After winning the first two races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, including the rain-shortened Daytona 500 in February, Matt Kenseth looked to be a shoo-in to qualify for the 10-race Chase for the Championship. Now? Maybe not so much.
With two races remaining before the 12-man field is set at Richmond next Saturday night, Kenseth will enter tomorrow night’s Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in a precarious position: 12th in the points (2,945), with Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers nipping at his heels.
“Well, we’re right there on the bubble,’’ said Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Dewalt Tools Ford fielded by Roush Fenway Racing.
Kenseth has struggled to remain in the top 12, recording only three top-10 finishes since the start of the Race to the Chase June 28 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where he finished 22d. His best result during that span came the following week with an eighth-place finish in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona.
“If you take out the first couple of weeks, the season has been a little bit of a disappointment,’’ Kenseth said this week. “We haven’t [run] quite as good as we hoped to. Finished probably worse than we ran most of the time through all kinds of different circumstances; fuel mileage, flat tires. But anyway, I look forward to going to Atlanta.’’
Kenseth is winless in 19 starts at Atlanta. His best finish was third in 2007. Kenseth, though, may have to do better than third to keep Vickers and Busch at bay.
Busch, 13th in the standings, pulled within 34 points of 12th with his victory at Bristol Aug. 22, while Vickers remained within striking distance, 39 points astern in 14th, with his victory from the pole at Michigan Aug. 16.
So, how does Kenseth expect to approach these next two races?
“We’ve got to run our own race,’’ he said. “We’ve been doing a little bit better lately, been more consistent. I think we found some things in our cars to make them a little bit faster. I think we have good things in the pipeline coming up and getting more competitive.
“But, really, where we’re running, we’ve just got to run as hard as we can. After Richmond next week, we’ve just got to hope it’s good enough to get us in. We’ve just got to race as hard as we can. All these guys are so good. Like at Bristol, we ran 10th, which wasn’t a terrible run for us. Pretty good for how we’ve been doing lately. [But] the guys we’re trying to beat in points, most of them still finished in front of us.’’
Kenseth, whose 2003 NASCAR championship was the last before the sanctioning body adopted a 10-race playoff system, knows he has to stick to a simple strategy.
“It’s really competitive and we’re going to have to run probably better than 10th here in the next few weeks,’’ he said. “We’re probably going to have to run in the top five, top six both races to be safely in.’’
Fill ’er up
Penske Racing this week filled out its roster for the 2010 Sprint Cup season by signing 25-year-old
Brad Keselowski of Rochester Hills, Mich., to supplant
David Stremme in the No. 12 Penske Dodge. A third-generation driver, Keselowski’s career has been on a steady ascent after he finished third in the Nationwide Series standings last year and recorded his first Sprint Cup victory at Talladega in April, producing three top-10 results in eight Sprint Cup starts this season. Keselowski appeared to be in the pipeline for a Cup ride with Hendrick Motorsports and drove for
Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the Nationwide Series circuit. Now he becomes Penske Racing’s newest acquisition. “Penske Racing is one of the top teams in all of motorsports and I am honored to join
Roger Penske’s organization and compete for wins with his Cup and Nationwide Series teams,’’ Keselowski said. “This is a great opportunity for me to continue competing in the Nationwide Series and to run my first full season in the Cup Series with a strong and experienced team.’’ Said Penske, “Brad has shown terrific success on track the past several years and has quickly established himself as one of the top young stars in racing.’’ . . . Good news for Penske IndyCar driver
Will Power. He will not require back surgery, after all. Power suffered fractures of his second, third, and fourth lumbar vertebrae and a fracture of his fifth thoracic vertebra in a crash during a practice session last month at Infineon Raceway. Power was examined Monday and was expected to recover with rest and rehabilitation in time for the season opener in March.
Fun and games until . . .
After winning last weekend’s Nationwide Series race at Montreal, it’s safe to say
Carl Edwards probably won’t be celebrating his victories with a back flip anymore, as has been his custom. Edwards won’t be sticking any more landings after fracturing his right foot Wednesday at his home in Columbia, Mo. “I know this probably sounds ridiculous to a lot of people, and I could hardly believe it myself,’’ Edwards said in a statement. “I was playing Frisbee with a couple of buddies and we both went for the Frisbee at the same time. I put my foot on it, my friend dove for it, and the next thing you know we all heard a pop. I knew it was broken and we all kind of looked at each other in disbelief that of all things, I would break my foot playing Frisbee.’’ Though he will be on crutches, Edwards said doctors at the University of Missouri said he could race this weekend in his No. 99 Aflac Ford, “and [I] shouldn’t have a problem using the accelerator,’’ he said. “I guess you never know when something is going to happen. This is obviously an unforeseen accident, and even though I am not going to miss work, my Aflac policy has me covered.’’ . . . Richard Childress Racing, which won the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship with
Mike Skinner in 1995 before shuttering its truck operation in 1999, will return to the series today, fielding the No. 3 RCR 40th Anniversary Chevrolet Silverado for
Austin Dillon, the owner’s 19-year-old grandson. “It’s great to see the No. 3 truck back on the track,’’ Childress said. “We had a great deal of success with that program, so I’m excited to see what Austin can do. The Truck Series is always very competitive. The series puts on a great show and this should be a great opportunity for Austin.’’ . . . Think you got what it takes to beat
Greg Biffle? The Sprint Cup driver of the No. 16 3M Ford fielded by Roush Fenway Racing is scheduled to appear at Game On! Fenway Tuesday afternoon to preside over a virtual racing competition. Race fans will compete in
iRacing.com simulators on a virtual New Hampshire Motor Speedway track in a tournament-style competition for the right to be one of three finalists to go head to head with Biffle. Qualifications begin at 1:30 p.m., with the championship round set for 3.
Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com; material from personal interviews, sanctioning bodies, track publicity departments, race teams and sponsors was used in this report. 
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
