Kenseth takes points lead after tough battle

Was one of just two Roush cars to finish

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Matt Kenseth played his own version of "Survivor" in Sunday's Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, good enough to grab the Winston Cup points lead heading to Darlington.

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With Roush Racing engines blowing up like Fourth of July fireworks, Kenseth used a combination of smart moves on the track and great stops on pit road to move from 24th to fourth by the checkered flag.

That, coupled with Michael Waltrip's 27th-place finish, puts Kenseth unofficially in front by 49 points over Tony Stewart.

"It doesn't really matter this early in the year but it's better to be ahead than behind," Kenseth said. "We'll take that and build on what we did today and hopefully have a good run at Darlington next week."

Teammates Mark Martin, Kurt Busch and Jeff Burton all experienced engine problems, creating concern in the Roush camp. But Kenseth said he had no other choice than to soldier on.

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"I was concerned but there's not a lot I can do about it," Kenseth said. "That's definitely a cause for concern, but when I'm on the track, there's really nothing I can do about it. Just keep running it and hope for the best."

Running in seventh before the last green-flag stop, Kenseth's crew -- which had wholesale lineup changes during the off-season -- came through with quick service, getting him out in third place.

"They put me in that position and gave me a good enough car to at least finish in the top five," Kenseth said. "We had great stops the whole time so I'm real proud of those guys. They built me a fast car and I had good stops again and they did everything right."

However, Kenseth's car worked better on long runs, and a caution flag with 16 laps to go left him struggling to stay with the three top Chevrolets at the end.

"We were better than anybody on the last 20 laps of a run," Kenseth said. "I felt good about that and felt if it would have gone green to the end, I felt pretty good about our car."

Power steering balky near finish

Kenseth also had to contend with a balky power steering pump.

"It was weird," he said. "It wasn't like I just didn't have power steering. It was like it was 10 times harder to steer than if it didn't have it, so I just kind of had to hang on the last 10 laps."

Chevrolet dominated the race, leading all but 24 of the 325 laps Sunday. For Kenseth, a fourth in a Ford meant he was first in class.

"It was tough to keep up with those Chevys today," he said. "They had us, it seemed, by a lot but through great pit work and great teamwork to get our car dailed in the way we need to, the guys got me a top five."