Matt Kenseth and crew chief Robbie Reiser are both puzzled as to why the team hasn't run well recently. Credit: Autostock

Kenseth not optimistic with Johnson riding high

Former champion drops to 63 points out of lead heading to finale

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Matt Kenseth knew he was in trouble on Friday at Phoenix International Raceway when his No. 17 Roush Racing Ford was less than stellar in its first practice.

Matt Kenseth struggled all day at Phoenix before salvaging a 13th-place finish. Credit: Autostock

Checker Auto Parts 500 Results Pos. Driver Make 1. Kevin Harvick Chevy 2. Jimmie Johnson Chevy 3. Denny Hamlin Chevy 4. Jeff Gordon Chevy 5. Carl Edwards Ford 6. Mark Martin Ford 7. Kasey Kahne Dodge 8. Kurt Busch Dodge 9. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevy 10. Jeff Burton Chevy • Complete results, click here • Driver standings, click here Victory LaneKevin Harvick celebrates his Checker Auto Parts 500 win Top finishersKenseth and Johnson talk about their day at Phoenix Final lapsKevin Harvick holds off Jimmie Johnson for the win at Phoenix Out frontJimmie Johnson charges through the field to take the lead Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

He knew he was totally screwed when he started the final lap of the Checker Auto Parts 500 in 10th and a mile later, after his ill-handling beast of a Fusion washed up the track midway through the lap, took the checkered flag in 13th.

"I lost a couple of spots at the end," Kenseth said. "I was trying to hang it out and do everything we could and we kind of got up in the marbles there."

That one slip cost the 2003 Winston Cup champion 10 vital points, but his cup of frustration had already overflowed on a day in which he barely scratched the top 10 in the running order.

"Obviously we're frustrated," Kenseth said as he walked from the garage to his vehicle. "We've been in championship form all season and now that it's crunch time, we just haven't been able to do it.

"The guys haven't made any mistakes, and they've been doing good on pit road. The cars have been reliable and we haven't had any accidents on the track and we're all doing the best we can, but for some reason our cars are just so slow."

Kenseth's Sunday mirrored his last half of his Chase.

"Our day was not very good," he said. "We didn't make any progress so it was the same as it's been the last three weeks: Overdrive the crap out of the car all day and make decent pit stops, don't wreck and don't make mistakes and you'll be up there at the end.

"But we ran like crap all day. It was about like we've been running all weekend. We've been running about 25th-30th place all weekend and that's how we ran all day."

And after his latest self-described "non-championship-level" performance left him 63 points behind Chase for the Nextel Cup leader Jimmie Johnson -- who finished second to Kevin Harvick -- Kenseth said all the things it seems he's been saying since Kansas, six races ago.

The worst of it is that only the season finale Ford 400 next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway is left.

"It's pretty frustrating," Kenseth said. "We've just got some terribly awful-handling cars for some reason -- we can't get out of our own way. I feel bad.

"Our cars are so bad that we just can't race with anybody. I don't know why they're so bad. We just got off somewhere and it's not much fun right now."

"We can't do it on performance -- we can't run 25th on performance right now." - Matt Kenseth

Leave it to Roush teammate Mark Martin -- Nextel Cup's legendary gloom-and-doom proponent -- to say the championship, despite what Kenseth himself says, isn't over. Yet in a way, he actually agreed with his teammate.

"He just needs some luck, that's what he needs," Martin said. "I believe [Johnson] is gonna be fast, but it's long from over.

"[Kenseth's team] have done their deal. They just need to keep doing their deal. They go down there and wish to have some luck."

Kenseth admitted that that might not even be enough, when asked what it would take to overcome the man who's finished in the top five in the standings the previous four seasons.

"Only if he blows up, and then we're running so bad right now that I don't feel like we can beat anybody [else]," Kenseth said. "He's gonna have to have problems and we're gonna have to have a lot of good luck to get in there.

"We can't do it on performance -- we can't run 25th on performance right now."

	Matt Kenseth said his best chance to catch Jimmie Johnson is if the 48 team has trouble at Homestead. Credit: Autostock
	Chase for the Nextel Cup After Phoenix (9th of 10 races) Pos. +/- Driver Behind 1. -- J. Johnson Leader 2. -- M. Kenseth -63 3. +2 K. Harvick -90 4. -- D. Hamlin -90 5. -2 Earnhardt Jr. -115 6. -- J. Gordon -167 7. -- J. Burton -225 8. +1 M. Martin -273 9. +1 K. Kahne -319 10. -2 Ky. Busch -359 • Complete standings, click here SUPERSTORE •   2006 Chase merchandise!

A truly mediocre run of races -- for a team with championship hopes -- began at Kansas, or even earlier, if you ask Kenseth. His 23rd-place finish there was his worst in the Chase, but despite a worst finish of 14th other than that, only the overall strength of his team has kept him in the championship hunt.

And in a long career racing Late Models, the Busch Series and Nextel Cup for eight seasons, he said he could barely remember a skein as puzzling, or as frustrating.

"It's baffling, because we've been running so good, but gosh, we've run a lot worse, too," Kenseth said. "So there's always a bright side to it, but it's disappointing this year because this year we actually had the stuff to go and run with anybody.

"We had a good position to come into [the Chase] and run for the championship and we kind of let that get away."

And he hesitated, the emotion in his eyes blocked by his shades at sunset, when he contemplated whether the depth and talent of his team was a comfort or a frustration as Johnson remains tantalizingly out of reach.

"Yeah, I guess that it's good that we can still finish halfway decent, because sometimes when it rains it pours," Kenseth said, "and it's good that we didn't wreck or blow up -- so I guess that's a good thing about it."

But the fact is the slump has been agonizing for many in the organization, most definitely crew chief Robbie Reiser.

"We're doing what we can, but the performance hasn't been there, and that's my end of it," Reiser said midway through the Checker 500. "Where I need to have these cars right, just hasn't been there and I've got to go back and work on it."

Kenseth knows his fellow Wisconsinite has been doing all he can, yet optimism is hard for him to muster going to Homestead.

"I don't know what we're doing wrong, but we're doing something wrong," Kenseth said. "I'm not too optimistic about it. But we're going to go there and do what we do every week -- run as hard as we can and see where it turns out. Obviously, anything can happen."