Monster often has gobbled up Kenseth's title hopes (cont'd)

Kenseth remained confident in his team's ability to bounce back from yet another Dover disappointment.

"There's a lot of racing to do," he said. "Eight races is a lot of racing to do. We ran good. I'm happy about that, and if it's meant to be, it's meant to be."

In the 2006 Dover 400, Kenseth thought he had finally licked his Dover demons, only to find fuel to be a factor.

After taking the lead from Greg Biffle on Lap 264, Kenseth set sail and seemingly had things under control. But a decision to gamble on fuel economy backfired when Kenseth was forced to battle Jeff Burton for the lead late.

The two ran nose-to-tail for nearly 20 laps before Burton finally acquired the top spot with six laps remaining. And while Burton went on to win, Kenseth ran out of gas on the final lap and coasted to the line a disappointing 10th.

At the time, Kenseth felt the decision was too risky.

"We gambled on fuel, but there was really no reason to because we had the best car," Kenseth said. "Even if we would have lost two or three spots, we had the car to beat so I don't understand how we can run out of fuel on the last lap.

"Right now, do I agree with it? No. At the time, I thought more people would have stayed out. I don't care if you're racing for points or not, you still should call the race to win. And we just didn't get that done."

How much did one gallon of fuel hurt Kenseth's title hopes? The difference between winning and finishing 10th at Dover was 61 points. And Kenseth wound up 56 points behind eventual champion Johnson after Homestead.

Disaster struck Kenseth at Dover again in the 2007 Dodge Dealers 400. Despite an early alternator issue, Kenseth was easily the quickest car on the track, grabbing the lead from Kurt Busch on Lap 98 and holding it for the next 268 laps.

He traded the top spot with teammate Carl Edwards over the final 80 laps, only to have a possible victory snatched from his grasp when a valve broke in the engine of the No. 17 Ford, leaving him hoping to salvage at least a decent finish.

And that hope turned to despair with 27 laps left, when the power plant expired in a puff of steam and smoke, leaving Kenseth 35th.

"We were in a good spot to win the race and we were in a good spot to gain some points for the championship," Kenseth said.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.