Matt Kenseth and crew chief Robbie Reiser found a fast combination Thursday at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Credit: Autostock

Kenseth posts solid qualifying lap for 600

After third-place run, driver insists morale still high among team

CONCORD, N.C. - Speculation has arisen of late in the Nextel Cup Series garage that Matt Kenseth's team isn't getting along so well. But Kenseth said Thursday that while their performance must improve, morale remains high.

Lineup Coca-Cola 600 Pos. Driver Make 1. Ryan Newman Dodge 2. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 3. Matt Kenseth Ford 4. Kasey Kahne Dodge 5. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Complete lineup, click here Bud Pole winnerNewman shatters the track record on his way to the pole Outside poleJeff Gordon scores the outside pole at Lowe's Solid lapEarnhardt Jr. has a solid run after a crew chief change Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE ALSO •   Gillette Weekly Challenge

"Everybody's good. We haven't been running as good as we wish we could, but everybody's working hard at it," Kenseth said. "We've just got to get running better. That's the bottom line.

"This is a perform-based business. If the driver doesn't perform, or people don't perform or whatever the case is, it doesn't last long in this business. We've just got to get back to the front."

Thursday was a good start.

Kenseth qualified third for the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, by far his best career qualifying effort at Charlotte. Prior to Thursday, he'd never qualified better than 18th for NASCAR's longest race.

"Honestly my lap wasn't that eventful," Kenseth said. "My car was plenty tight. It wasn't very hard to drive, just a good, solid lap, really. Usually my laps are very eventful and not very fast."

He was fast this time, to the tune of 191.259 mph, making Kenseth one of 18 drivers to qualify faster than the former track record. Problem is he was still a quarter-second slower than Ryan Newman's pole-winning lap.

"I always call it Newman Day, because that's what it usually is," Kenseth said. "We're never usually a threat for the pole so I'm really happy where we qualified, that's a lot better than we usually do."

And the car is good. The last time Kenseth ran this car was California, when he qualified sixth and ran among the top 10 all day before a blown tire quelled a solid effort.

"The last time we ran this car was the last time we ran well," Kenseth said. "We've been struggling so bad the last few months I don't really know what to expect.

"When we unloaded it drove just like the car did last weekend, which was terrible, pretty much a last place car. But by the time we got done it actually felt pretty decent, fairly competitive.

"This is just a starting position. It's not an impound race, so we did get to do what we wanted to qualify. We did get to work on race trim and our car seemed much better than it did last week."