Matt Kenseth crosses the line for his second victory of the season. Credit: Autostock

Sunoco Pit Move: Dover

It isn't often that the winning crew chief admits that his strategy was flawed, but that's exactly what Robbie Reiser did Sunday at Dover.

When the caution waved with 55 laps to go in the Neighborhood Excellence 400, Reiser wanted to pit and get tires for Matt Kenseth, but Kenseth overruled him and went on to win for the second time this season.

Results Neighborhood Excellence 400 Pos. Driver Make 1. M. Kenseth Ford 2. J. McMurray Ford 3. K. Harvick Chevrolet 4. J. Burton Chevrolet 5. Ky. Busch Chevrolet 6. J. Johnson Chevrolet 7. K. Kahne Dodge 8. G. Biffle Ford 9. M. Martin Ford 10. D. Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet • Complete results, click here • Driver standings, click here Pit MoveMatt Kenseth overrides Robbie Reiser, scores a Dover win Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

Kenseth and Reiser have one of the longest driver-crew crew chief marriages in the garage, but Kenseth's decision put a brief strain on that relationship.

When Kenseth saw that leaders Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick were staying out, he decided -- by himself -- to stay onto the racetrack, knowing that his car would eventually prevail over a green-flag run.

"There really wasn't any discussion," said Kenseth. "I just kind of watched what everybody did and when I saw everybody stay out I just kind of decided on my own to stay out."

Dover's pit road is situated just a few yards from the frontstretch, and Kenseth could clearly see the look on Reiser's face as he drove by his team's pit.

"When I looked over going down the frontstretch, I knew I better finish pretty good or it was going to be a long couple of months," Kenseth said.

"He knew what he had there and made a decision to stay out," Reiser said. "Thank God he won the race, because we'd probably be in the trailer fighting right now."

Track position, track position, track position

The first five cars (McMurray, Harvick, Kenseth, Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch) that stayed on the racetrack during the final caution all went on to finish in the top five.

Rudd disagrees with pit penalty

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During a rare green-flag pit stop on Lap 210, Ricky Rudd was flagged for speeding while exiting pit road, and he denied that left pit road too quickly.

Rudd, driving in relief for the injured Tony Stewart, said the one-lap penalty cost Stewart a top-15 finish.

"I knew there was a reason I quit this sport," Rudd said. "I wasn't speeding. Somebody up there's got something against me.

"I don't know what it is. We came down pit road and left with the traffic and I'm the only guy that gets called back in for speeding, so that's real disappointing."

Martin loses race in the pits

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Mark Martin easily had a car capable of running with the leaders, but he never got the chance -- his team left a lugnut off during a pit stop with 137 laps to go. Martin then lost even more ground when he nearly entered the wrong pit box while serving his penalty.

Even though only a dozen cars were on the lead lap, the penalty put Martin way back in the pack with a pack of lap-down cars, and he was never able to recover. He wound up a maddening ninth, and uncharacteristically issued a terse statement after the race.

"We had a winning racecar and had a bad day with it," Martin said. "Ran ninth."

According to NASCAR's loop data, Martin had the third-highest driver rating of the race, trailing only Kenseth and Burton.

Quotable

"He just told me to pit and I didn't say anything." -- Matt Kenseth