Matt Kenseth spent 107 laps in the top 10 at AMS. Credit: Autostock

Kenseth's engine woes caused by gear selection

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Matt Kenseth's hope for a second consecutive NASCAR Cup championship went up in a puff of engine smoke Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but his Roush Racing team wouldn't let its driver shoulder all the blame.

As Kenseth's No. 17 Ford coasted back to pit road after 175 laps of the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, he apologized for his role in a race morning gear choice.

Matt Kenseth suffered his second engine failure of the year. Credit: Autostock

He repeated the indictment to a media horde gathered behind his hauler.

The problem was double jeopardy for the Roush team, which saw championship leader Kurt Busch fall by the wayside before 100 miles elapsed due to another engine failure.

"The reason we broke is we ran too much gear -- we ran more than Kurt," Kenseth said. "I don't know why he broke, but I knew in my head this morning we shouldn't have run it.

"We all decided as a group to do it, and I was one of the guys that decided to go ahead and run it so we should have known better than that."

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But after Kenseth's 41st place finish was confirmed, crew chief Robbie Reiser refused to heap ashes on the 2003 champion, who came into the day eighth in the championship, 260 points behind Busch.

"We went for it today -- we put more gear in it than what we needed," Reiser said. "We were just trying to get back in this hunt, and it was a do-or-die day -- and I guess we died.

BASS PRO SHOPS MBNA 500 •   Results •   Standings VIDEO Three in a row Jimmie Johnson pulls off an emotional win Junior wrecks late Dale Jr. smacks the wall hard, ending his day Engine problems Kenseth becomes second Roush driver to lose engine Transmission troubles Gordon develops gear problems on Lap 179 Pit problems Sadler damages his steering after contact on pit road Race tightens Points leader Kurt Busch loses his engine on Lap 53

"This is a tough place on engines in general, but the engine program we have is solid. I can't say enough about it because they've done a great job this year.

"We just tried to go with more than what we were told or what we were supposed to and we paid the price."

Kenseth confirmed his faith in the Roush engine department, even though his DNF was the second engine related failure this season, following a 42nd place at Talladega in the spring.

"I was worried when I saw it happen to Kurt, but not because we've had engine trouble," Kenseth said. "I can't complain at all. Our engines have been awesome -- they've done a phenomenal job in Mooresville of making us real competitive, so I don't have anything bad to say about that."

But he also professed his belief that his title hopes were over, even though he picked up three points on Busch, who finished one spot behind him.

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"I thought we were out of it before we ran today, so we're really out of it after today," Kenseth said. "I didn't think, coming into today, we really had a chance, but we're trying to get as high as we can.

"We still really want to get in the top-five and finish as high as we can and end the season on a strong note."

Kenseth ended the day unofficially ninth in the championship.

"We probably didn't make the best decisions," Kenseth said. "We had (the car) better today, but all weekend it was terrible, which isn't great for us because this is one of our better tracks.

"I don't know why (the engine) broke -- maybe it would have broke with any gear that we ran, but we chose to run more gear than most other guys were and that hurt us today."