Kenseth continues his hot streak with third-place run

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Matt Kenseth just might be the best driver in NASCAR, if it wasn't for Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart.

Kenseth posted his third consecutive top-five finish Sunday with a third-place run in the Kobalt Tools 500. It was also his third top-five finish in the past four races at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

"We were just too tight to run with Tony and Jimmie but, overall, it was a good day," Kenseth said. "There were times where we were good enough, I thought, to run with anybody. We just didn't have it the last couple of runs."

Kenseth started 21st but moved into the top 10 after 60 laps, and from there he never dropped below ninth. Kenseth was at his best during the middle part of the race, when he held the lead for 10 laps.

"We ran pretty good, overall," Kenseth said. "We were really good there about two-thirds of the way through the race, then we just got off a little and couldn't quite keep up."

Kenseth moved up to second by Lap 280, and slid only one spot in the final 25 laps.

"We just made a little contact on pit road and bent the fender in a little bit, but on the last two runs we just got off," Kenseth said. "My DeWalt guys, they're the best on pit road. That's really what got us where we are or else we probably would have finished sixth or seventh. They got me all the spots we needed."

Kenseth has been the top-finishing Ford the past three races, and the only rival manufacturer to run consistently with the top Chevrolets. Kenseth is fifth in points, stuck in the middle of two sets of Chevrolets. Teammate Carl Edwards is the only driver from another manufacturer in the top 10 at 10.

Still, Kenseth isn't ready to concede anything to Chevrolet yet.

"I don't really look at it as a manufacturer thing," Kenseth said. "I think they've got all the makes so close to the same that it's not really the difference between winning and losing.

"Since they came up with common templates and chassis dyno in the cars and do all this stuff, I think one manufacturer having an advantage over the other is a little bit overplayed."

For Kenseth, it's not so much up to the manufacturer as it is the teams.

"I look at it as we've got to make our program better," Kenseth said. "I look more at the teams that are beating us and try to figure out how to make our stuff run better."

Last week, that was Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin. On Sunday, it was Johnson and Stewart.

"Obviously, the 48 [Johnson] and 24 [Jeff Gordon] have been really strong this year," Kenseth said. "They've been strong at every track. Tony is always strong."

And so is Kenseth, especially at Bristol where he has nine top-10s in the past 10 races there, including three consecutive top-fives (two of which were victories). But that wasn't in the Car of Tomorrow, which he will run next week.

"I look forward to going there," Kenseth said. "We didn't test bad. It's a great racetrack and it's always in a really exciting atmosphere, so I'm curious to see what it brings."