Kenseth battles his way to seventh-place finish

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Matt Kenseth did a good day's work Sunday, and even had something to show for it at the end of the Protection One 400 at Kansas Speedway.

	Matt Kenseth and his crew finished seventh after a roller-coaster effort at Kansas. Credit: Autostock

But you wouldn't have known it from his words.

"It was all right, I guess," said Kenseth of his seventh-place finish. "It was not that great of a car, but we stayed at it all day and had a top-five car at the end."

Well, not quite, but good enough. As seems to be his habit this season, Kenseth had to earn every mile. He started 27th, worked up to 19th by lap 40 and got as high as second on lap 80 during pit-stop cycling on the fifth of the day's 11 cautions.

From laps 100-140, Kenseth stayed in the top 15, running as high as 11th. A tumble back to 27th on lap 160 meant another hole to dig out of, but he did. Kenseth was sixth by lap 180, and he didn't tumble again, sticking in the top 10 until the end.

When NASCAR red-flagged the race with three laps remaining to ensure a green-flag finish after the day's 11th caution, Kenseth wasn't optimistic. His No. 17 Ford hadn't restarted well all day, and a bumper-to-bumper battle with Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the final three laps cost him a few spots.

MATT KENSETH  •  Driver Page

"I got under Junior, and he ran me all the way down past the apron," Kenseth said of the frontstretch move. "I could have stayed in it and finished fifth and wrecked him, or I could have lifted and lost three spots, so I lifted and lost three spots because of that deal at the end."

But he did finish, which his three Roush Racing teammates didn't do. Points leader Mark Martin finished 25th, Jeff Burton finished 29th, and Kurt Busch finished 31st. None saw the checkered flag. All had engine problems.

"That was one of those things where you run a certain package and run a certain RPM," said Kenseth. "Some of them maybe ran more than they should have in practice, I don't know. We tried to baby it most of the weekend and save it for the race."

The day's effort did pay off. Kenseth remains eighth in the Winston Cup points standings, 93 behind new leader Jimmie Johnson.