Kenseth stays out, wins Monte Carlo 400

Chevy Monte Carlo 400 Results | Winston Cup Standings

	Matt Kenseth led the final 108 laps. Credit: Autostock

RICHMOND, Va. - On more than one occasion Saturday night, Matt Kenseth found himself a lap down to the race leader during the Monte Carlo 400 at Richmond International Raceway. And at one point -- after blowing a right front tire on lap 67 -- he was two laps down.

More often that not, such circumstances are insurmountable.

But with uncanny pit strategy and an unparalleled rocket ship, he made up all lost ground and then some, fighting all the way back to claim his series-high fourth victory of the 2002 campaign.

Kenseth took the lead for the final time on lap 293, when he passed pole-sitter Ryan Newman in Turn 2, then checked out, building more than a two-second lead en route to career win number five.

"That car was so fast we just kept getting blown right front tires," Kenseth said. "It was such a fast car, really fast. It's brand new. We got down, but tried to pit with the leaders after that. That car would work high, work low, anywhere."

It had to work flawlessly in order for Kenseth to make up two laps.

"I was able to pass a lot of guys in the high groove before most guys realized how good it was," he said. "That's one reason I made up so much ground."

PHOTO GALLERY  •  Monte Carlo 400

Newman starts second, finishes second

Many frontrunners ran out of gas in the final laps, but Newman held on to finish second for the second consecutive week and for the fourth time this year. Although he won The Winston all-star race, he has yet to break into Victory Lane in a points-paying event.

"Awesome run all day for us," Newman said. "When Matt got by me, I could hold my own but couldn't pass him. My hats off to those guys, awesome job."

Jeff Green finished third, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., who dominated Friday's Busch race, and Todd Bodine.

	Ryan Newman tries to get around Jimmie Johnson (48) in the closing laps. Credit: Autostock

"That was pretty exciting, it took a lot of patience to wait and get my lap back," said Junior, who got a lap down . "I had a good enough car at the end to pick them off one at a time.

"I'm fortunate, a lot of guys ran out of gas. It was a good car, almost as good as last night's there at the end."

Ricky Rudd and Mike Wallace were among those who fell victim to fuel mileage. Rudd was fifth on the final lap, but lost two positions after running out of fuel.

Wallace, meanwhile, continued an impressive stint in the No. 14 Pontiac by running in the top 10, but after the fuel issue, he finished 12th.

Blown tire nearly wrecks Kenseth's night

Though Kenseth's final stop came 126-laps from the checkered flag, he was never overly concerned about running out of fuel. He had other things to worry about.

Say, a blown tire.

"I wasn't too concerned about it, Robbie (Reiser) hasn't ran me out yet," Kenseth said. "Pretty conservative so far. I felt like I was conserving anyway, running around the low line. I was more worried about blowing a tire."

That's what happened to Rusty Wallace. Wallace appeared poised to finish second, but slowed with 10 laps remaining after the right front tire blew on his Ford. Wallace, a No Bull Five contender who has six career wins at RIR, saw his winless streak stretch to 52 races.

Tony Stewart was running third on the white flag lap, and appeared set to make up significant ground on Sterling Marlin and Jeff Gordon in the championship hunt before a broken rear-end gear relegated him to a 30th place finish.

Gordon and Marlin were both done early. Gordon fell victim to a broken valve train and finished 40th, while Marlin was caught up in a crash 10 laps into the event and 43rd.

Marlin now leads Mark Martin, who finished sixth Saturday, by just nine points. Despite the bad luck, Gordon still made up ground on Marlin. The top-four are separated by just 82 points heading to Loudon, N.H.

"We've got 10 races left, and I guess it's going to be really tight after tonight," said Marlin, who entered Saturday night's affair 91 points ahead of Gordon. "Jeff had some trouble, and it seems like when one of us has problems the other one does, too.

"We'll just do the best we can every week from here on out like we've been doing all season, add 'em up at Homestead and see where we stack up."