Starting, staying up front key for Kenseth, Vickers

JOLIET, Ill. -- Matt Kenseth has been making it a habit of starting slow and finishing fast, while Brian Vickers has been doing the opposite lately.

In Sunday's USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, both drivers will see what life is like at the front of the field, as Kenseth will roll off fourth and Vickers fifth.

	Matt Kenseth Credit: Autostock
	USG SHEETROCK 400 •   Lineup •   1st Practice Speeds •   Complete Coverage

Kenseth qualified third once this season -- in the May Coca-Cola 600, when he crashed and finished 37th.

Despite starting no better than 21st in the last three races, Kenseth has finished fourth, 11th and ninth, so Friday's run was another boost for a team that hasn't given up on 2005.

"We think we're definitely headed in the right direction," Kenseth said. "The last four out of five weeks have been pretty decent. They've been a lot better than what we started the year off with.

"I still don't think we're out of it. We have nine races to go to get back in the top 10 in points. We've got a long ways to go, we've got nine positions and I really think we can do it."

Vickers, on the other hand, is coming off finishes of 41st, 34th and 29th, so a return to the 1 1/2-mile tracks may be just what he needed.

"Right now, just getting this monkey off our back would help my confidence more than anything," Vickers said. "We've had good cars the past couple of months and had some great finishes.

"We've had some that weren't but there's nothing we can do about them, so right now, we've got to have a nice, smooth race and stay out of trouble."

Brian Vickers Credit: Getty Images

Vickers said the car was fast before the team even attempted a mock qualifying run in practice.

"We really kind of snuck up on it in qualifying," Vickers said. "We didn't get real aggressive. We felt like we had a real good car to begin with, so we didn't want to take a chance on tearing it up."

Vickers said putting up a good time at a track like Chicagoland requires the driver to be precise.

"Any track like this, you're going so fast and the car is just on edge at 200 miles an hour, you've got to hit your marks, you've got to be on your line," Vickers said. "If you're offline, you're going to lose a little bit of grip, you're going to get a little dirt and that's all it takes to send it over (the line)."