No. 17 DeWALT/R+L Carriers FORD FUSION RECAP:
KENSETH CAPTURES CAREER-BEST FINISH AT DAYTONA

Race Summary Start: 19th 16 to go: 4th Finish: 3rd High: 2nd Low: 36th Fastest Laps: 1 Laps in top 15: 125 Laps: 162/162 Led: 0 Status: Running Points: 165 Earnings: $208,191 Points Summary Race Total: 165 Season Total: 2166 Ranked: 9th (+4), -520 from 1st

Fireworks started and ended the Coke Zero 400 Saturday night, both on and off the track as Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 R+L Carriers Ford Fusion team raced their way to a third-place finish — a career best for Kenseth in 18 starts. Kenseth took the green flag in the 19th position after laying down a lap time of 48.799 seconds during Friday afternoon’s time trials at Daytona International Speedway. For much of the 162-lap event, which ended with a green-white-checker finish, Kenseth battled a loose-handling car. However, with aggressive adjustments made in speedy, scheduled pit stops, the No. 17 crew was able to keep Kenseth running up front and make the No. 17 Ford a competitive machine. By the end of the race Kenseth was in contention for the win. But after an exciting night of racing, a caution was thrown on the final lap and the field was frozen with Kenseth in third place. The top-three finish boosted Kenseth four spots in overall point standings, where he is now ranked ninth.

Paul Menard started from the pole for this first time in his NASCAR Sprint Cup career. Kenseth rolled off 19th,and soon made a charge for the top 15, despite reporting that the R+L Carriers Ford was handling “extremely loose.”

A caution on lap l9 came none too soon for Kenseth as the loose handling conditions had worsened and the No. 17 was in desperate need of adjustments. Kenseth entered pit road in 15th position and crew chief Chip Bolin called for track bar and air pressure adjustments to alleviate the loose handling issues. Kenseth also received four tires and fuel before rejoining the race in seventh place on lap 24.

Over the next two runs, Kenseth continued to report to struggle with loose handling conditions; nonetheless he managed to make gains on the track. By his third scheduled pit stop, which came under caution around lap 90, he was running inside the top five. But after the swift stop performed by his crew, the Killer Bees, Kenseth began to experience trouble and fell from second place on lap 78 to 34th position on lap 96.

During this run, Kenseth reported that the No. 17 was “terrible loose” and that he may have a flat tire. Even with the ill-handling car, Kenseth remained on the track and avoided an accident. A much-needed caution fell on lap 109. In just under 13 seconds, the No. 17 crew bolted on four fresh tires, filled the R+L Carriers Ford with fuel, and adjusted the track bar and air pressure on Kenseth’s Ford. After examining the tires from the previous run, numerous blisters and tears were discovered and thought to be the reason for the ill-handling Ford. All fixed up but with just 46 laps remaining, Kenseth took the green flag in 28th place and once again made his charge to the front.

Kenseth would make his final pit stop of the night around lap 124 under caution. He entered the pits in 23rd position for four tires, fuel, and a wedge adjustment. He restarted the race with 32 laps remaining in 13th place.

Despite four caution periods, Kenseth worked his way up fourth and that is he where he took the green flag for the final green-white-checker restart. In a wild finish so typical of races at Daytona, Kyle Busch won by a hair over hard-charging Roush Fenway Racing driver Carl Edwards while a chain-reaction accident behind them sent up a cloud of smoke that covered the track. Kenseth avoided the trouble and passed the checkers in third place. Kurt Busch and another Roush Fenway Racing teammate, David Ragan, followed to complete the top five.

“It was crazy. You never know what’s going to happen on one of those green-white-checkers,” said Kenseth. “You’re pretty sure at a plate race with a green-white-checkered there’s going to be wreck and you hope that you’re not in it, basically. I was trying to push Carl because we had such a good restart and Kurt [Busch] was behind me pushing me like crazy, but he was trying to look different directions on Kyle [Busch], and Kyle was blocking like crazy and he was all over the straightaway. I was scared to hit him; I thought he was going to spin out. And finally I did give him a little shove and he got sideways and Kyle went up to block him and got sideways, and I was right in the middle of it and was going to wreck, so I had to get out of the gas. If Kyle could’ve gotten straight and if we could’ve gotten a farther-back run on Kyle, I think we both could’ve gone by him, and maybe race for the win, but we couldn’t quite get that figured out exactly right. So, anyway, happy with the finish. I think that’s the best I ever finished at Daytona. The guys made great adjustments, and we were pretty competitive, so it feels good.”

The stellar third-place finish for Kenseth and company boosts their points standing from 13th to ninth — 520 points behind the leader, Kyle Busch, and 21 points ahead of 12th place.

NEXT UP:
LifeLock.com 400 • Chicagoland Speedway • Saturday, July 12

Matt Kenseth – No. 17 R & L Carriers Ford Fusion – finished 3rd: “It was crazy. You never know what’s going to happen on one of those green-white-checkers. You’re pretty sure at a plate race with a green-white-checkered there’s going to be wreck, and you hope that you’re not in it, basically.

“The restart was really odd. Kyle went about 20 car lengths late and everybody was just running into each other like crazy. I’ve never been hit so hard and hit people so hard before they ever threw a green. So, that sort of got it started and then I guess Kyle must’ve had a little run, and Jeff got spun out. And then down the back, I was trying to push Carl because we had such a good restart and Kurt was behind me pushing me like crazy, but he was trying to look different directions on Kyle, and Kyle was blocking like crazy and he was all over the straightaway. I was scared to hit him; I thought he was going to spin out. And finally I did give him a little shove and he got sideways and Kyle went up to block him and got sideways, and I was right in the middle of it and was going to wreck, so I had to get out of the gas. If Kyle could’ve gotten straight and if we could’ve gotten a farther-back run on Kyle, I think we both could’ve gone by him, and maybe race for the win, but we couldn’t quite get that figured out exactly right. So, anyway, happy with the finish. I think that’s the best I ever finished at Daytona. The guys made great adjustments, and we were pretty competitive, so it feels good.

KYLE BUSCH HAS WON SIX TIMES THIS YEAR. WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF HIM AS A DRIVER, AND WHY IS HE SO GOOD? “I think he’s the same driver he’s been the last couple of years. First of all, I know you can only run as fast as your equipment will carry you. So, obviously, he’s got good equipment. I think a lot of times you’ll get together with somebody and have good chemistry and can figure this stuff out better than maybe you can with somebody else. And, obviously, he’s been able to hit it off with his team really good over there, and obviously they got good stuff. And, he’s just been pretty much on fire, so he’s been having an exceptional year, that’s for sure.”

YOU HAVE NOT FARED WELL IN THE DAYTONA 500. WHY DO YOU HAVE MORE SUCCESS IN THIS RACE? “I don’t know. It’s hard for me to remember back every race. We were running, I think, third or fourth, and had a great car in the 500, a way better car than what we had tonight, and got wrecked. I couldn’t do anything about it, I was beside somebody and they ran me in the wall, so I couldn’t really do anything about that. I guess that’s the last one I can remember. So, I don’t know that it really matters what time of year it is or what race, I think it’s just more circumstances than anything.”