Critical errors cost Kenseth victory at Dover

DOVER, Del. -- Matt Kenseth had no one to blame for losing the MBNA Armed Forces Family 200 but ... Matt Kenseth.

And you know who he blamed? Matt Kenseth.

Kenseth had the dominant car at Dover International Speedway, leading 160 of the race's first 178 laps. But when it got to crunch time, Kenseth mad two key mistakes.

MATT KENSETH  •  Busch Series Driver Page  •  2003 NBS Stats

On a restart with 47 laps to go, Kenseth missed a shift. Instead of going from second to third gear, he put the transmission back in first. Whoops. The engine revved to its limit, and Kenseth's car jerked sideways at the start-finish line.

Second-place Brian Vickers unavoidably punted the left-rear of Kenseth's car, and in the traffic jam behind the leaders, several cars got together and spun, bringing out a caution.

Vickers pitted to check the damage on his car, but Kenseth's crew decided to take a chance and leave him on the track. His car was running well, and Kenseth moved ahead of the field.

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Then came mistake No. 2. With Joe Nemechek trying to make a run at Kenseth on lap 179 of 200, Kenseth's car kicked sideways off turn 2. Kenseth kept it off the outside wall, but the damage had been done. He pitted and changed tires, but time would run out.

Instead of career victory No. 15, all Kenseth could do was rally to fourth place.

"It was a great car," Kenseth said. "I just didn't do a very good job of getting it to victory lane."

While some drivers would avoid pointing the finger at themselves, Kenseth refreshingly accepted the blame.

"I missed a shift on a restart, and I feel bad for the rest of the guys that I messed up," Kenseth said. "It went from second to first. I just missed a shift. It happened to me a couple of times this weekend."

Kenseth didn't say he choked when he spun; instead, a loose race car was partly to blame. Then, there was the guy behind the wheel, too.

"I had the car a little too loose, and Joe was closing in," Kenseth said. "I just couldn't keep control of my car. I just tried a little too hard, got loose and spun out."

After the spin, Kenseth restarted in ninth place with 17 laps to go. A couple more cautions and a red flag later, he had fought back to fourth. That was about as far as he expected to get, he said.

"I sure would have liked to have won today," Kenseth said. "We had a great car. I just needed to do a better job of keeping up with my adjustments. You always get scared of being tight at Dover, and my car was too loose. I should have known to tighten it up enough since we were trying to stay ahead of Joe. I didn't do a very good job of that, and it cost us."