic that could mitigate in Kenseth’s favor in the Hollywood Casino 400. He’s the only driver to have won twice at Kansas since the track was repaved in 2012.

on

during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 8, 2015 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Oct. 8, 2015

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

CONCORD, N.C. – For a driver who keeps insisting that qualifying isn’t his strong suit, Matt Kenseth continues to excel on NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light pole days.

Touring the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway in a blistering 27.759 seconds (194.532 mph) on Thursday night, the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota earned the top starting spot for Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 (on NBC at 7 p.m. ET), the first race in the Contender Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Kenseth was .198 seconds quicker than JGR teammate Kyle Busch (193.154 mph), who put the No. 18 Toyota on the outside of the front row. Busch’s car is sporting a pink paint scheme this weekend to bring attention to the work of his foundation in fighting breast cancer.

The Coors Light Pole Award was Kenseth’s fourth this year—a personal best for a single season—his second at Charlotte (and second consecutive) and the 17th of his career.

Kenseth didn’t have a perfect lap, but as he crossed the start/finish to complete the circuit, he knew he had a shot at the pole.

“It was a heck of a lap,” Kenseth said. “I knew I had a lot of speed. I kind of changed it up in (Turns) 1 and 2 a little bit, and I just got a little tight in the middle of (Turns) 3 and 4. I knew the car was fast. Our Dollar General Camry has been fast all day, and it was a lot of fun to drive.”

Kenseth gave the car and crew chief Jason Ratcliff’s setup much of the credit for his pole-winning effort.

“I knew it was going to be real fast,” Kenseth said. “I didn’t know we were going to sit on the pole by any means, but it had the feel and everything that I wanted. It’s funny, this place, if you can get it to drive just like you want, you can really perform well here, but it’s so hard to get that feel…

“But today he (Ratcliff) got it to drive that way. I was going to have to mess it up to not get it, as good as he had it there.”

Joey Logano (193.023 mph) qualified third, followed by Greg Biffle (192.947 mph) and Denny Hamlin (192.912 mph). With Carl Edwards claiming the eighth starting spot, JGR put all four of its drivers, all of whom are Chase contenders, in the top eight.

All told, Chase drivers grabbed nine of the top 12 positions on the grid, with Biffle, Jimmie Johnson (seventh) and Aric Almirola (ninth) the only non-Chase drivers able to advance to the final round of knockout qualifying.

Busch, who fought his way back into the Chase with a second-place finish last Sunday at Dover, was pleased with his effort in time trials.

“I don’t know—Matt Kenseth, he was better than me, that’s for sure,” Busch said. “He got more out of it than me, but our pink M&M’s Camry is awesome. We were able to post some good speed there. I’m real happy with it… and I’m looking forward to the race on Saturday night.”

All 12 Chase contenders advanced through the first round, but Brad Keselowski (13th), Martin Truex Jr. (15th) and Jeff Gordon (22nd) weren’t fast enough to make the final elimination session, which is restricted to the top 12.

Keselowski ran an identical lap to 12th-place Carl Edwards but lost the final spot in the third round on an owner points tiebreaker.

Josh Wise and Timmy Hill failed to make the 43-car field.

on

DS_100215_02NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying – AAA 400
Dover International Speedway
Dover, Delaware
Friday, October 02, 2015

1. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 2015 Owner Points 1st.
2. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 2015 Owner Points 2nd.
3. (19) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 2015 Owner Points 3rd.
4. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 2015 Owner Points 4th.
5. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Points 5th.
6. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Points 6th.
7. (41) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Points 7th.
8. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 2015 Owner Points 8th.

LISTEN: THE FINAL LAP WEEKLY NASCAR PODCAST #378 – BRANDON JONES / DOVER NASCAR CHASE PREVIEW

9. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Points 9th.
10. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Points 10th.
11. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Points 11th.
12. (88) Dale Earnrhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Points 12th.
13. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 2015 Owner Points 13th.
14. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Points 14th.
15. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Points 15th.
16. (15) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 2015 Owner Points 16th.
17. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Points 17th.
18. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 2015 Owner Points 18th.
19. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Points 19th.
20. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 2015 Owner Points 20th.
21. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Points 21st.
22. (13) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Points 22nd.
23. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Points 23rd.
24. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Points 24th.
25. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Points 25th.
26. (9) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 2015 Owner Points 26th.
27. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 2015 Owner Points 27th.
28. (55) David Ragan, Toyota, 2015 Owner Points 28th.
29. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 2015 Owner Points 29th.
30. (51) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Points 30th.
31. (35) Cole Whitt, Ford, 2015 Owner Points 31st.
32. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 2015 Owner Points 32nd.
33. (40) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Points 33rd.
34. (34) Brett Moffitt #, Ford, 2015 Owner Points 34th.
35. (7) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Points 35th.
36. (33) Alex Kennedy #, Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Points 36th.
37. (83) Matt DiBenedetto #, Toyota, 2015 Owner Attempts 28 -37th.
38. (46) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Attempts 28 -38th.
39. (23) Jeb Burton #, Toyota, 2015 Owner Attempts 28 -39th.
40. (98) Reed Sorenson, Ford, 2015 Owner Attempts 28 -40th.
41. (32) Josh Wise, Ford, 2015 Owner Attempts 28 -41st.
42. (26) JJ Yeley(i), Toyota, 2015 Owner Attempts 28 -43rd.
43. (62) Timmy Hill(i), Chevrolet, 2015 Owner Attempts 28 -45th.

–30–

on

DS_100215_01Oct. 2, 2015

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

DOVER, Del. – A hard, steady rain at Dover International Speedway made Matt Kenseth’s life easier—and Kevin Harvick’s challenge even more difficult than it otherwise might have been.

With a massive East Coast storm forcing cancellation of all of Friday’s track activity at the Monster Mile, including NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying, Kenseth will start on the pole for Sunday’s AAA 400, the elimination race for the Challenger Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN).

The series leader, Kenseth already has earned a spot in the Chase’s Contender Round by virtue of last Sunday’s victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

On the other hand, with the field ordered by owner points according to rainout rules, Harvick will start 15th in a race he almost certainly must win to keep his hopes of winning back-to-back series championships alive.

After an early wreck and a 42nd-place finish in the Chase opener at Chicagoland Speedway, Harvick ran out of fuel while leading with three laps left at New Hampshire and finished 21st, leaving him 23 points out of 12th place in the standings, the last transfer position for the next round.

Even though the rain put him on the pole, Kenseth would have preferred to have practiced on Friday, especially in light of the suspension issues that relegated him to a 39th-place finish in the May 31 event at Dover.

“I think we all would have liked to get on the track today and get some practice,” Kenseth said on Friday at Dover. “I know there are some things we wanted to work on and try to improve from the spring for this race.

“I think everybody wanted to get on the track. I think it’s one of the advantages of leading the points – obviously, if it rains, you get a good starting spot and pit stall. Glad we’re starting in the front, but still would have liked the track time.”

The qualifying cancellation means the 16 Chase drivers will start from the top 16 positions on the grid. Denny Hamlin, who punched his ticket to the Contender Round with a win at Chicagoland, will start on the front row beside his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate.

Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Jimmie Johnson are third through fifth on the grid, respectively, for Sunday’s race. “Bubble” drivers Jamie McMurray, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch and Paul Menard, all of whom are within a two-point range in the standings, will start 11th through 14th, respectively.

“We’ll be ready; we’ll be prepared and we won’t start as far forward as we have here in years past,” said Busch, who blew a right front tire at New Hampshire, crashed and finished 37th. “Typically we’re a top-five qualifier. … We’ll make do.”

Busch feels his team’s level of readiness coming to the track this season will stand him in good stead.

“I think, for my guys, we’ve been really, really good this year of unloading and having some strong cars and some good speed right off the truck,” Busch said. “I’d actually look forward to no practice time here. I think that would be really good for the 18 team.”