Monday, March 08, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
UAW-DAIMLERCHRYSLER 400: Kenseth doubles down
Cup king repeats
Las Vegas victory,
with nod to critics
By JEFF WOLF
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Matt Kenseth, in No. 17, speeds past Kevin Harvick on lap 230 to take the lead for good en route to his repeat victory Sunday in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Photo by K.M. Cannon.
Matt Kenseth's DeWalt pit crew rejoices as he crosses the finish line to win the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 by 3.426 seconds over rookie Kasey Kahne.
Photo by Craig L. Moran.
Team owner Jack Roush, left, and his DeWalt crew celebrate Matt Kenseth's repeat victory in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday.
Photo by K.M. Cannon.
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Matt Kenseth might finally be earning the respect of those who minimized his NASCAR Nextel Cup Series championship last year.
Too many times, Kenseth has had to defend how he captured the title despite winning only once all year.
That victory happened to be at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Kenseth went out Sunday and repeated as winner of the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 for his second consecutive Cup victory.
Two days before his 32nd birthday, Kenseth followed his victory two weeks ago at Rockingham, N.C., in dominant fashion, beating late-charging rookie Kasey Kahne by 3.426 seconds in front of an estimated crowd of 142,000.
Having doubled his 2003 victory total only three events into this season, Kenseth figures there's not much more he can do to satisfy his detractors.
"I'm gonna go home, watch the TV shows and see what some of the people said, but no matter what, I've learned it's always something," Kenseth said. "But I'd rather have them talking about us because we're doing so good than the other way around, I guess."
Kenseth qualified 25th in the 43-car field and joked that he needs to work on his qualifying effort. But that's about all Kenseth and his Roush Racing team haven't done well on the 1.5-mile tri-oval.
It was the fifth Cup victory for Roush in Las Vegas. A year ago, Kenseth won by nine seconds.
"It's great to come to Vegas. You don't always leave here a winner," Kenseth said. "This is a race-car driver's dream, to come out and win two in a row."
The result didn't surprise Tony Stewart, the 2002 Cup champion who finished third.
Stewart, who started 19th, led all but one lap between laps 54 and 94 in the 267-lap race. He lost the lead to Kenseth on lap 95.
Gaining 25 spots so quickly showed Stewart the strength of Kenseth's No. 17 Ford.
Stewart ran second to Kenseth through the middle of the race, and his comment to crew chief Greg Zipadelli on the two-way radio made it clear he felt the race was Kenseth's to lose.
"He's just bad to the bone," Stewart radioed as he and others on the lead lap were about to pit under a caution that began on lap 183. "I don't think we're too bad, but I can't run with him."
Kenseth's team had a subpar pit stop and he returned to the track eighth, surrendering the lead to Kevin Harvick.
"I drove really, really hard until I got into third, and then I drove really hard until I got to Tony," said Kenseth, who passed Stewart for second on the 221st lap.
"As soon as I passed Tony, my car was getting tight ... and I was worried about hurting the right-front (tire). I ran hard for three or four laps to catch Kevin. Then I could see Kevin was starting to struggle a little bit and his car was starting to slide a lot more."
The patient Kenseth, who earned his ninth victory in 151 races, went around Harvick low through the fourth turn on lap 230 for a lead he never relinquished.
The victory was worth $458,828 and put Kenseth back into the series points lead, a position he has held most of the past 12 months.
Kenseth modestly deflected much of the credit to crew chief Robbie Reiser and the team -- a point team owner Jack Roush supported.
"It certainly means that we spent our winter well," Kenseth said. "It's great to have the guys feeling like they didn't miss an opportunity to improve themselves. It's great to have success."
