Bristol NASCAR: Matt Kenseth fends off Kasey Kahne for victory
Matt Kenseth held off Kasey Kahne in a barnstorming finish to take victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup night race at Bristol
It was a fantastic comeback by the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who had earlier been sent to the back for speeding in the pitlane.
Kahne had to fight his way by an inspired Juan Pablo Montoya to set up the thrilling showdown, but despite getting the nose of his Hendrick Chevrolet in front a couple of times, he could not make the pass stick.
Montoya had also been busted for pitlane speeding, but drove a great race to take third for Earnhardt Ganassi.
Brian Vickers was fourth for Michael Waltrip Racing, while Joey Logano boosted his Chase chances with a recovery drive to fifth following contact with Kyle Busch.
Busch's hopes of a hat-trick of Bristol wins following Truck and Nationwide triumphs were undone when he brushed the wall and slid into Logano. He did well to keep pace with the leaders, but his car was not good in traffic and he eventually finished 11th.
A host of potential winners were taken out in a huge restart crash that brought out the red flag.
Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick touched, probably after Hamlin cut a cut tyre following contact with Vickers, smashing into the wall and taking out Ryan Newman, Martin Truex Jr and Brad Keselowski. Truex suffered the most damage, but five strong cars were out of contention in an instant.
Carl Edwards had been the dominant driver for much of the race, but during a late-race caution period his Roush Fenway Ford started to splutter.
He switched ignitions, but to no avail and he was forced to bring the Fusion in to retire. Remarkably, it was the first Roush Fenway mechanical retirement of the season.
"I didn't have any warning," said Edwards. "That was the most fun I've had in a car for a long time. The car was perfect. The engine aside, we were the dominant car here."
Poleman Hamlin led the opening laps, but was baulked by series debutant Ryan Truex, which gave Kurt Busch the opportunity he was waiting for.
Busch was running comfortably out front when he felt the handling of the Furniture Row Chevy go off. He pitted to have a loose wheel inspected, and lost over 20 laps as lengthy repairs were required.
Jimmie Johnson's recent poor run of luck continued. The five-time champion's Hendrick Chevy sustained heavy damage when he was powerless to prevent running into the spinning David Reutimann.
Results - 500 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Toyota 2h57m07.000s
2. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet +0.188s
3. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet +4.589s
4. Brian Vickers Waltrip Toyota +6.471s
5. Joey Logano Penske Ford +7.989s
6. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet +8.637s
7. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet +8.979s
8. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford +9.208s
9. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford +9.496s
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet +9.530s
11. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Toyota +12.342s
12. David Ragan Front Row Ford +12.709s
13. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet +14.468s
14. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota +17.816s
15. Aric Almirola Petty Ford +1 lap
16. Travis Kvapil BK Toyota +1 lap
17. David Stremme Swan Toyota +2 laps
18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr Roush Fenway Ford +2 laps
19. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet +2 laps
20. Mark Martin Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +2 laps
21. Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +2 laps
22. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet +2 laps
23. Landon Cassill Circle Sport Chevrolet +2 laps
24. JJ Yeley Baldwin Chevrolet +3 laps
25. David Gilliland Front Row Ford +4 laps
26. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +6 laps
27. Ken Schrader FAS Lane Ford +8 laps
28. Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Toyota +12 laps
29. David Reutimann BK Toyota +16 laps
30. Brad Keselowski Penske Ford +21 laps
31. Kurt Busch Furniture Row Chevrolet +23 laps
32. Tony Raines Circle Sport Chevrolet +24 laps
33. Casey Mears Germain Ford +32 laps
34. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet +50 laps
35. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota +54 laps*
36. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet +59 laps
37. Josh Wise Front Row Ford +82 laps
38. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota +106 laps
* Not running at chequered flag
Retirements:
Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 387 laps
Scott Speed Leavine Ford 223 laps
Michael McDowell Parsons Ford 175 laps
Ryan Truex Phoenix Chevrolet 39 laps
Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 1 lap
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Every Dutch Formula 1 driver ranked
FIA president Jean Todt: Mick Schumacher should be left in peace
Formula 1 outlines two 'strategic priorities' for 2019
WEC Imola: Ferrari remains on top in FP2 as Fuoco beats Porsche
WRC Croatia: Neuville, Evans tied for the lead after eight stages
WIN! A VIP Race Weekend Experience in Monaco
Lauda's 1976 German GP helmet to be auctioned at F1 Miami GP
The ex-F1 driver taking on NASCAR with a new team
The early benefits and challenges of NASCAR's Next Gen car
How Penske's rookie sensation opened NASCAR's new era in style
Six key themes to follow in the 2022 NASCAR Cup season
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments