Matt Kenseth

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Matt Kenseth, Michigan, 2015Aug. 16, 2015

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

BROOKLYN, Mich.—From Matt Kenseth’s point of view, the competition package NASCAR used at Michigan International Speedway could well have had a big, bright bow on it.

The Coors Light Polesitter for Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, Kenseth quickly exhibited his mastery of the high-drag aerodynamic package, leading 146 of 200 laps in winning for the third time this season, the third time at Michigan and the 34th time in his career.

The 2003 premier series champion had to survive a restart with 13 laps left, after Jimmie Johnson spun off Turn 4 to cause the eighth and final caution of the race. With a push from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, Kenseth cleared Kevin Harvick after the Lap 187 restart and went on to win by 1.722 seconds.

“Denny did a spectacular job pushing me,” Kenseth said of the last run. “From the restart zone to about Turn 2 was like a superspeedway race–whoever got locked up—and those Chevys could really hook up.

“Denny did a heck of a job giving me a good push there to get by. Honestly, the toughest one was with the 3 (Dillon, with the two drivers swapping the lead after a restart on Lap 131). We went back and forth a few times and made some contact there, and it was hard to get away from him. My car took about five laps to get going, but once it got going, it was pretty stellar.”

Harvick ran out of fuel under green on Lap 114 but recovered to finish second. Martin Truex Jr. ran third, followed by Austin Dillon (who started from the rear of the field after an engine change) and Hamlin.

Kenseth’s victory was the fifth for Joe Gibbs Racing in the last six Sprint Cup races but Kenseth stopped short of declaring the JGR cars the favorites for the series championship this year. There are three regular-season races left before the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs start at Chicagoland Speedway on Sept. 20.

“It’s early to talk favorites—there’s so much racing to do, and there are 16 teams (in the Chase) that are capable of winning races on a weekly basis as well as a championship,” Kenseth said. “It’s one week at a time like always.

“It’s been a great week, and we’ve had a great couple months. We definitely have some momentum built. The guys gave us a rocket today and gave us rockets the last couple months. We’re just going to work hard to try to keep it rolling.”

Harvick, the reigning series champion, has finished second in five of his last six starts at Michigan, and he notched his seventh runner-up result since winning his second race of the season at Phoenix in March.

“We had an up and down day, that’s for sure,” Harvick said. “The first half of the race or so (we) really struggled with the handling of the car. The guys did a great job of getting that, and then ran out of gas and came back and didn’t lose a lap and were able to have a good enough handling car to drive back up through there.

“Just really proud of my team and everything that they did. I didn’t have anything for the 20 (Kenseth) today, but for everything that we overcame, it was still a good day.”

Despite starting from the rear of the field, Kyle Busch finished 11th, solidified his position in the top 30 in points and moved closer to a spot in the Chase. Now 29th in the standings, Busch leads 30th-place Justin Allgaier by 18 points and 31st-place Cole Whitt by 23.

A four-time winner since returning from an 11-race injury absence, Busch must be in the top 30 after 26 races to lock up a spot in the Chase.

Clint Bowyer’s Chase hopes took the hardest hit on Sunday. After running consistently in the top five, Bowyer’s No. 15 Toyota bounced off the outside backstretch wall on Lap 126—the result of contact with Ryan Newman’s Chevrolet—and careened into the inside wall.

Bowyer finished 41st and dropped one position in the standings to 15th, 23 points ahead of Aric Almirola in 16th and 26 ahead of Kasey Kahne in 17th. Bowyer currently is in the final Chase-eligible position. If the next three races produce one or more unique winners, however, his Chase spot could be in serious jeopardy.

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race – Pure Michigan 400
Michigan International Speedway
Brooklyn, Michigan
Sunday, August 16, 2015

1. (1) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 200, $226586.
2. (7) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 200, $185285.
3. (22) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 200, $137130.
4. (4) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 200, $150746.
5. (2) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 200, $114000.
6. (3) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 200, $97890.
7. (10) Joey Logano, Ford, 200, $137348.
8. (17) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 200, $130540.
9. (14) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 200, $141756.
10. (9) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 200, $107415.
11. (6) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 200, $132906.
12. (24) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 200, $98790.
13. (34) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 200, $118098.
14. (30) Aric Almirola, Ford, 200, $126501.
15. (11) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 200, $103615.
16. (18) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 200, $118431.
17. (21) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 200, $132826.
18. (13) David Ragan, Toyota, 200, $114879.
19. (15) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 200, $113610.
20. (16) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 199, $102340.
21. (5) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 199, $113754.
22. (25) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 198, $127390.
23. (20) Greg Biffle, Ford, 198, $117023.
24. (19) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 198, $82390.
25. (23) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 198, $93415.
26. (27) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 198, $93015.
27. (35) Cole Whitt, Ford, 198, $102823.
28. (26) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 198, $115573.
29. (28) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 197, $106398.
30. (32) Matt DiBenedetto #, Toyota, 197, $98798.
31. (33) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 197, $93062.
32. (36) David Gilliland, Ford, 197, $88915.
33. (29) Jeb Burton #, Toyota, 197, $80840.
34. (38) Brett Moffitt #, Ford, 197, $80740.
35. (39) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 197, $80565.
36. (31) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 196, $80515.
37. (41) Josh Wise, Ford, 196, $80454.
38. (37) JJ Yeley(i), Toyota, 194, $75877.
39. (8) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 190, $119741.
40. (42) Travis Kvapil(i), Chevrolet, 190, $67805.
41. (12) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 164, $97963.
42. (40) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, Overheating, 51, $67805.
43. (43) Timmy Hill(i), Chevrolet, Parked, 9, $56305.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 143.455 mph.
Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 47 Mins, 18 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.722 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 31 laps.
Lead Changes: 16 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: M. Kenseth 1-22; A. Dillon 23-40; M. Kenseth 41-59; J. Gordon 60; Kyle Busch 61-62; M. Kenseth 63-75; C. Bowyer 76; M. Kenseth 77-98; K. Harvick 99-113; C. Edwards 114-116; M. Kenseth 117-122; C. Edwards 123-124; A. Dillon 125; M. Kenseth 126-164; Kyle Busch 165-172; A. Almirola 173-175; M. Kenseth 176-200.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): M. Kenseth 7 times for 146 laps; A. Dillon 2 times for 19 laps; K. Harvick 1 time for 15 laps; Kyle Busch 2 times for 10 laps; C. Edwards 2 times for 5 laps; A. Almirola 1 time for 3 laps; C. Bowyer 1 time for 1 lap; J. Gordon 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 16 in Points: K. Harvick – 866; J. Logano – 818; D. Earnhardt Jr. – 784; M. Truex Jr. – 755; B. Keselowski – 754; J. Johnson – 752; M. Kenseth – 751; Kurt Busch – 683; D. Hamlin – 670; J. Mcmurray – 663; P. Menard – 654; R. Newman – 649; J. Gordon – 648; C. Edwards – 628; C. Bowyer – 616; A. Almirola – 593.

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during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 21, 2015 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

It was appropriate that the Windows 10 400 at Pocono Raceway was decided by the fuel “window.”

Matt Kenseth passed three drivers who ran out of gas – Joey Logano with three laps left, Martin Truex Jr. who had two laps to go and Kyle Busch on the final go-around – to win his first race at Pocono in 32 attempts.

The victory was Kenseth’s second of the season and 33rd of his career, tying him with Busch and Fireball Roberts for 20th on NASCAR’s all-time list. With the triumph, Kenseth moved up to fourth on the Chase Grid and now has six bonus points for the Challenger 16 round of NASCAR’s playoffs.

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Aug. 2, 2015

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

LONG POND, Pa. – Matt Kenseth, the unexpected winner of Sunday’s Windows 10 400 at Pocono Raceway, had to do a double take.

So did second and third-place finishers Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon.

Kenseth got a gift on the final lap of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race when Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch ran out of fuel halfway through the final lap at the 2.5-mile triangular track.

Seeking his fourth straight victory in the series, Busch didn’t save quite enough fuel on the last green-flag run to complete the 160-lap event, but he still gained 10 points toward his goal of reaching the top 30 in the series standings.

Busch, who finished 21st after getting a push toward the finish line from Reed Sorenson, is now 13 points behind 30th-place David Gilliland. Busch has five races to crack the top 30 to become eligible for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Because Busch was pushed by another car, he did not get credit for completing the final lap, but that did not affect his finishing position.

Collectively, the top three finishers led seven laps. Joey Logano, who handed the lead to Busch when the No. 22 Team Penske Ford ran out of fuel with fewer than three laps left, led 97.

But Kenseth wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially after the driver of the No. 20 JGR Toyota did what others failed to do—save enough gas to get to the finish. Kenseth’s second victory of the season locked him into the Chase.

“There’s nothing like wins,” said Kenseth, who collected his first victory at Pocono and the 33rd of his career. “We had a lot of wins in 2013 and were pretty spoiled and last year we had a big dry spell, and this year we were able to win Bristol.

“We’ve been up front a lot, so just really, really thankful to be with these guys and to get the win. I never thought I’d ever win at Pocono, and I never ever thought I’d win a fuel mileage race, so we did both today.”

Despite coming tantalizingly close to a fourth straight win, Busch was philosophical about the near miss.

“Man, that’s a bummer,” said Busch, who ran out of fuel on the Long Pond straightaway approaching the Tunnel Turn, less than a mile-and-a-half from the finish line. “I wish I would’ve saved a little more there that last run.

“I wish I would’ve known that the 22 (Logano) was that far away from making it. He was way far away from making it. Man, that was just a shame that we weren’t able to get it done there.”

Busch took a moment to reflect on what might have been. The empty fuel tank also cost him entry into the top 30.

“We would be celebrating a win and a Chase berth,” he said ruefully. “We got greedy. I don’t know how greedy, but that’s the position we’re in.

“If it came down to other things that we haven’t had the success that we’ve had here lately, we would’ve had to have pitted and just made the opportunity of it and made the best finish that we could. But, we went for broke today and come up a little bit short, so can’t fault the team.”

Keselowski, who ran out of fuel as he approached the finish line, recovered from an early penalty for sliding through his pit, knocking his jack man off his feet and knocking a tire out of his front carrier’s hands.

The No. 2 Ford lost a lap, regained it and came home second, 9.012 seconds behind Kenseth, as lack of fuel took its toll on the frontrunners. The outcome left Keselowski with mixed feelings.

“Unfortunately, just another race where I kind of feel like it didn’t all come together for us, and this one certainly on my end with having problems on pit road and kind of sliding through the box,” said the 2012 series champion. “That dug a hole, got us a lap down with the penalty and so forth.

“I think the last restart with, had to be somewhere around 60 or 70 to go (actually 63), we restarted 12th and we were able to drive up to sixth and looked like we were going to be able to get to fifth, and then the fuel play came in there at the end. We were able to take care of it to bring home second, which is a very respectable day. Certainly probably not where we were going to finish without the fuel, but I guess that’s sometimes how it works.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran fourth and Greg Biffle fifth, as none of the top five finishers were threats to finish that high before the varying fuel strategies scrambled the final order.

“There at the end we were one of the last ones to pit which allowed us to run hard all the way to the finish not having to conserve or save fuel,” said Gordon, smiling at the stroke of good fortune. “I thought we were trying to get maybe 10th or 12th and all of a sudden they said you’re third, and I think I was probably the most shocked person out there on the race track when I found that out.

“I knew cars were peeling off, but I just didn’t realize that many were either running out or coming to pit road.”

Note: Both Martin Truex Jr. and Logano, who along with Busch had the strongest cars all afternoon, were cited for speeding on pit road after running out of fuel and were dropped to 19th and 20th, respectively, in the finishing order, the last two cars on the lead lap.

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1 20 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Toyota 27.799 194.252
2 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 28.003 192.836
3 19 Carl Edwards Subway Toyota 28.018 192.733
4 16 Greg Biffle Ortho Ford 28.092 192.226
5 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 28.124 192.007
6 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 28.142 191.884
7 55 David Ragan Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 28.180 191.625
8 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet 28.232 191.272

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