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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Kenseth ‘Sneaking’ Into Championship Consideration
Roush Fenway driver sits third in points as Chase start looms…
Mike Hembree  |  Posted August 29, 2011   Charlotte, NC
Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford, looks on during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 26, 2011 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo: Getty Images)
Matt Kenseth sort of ambles and moseys through racing. You don’t really know that he’s there. Then – wham! – he shows up and ruins the day for everyone else.

Case in point: Entering last Saturday’s Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kenseth had not won at BMS since 2006. In fact, he had not led a lap at the track in the past five seasons.

There was no reason to suspect that Kenseth would be a strongman in the race.

What happens? Kenseth leads 68 laps early in the race, totals 110 laps led for the night, finishes sixth, locks up a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup and gains two positions in the point standings – to third.

Not a bad night for the circuit’s quiet guy.

Methodically, Kenseth has been setting himself up for a run at what would be his second Sprint Cup championship. His third-place standing in the points is his highest of the year (he also was third seven races into the season).

He was 10th after the Southern 500 at Darlington, but has made steady gains since, climbing to seventh, then sixth, then fifth and finally a quantum leap to third Saturday night.

Kenseth and Roush Fenway Racing teammate Carl Edwards figure to carry the Ford banner in the championship run.

Kenseth has had no finish worse than 20th in the past 14 races, a remarkable run of consistency that underlines his patient driving style. He has been favorably compared to Hall of Fame driver David Pearson, who conserved his equipment and saved strength for late in the game.

“My guys have been doing a great job this year, and it feels good to clinch that spot. I wish we were running just a hair better, but they did a great job,” Kenseth said.

Kenseth, 39, hasn’t won a title since he scored in the 2003 season, the year before NASCAR introduced the Chase format (in response, many think, to Kenseth’s relatively uneventful run to the title in ’03, when he clinched the crown with one race remaining).

Since then, Kenseth has not scored but has been a threat almost every season, finishing second in ’06, fourth in ’07 and fifth last year.

He figures to have a good shot this season with his team on the rise in the second half of the year. His only two DNFs came early in the season, and he has finished in the top 10 in 13 of 24 races.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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