Kenseth gets helping hand
By: RICK HOFF - Staff Writer | ∞
FONTANA ---- Not that he needed any help while driving the most consistent car in the field, but Matt Kenseth was more than willing to accept a favor when Kevin Harvick went a little flat.
Kenseth repeated as the NASCAR Nextel Cup Auto Club 500 champion Sunday when he tamed California Speedway on a chilly, overcast day that wasn't as favorable to many other drivers. One of those drivers was Harvick, who was coming off a win in the Daytona 500 a week earlier.
In a circumstance similar to last week's finish, a late accident brought out the red flag, and the cars were brought to a halt to set up a yellow-green-flag finish. This time, it was David Reutimann's fiery wreck coming out of Turn 3 with eight laps to go that set the stage for another sprint.
With the drivers placed in a single-file start, Kenseth was in the lead position with Harvick right behind in second and Jeff Burton in third. But just before the green flag came out with four laps to go, the left front tire on Harvick's Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet went flat, forcing an unexpected pit stop.
"Our car was good all day, and the cautions fell right for us," said Kenseth, who led 133 of the 250 laps in his Carhartt/DeWalt Ford. "But toward the end, the 29 car (Harvick) was faster at the time. I don't know if we could have held him off, but I'm glad we didn't have to find out."
Kenseth averaged 138.451 mph while winning from the 25th starting position. It was his second victory in less than 24 hours after he also took the checkered flag Saturday night in the Busch Series Stater Bros. 300.
Chevys took the next five spots after Kenseth's Ford, with pole-sitter Jeff Gordon finishing .679 seconds behind Kenseth in second place and El Cajon's Jimmie Johnson taking third. Harvick fell to 17th after his untimely flat.
"It's crazy how things happen," Gordon said of Harvick's misfortune. "The guy wins the Daytona 500 last week, and then something like that happens."
"It has been one of those weeks," said a dejected Harvick, who had battled back to the lead pack after overcoming a pit road speeding penalty earlier in the race. "A flat tire yesterday in the Busch race and now a flat tire today."
Kenseth got good traction on the restart, putting some distance between himself and Gordon.
"I was real concerned about spinning my tires, especially in second gear with the hard tires," said Kenseth, of Cambridge, Wis. "But we got through (Turns) 1 and 2 real fast. It was important to get a little bit of a gap. We wanted to get as much clean air as possible."
Gordon said his DuPont Chevrolet was not up to the four-lap chase.
"We never had anything for Matt," Gordon said. "At the end he was running so strong."
By finishing fifth in the U.S. Army Chevrolet, Mark Martin took over the Nextel Cup points lead from Harvick, who edged Martin in last week's last-lap drama at Daytona. It's the first time Martin has been the series points leader since September 2002.
California Speedway took its toll on engines again, with fan favorites Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne both making early exits to the garage. Earnhardt's Chevy Monte Carlo became the second Dale Earnhardt Inc.-owned car to blow a motor, some 50 laps after Martin Truex Jr. went behind the wall after just 16 laps.
Earnhardt spent 20 minutes in the garage before returning to the track in an effort to pick up laps, but his engine blew for good on Lap 121, causing him to spin out into his second straight DNF of the young season.
"I was really, really worried about the motor situation going into this race after our test at Las Vegas, where we blew two motors," said Earnhardt, referring to testing held prior to Daytona week. "I'm really disappointed, but the guys at the shop, they will get it figured out."
Kahne started in the No. 2 spot and immediately took the lead from Gordon after the green flag and stayed out front for the first 20 laps. But by Lap 70, Kahne's Dodge Charger was behind the wall in the garage.
"It lost all power, started smoking, smelled real bad and started vibrating," Kahne said. "We had a shot to run in the top 10. We led some laps early, and we were working our way to the front. I don't know if it's fuel or what."
Sunday's race was the first for the Nextel Cup teams running on unleaded fuel. Kahne said it was too early to tell if the unleaded fuel led to his engine problems.
"It's definitely different the way it runs, the way it takes off on restarts and how it shifts," Kahne said. "We've got some things to work on and figure out, but I think the unleaded fuel is fine.
"We've just got to learn how to make it work."
Other makes were not immune to engine woes. Ken Schrader's Ford and Dave Blaney's Toyota also fell victim to blown motors.
The Nextel Cup teams will take a week off before returning to the track March 11 for the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 in Las Vegas.
-- Contact staff writer Rick Hoff at (760) 740-3545 or rhoff@nctimes.com.
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