Kenseth starts Chase with bang

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Sept. 17, 2013

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News Sports Editor

JOLIET, Ill. — In a week of scandal, Matt Kenseth was his typical self: quiet.
However, when he had the chance to speak, he made a statement and made fun of his team owner.
Kenseth led a race-high 89 laps, including the final 23 en route to a victory late Sunday night at Chicagoland Speedway in the Geico 400, the first race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.
Teammate Kyle Busch was second, followed by Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson.
“I felt good about my car since we got here, honestly,” Kenseth said, 10 hours after the race was supposed to start.
Kenseth will now hope history repeats itself as the winner of the last two Chase openers in Chicago have gone on to win the championship (Tony Stewart, 2011, and Brad Keselowski, 2012).
Kenseth’s triumph was his sixth of the season, a career best, and it ended what was a long day and a long week for NASCAR.
On Sunday, the race was delayed twice for rain, including one that lasted for more than five hours after 109 laps were completed of the 267 scheduled. The start of the race was delayed almost two hours because of weather.
The race was supposed to start at 1 p.m. and didn’t end until after 11 p.m.
“I was worried about the rain, the track conditions in the night time,” Kenseth said. “I thought we were going to be better in a hotter, slick condition. But just shows I don’t know what I’m talking about.”
Kenseth came into NASCAR’s version of the playoffs as the top seed by virtue of winning a series-leading five races in the first 26 contests of the season. He led Johnson by three points as the five-time champion had four victories in the “regular season.” Busch was also three points back.
When the series left Richmond on Sept. 7, NASCAR got more than it wanted to handle.
Claims that drivers and teams purposely manipulated the outcome of the race in an effort to qualify for the Chase or improve one’s own position were the focal point all week.
Because of all the negativity surrounding the series in the week leading up to Sunday’s race, Kenseth didn’t have to feel any heat as the top seed when he might’ve if the chain of events from Richmond had never occurred.
“Well, for me, I wasn’t involved in any of it so I kind of enjoyed that,” Kenseth said. “It seemed like we came in as the first seed, which was really great, but we were in the shadows all week with everything going on. I was all right with that.”
“I think it’s been a tough week for not only some of the teams and stuff involved, but it’s a tough week for NASCAR,” he added. “They don’t want to do any of that stuff. I don’t think they do. That part of it hasn’t been any fun for anybody.”
Seriousness aside, Kenseth can crack a joke or two when given the opportunity and he took it, with his car owner, former NFL coach Joe Gibbs being the recipient. It helped lighten the mood.
Sitting with his car owner during the postrace news conference, Kenseth said, “Coach also needed the win tonight. I don’t know if anybody saw the Packers game.”
Kenseth, a six-time Slinger Nationals champion and Green Bay Packers fan, teased Gibbs as the Packers beat Gibbs’ former team, the Washington Redskins, 38-20, on Sunday.
Gibbs led the Redskins to three Super Bowl titles (1982, 1987, 1991).
“He’s not stopped all day,” Gibbs said about Kenseth’s ribbing. “He’s not stopped (smiling).”
Busch, the 2011 Slinger Nationals champion, led 67 laps and was trying to pull off the NASCAR sweep for the second time in his career. He won the Camping World Truck Series race Friday and the Nationwide race Saturday.
“I watched it slip right away,” Busch said of the attempt at a sweep. “It sucks. Nothing you can do about it. Certainly it would be nice if we could have won tonight and brought home a trifecta.”
Kenseth leads Busch by eight points heading into next weekend’s race in New Hampshire.