Kenseth Clobbers The Concrete of Dover
Kenseth defies his crew chief and wins at Dover
By Greg Engle - Cup Scene Daily
Sunday the gambling wasn’t inside the casino at Dover International Speedway.
Matt Kenseth rolled the dice defying his crew chief Robbie Reiser and electing to stay out towards the end of the Neighborhood Excellence 400. It was an all or nothing gamble that paid off handsomely as Kenseth scored his second win of 2006.
The first half of the event was a quiet affair with only two caution periods by the halfway point.
Jeff Gordon looked strong during the first half, leading the way for a total of 81 laps on the day. Gordon, a driver who desperately needs a win, led a race for the 8th time this year only to fade in the end to finish 12th.
"We were very frustrated with that finish, “Gordon said. “I really thought the way we took off at the beginning of the race that we were going to be good all day long. I don't really have an explanation for it. We lost the handle on it, got loose there one time and went backwards and lost track position and never could get it back."
The most watched move of the first half was the driver swap of reigning champion Tony Stewart with his relief driver Ricky Rudd.
After starting at the rear of the field an injured Stewart raced his way up 28th position before finally catching a caution flag on lap 35.
The driver change that the team had practiced went off without a hitch. Stewart stayed out one caution lap to remove his belts and helmet prior to coming down pit road.
The team was able get Stewart out of the car and Rudd in one minute flat, sending the No. 20 out without losing a lap.
"It pretty good for the first 10 laps while everybody was getting things going, “Stewart said.
“Everybody picked up the speed once the track cleaned off. Then the soreness kept coming and kept coming. I was glad to get the caution when we got it. “
Stewart’s pain told him that it was time to get out of the car.
"I feel like I got beat up, “Stewart said. “We did what we had to do there; it was a lot longer run than we were hoping for obviously.”
But Stewart’s competitive spirit made him want to continue.
"This isn't very much fun, I can tell you that, “Stewart said. “It is hard to explain to people how hard it is to get out of your own racecar. When you own a car, you know you have got another driver. But this is the one time of the week I cherish more than anything else in life right now. Not a very fun way to spend the day. “
Rudd who went a lap down shortly after taking over, added insult to injury when he was penalized for speeding and lost another lap. Rudd would finish the day 25th.
“Well, our biggest problem was that we got caught for speeding on pit road, “an obviously frustrated Rudd said later, “I knew there was a reason I quit this sport. I wasn’t speeding.
Somebody up there’s got something against me. I don’t know what it is. We came down pit road and left with the traffic and I’m the only guy that gets called back in for speeding, so that’s real disappointing.”
Kenseth was leading at the halfway mark being hounded by Jeff Burton, who had won the Busch Series race a day earlier. Burton would take over the top spot bringing Mark Martin with him while Kenseth settled into third. Soon after Martin would take over the lead bringing Kenseth with him.
Martin looked to be in command of the event until his crew missed a lugnut on a pit stop forcing him back to the pits. He would go on to finish 9th.
One of the big stories of the second half of the race was the incredible run by points leader Jimmie Johnson and his Chad Knaus led crew.
Johnson who had spun during qualifying Friday and made highlight reels after keeping his car off the wall, started 42nd. Because of the lack of pit stalls at Dover the team was forced to share a pit with the team of Scott Wimmer. Crew chief Chad Knaus made the decision Sunday morning to have his Hendrick Motorsports crew service both Johnson and Wimmer during the race. It was a decision that would prove costly for Wimmer as during the second caution he would run out of fuel while circling the track and waiting for Johnson to complete his stop.
Johnson would lose a lap and found himself running towards the back of the pack a majority of the afternoon. The low point came when he spun with 127 laps to go after David Stremme slid up into him in turn four. Johnson would make his second amazing save of the weekend keeping his car off the wall. His team showing their championship caliber form never threw in the towel however and Johnson battled back to finish 6th.
The second half of the race was peppered with yellow flags; six of the eight cautions on the day occurred during the final 200 laps. Among the victims were J.J. Yeley who crashed twice before retiring and Elliott Sadler who slid in some oil put down by Kevin Lepage and popped the turn three wall. Lepage would make a fiery exit with a 105 laps to go and some teams began to think that they could go all the way after pit stops during the caution.
Kevin Harvick who had jumped in for tires and fuel only few laps prior, took only fuel and found himself second. Jamie McMurray, who stayed out, inherited the lead.
McMurray, who had to start the day at the rear of the field after an engine change, had lost a lap earlier in the day. He then got his lap back via the ‘lucky dog’ free pass rule on lap 92 and assumed command as the laps wound down. The driver, who had celebrated his 30th birthday on Saturday, held off the hard charging Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch and looked poised to score his second career victory and his first with his Roush Racing team.
When Robby Gordon spun with 56 to go bringing out the 8th and final caution, the question became who would come in and who would stay out.
Among those who rolled the dice were the top five all of whom stayed out.
The top five included Kenseth, who stayed out in defiance of his crew chief Robbie Reiser.
McMurray led when the green waved with 51 to go. Harvick and Kyle Busch battled behind him, while McMurray stretched his lead back out to nearly one second.
After Busch used up his tires and began to fade, Harvick began to chip away at the lead at the rate of a tenth a second a lap. The drama began to build as Harvick crept closer to McMurray with each of the final 25 laps.
Harvick who hadn’t led all day finally caught him with 20 to go and began to work on McMurray for the lead. Kenseth joined the fray and worked on passing Harvick.
Harvick worked on the lead with 14 to go. While Kenseth worked on Harvick. Harvick battled with McMurray for the lead with 8 to go. Kenseth worked on Harvick finally clearing him 7 to go and began to charge forward.
Kenseth caught McMurray with 3 to go and took the lead. McMurray faded as Kenseth stretched out his lead denying McMurray his second career win.
“Yeah, you’re very disappointed – especially to come that close. I was like three or four laps or something from the end, and when Matt passed me I lost all my momentum,” McMurray said. “I went up to kind of block him, and when I did I lost all my speed. He just barely cleared me when he came up in front of me, and if he hadn’t cleared me I think I could’ve got back around him, but just kind of see that away within like 100 feet and I knew once he got in front of me I thought, ‘I have no chance unless something happens to his car,’ of passing him back, so it’s very disappointing when you want to win.”
The consolation for McMurray is seeing his new Roush Racing team starting to become contenders after a less than stellar season so far.
“It’s very, very disappointing and very frustrating when you have four other teammates who have shots to win races almost every single week,” McMurray said. “And you know everything they have, and the shocks and springs and everything about their cars, and that’s frustrating when you can’t make that work. So, it definitely feels good today.”
For Kenseth is was the second win of the season and his best finish at Dover since a second place in 2000.
“Obviously, it was great,” Kenseth said. “We had a great car all day. We kind of started in the middle of the pack and were able to make the right adjustments to the car. Robbie and Chip did a great job last night of figuring what they wanted to put in the car, and coming up with a plan and stick with it and it worked well. That’s by far the best we ever performed here, and it was an exciting race to be part of it and I’m glad that we came out on top.”
Kenseth’s chief Robbie Reiser was glad his driver stayed out towards the end of the race.
“Towards the end there when we had the cautions right in a row we had to make some decisions,” Reiser said. “We just basically stayed out until we got to our fuel window and then pitted. And then at the end I thought that we needed tires and Matt thought we didn’t. He knew what he had there and made a decision to stay out, and thank God he won the race because we’d probably be in the trailer fighting right now.”
Kenseth was also glad his decision not to pit worked out.
“There really wasn’t any discussion,” Kenseth said. “He just told me to pit and I didn’t say anything. I just kind of watched what everybody did and when I saw everybody stay out I just kind of decided on my own to stay out. When I looked over going down the frontstretch and saw the look on his face, I knew I better finish pretty good or it was going to be a long couple of months.”
Johnson amazing comeback kept him in the points lead. Dale Earnhardt Junior finished 10 and moved up a spot in the standings to fourth, swapping places with Tony Stewart. Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick, both of who finished in the top five Sunday, each moved up a spot in the standings, Burton to seventh and Harvick to eighth. Jeff Gordon was the biggest loser in the points after Sunday. His 12th place finish dropped him two positions form seventh to ninth.
The series heads to Pocono Raceway for the running of the Pocono 500 this Sunday.
Greg Engle, the Editor of the Cup Scene Daily is seeking employment within the motorsports journalism industry. If you are interested, please contact him at:greg@cupscene.com
By Greg Engle - Cup Scene Daily
Sunday the gambling wasn’t inside the casino at Dover International Speedway.
Matt Kenseth rolled the dice defying his crew chief Robbie Reiser and electing to stay out towards the end of the Neighborhood Excellence 400. It was an all or nothing gamble that paid off handsomely as Kenseth scored his second win of 2006.
The first half of the event was a quiet affair with only two caution periods by the halfway point.
Jeff Gordon looked strong during the first half, leading the way for a total of 81 laps on the day. Gordon, a driver who desperately needs a win, led a race for the 8th time this year only to fade in the end to finish 12th.
"We were very frustrated with that finish, “Gordon said. “I really thought the way we took off at the beginning of the race that we were going to be good all day long. I don't really have an explanation for it. We lost the handle on it, got loose there one time and went backwards and lost track position and never could get it back."
The most watched move of the first half was the driver swap of reigning champion Tony Stewart with his relief driver Ricky Rudd.
After starting at the rear of the field an injured Stewart raced his way up 28th position before finally catching a caution flag on lap 35.
The driver change that the team had practiced went off without a hitch. Stewart stayed out one caution lap to remove his belts and helmet prior to coming down pit road.
The team was able get Stewart out of the car and Rudd in one minute flat, sending the No. 20 out without losing a lap.
"It pretty good for the first 10 laps while everybody was getting things going, “Stewart said.
“Everybody picked up the speed once the track cleaned off. Then the soreness kept coming and kept coming. I was glad to get the caution when we got it. “
Stewart’s pain told him that it was time to get out of the car.
"I feel like I got beat up, “Stewart said. “We did what we had to do there; it was a lot longer run than we were hoping for obviously.”
But Stewart’s competitive spirit made him want to continue.
"This isn't very much fun, I can tell you that, “Stewart said. “It is hard to explain to people how hard it is to get out of your own racecar. When you own a car, you know you have got another driver. But this is the one time of the week I cherish more than anything else in life right now. Not a very fun way to spend the day. “
Rudd who went a lap down shortly after taking over, added insult to injury when he was penalized for speeding and lost another lap. Rudd would finish the day 25th.
“Well, our biggest problem was that we got caught for speeding on pit road, “an obviously frustrated Rudd said later, “I knew there was a reason I quit this sport. I wasn’t speeding.
Somebody up there’s got something against me. I don’t know what it is. We came down pit road and left with the traffic and I’m the only guy that gets called back in for speeding, so that’s real disappointing.”
Kenseth was leading at the halfway mark being hounded by Jeff Burton, who had won the Busch Series race a day earlier. Burton would take over the top spot bringing Mark Martin with him while Kenseth settled into third. Soon after Martin would take over the lead bringing Kenseth with him.
Martin looked to be in command of the event until his crew missed a lugnut on a pit stop forcing him back to the pits. He would go on to finish 9th.
One of the big stories of the second half of the race was the incredible run by points leader Jimmie Johnson and his Chad Knaus led crew.
Johnson who had spun during qualifying Friday and made highlight reels after keeping his car off the wall, started 42nd. Because of the lack of pit stalls at Dover the team was forced to share a pit with the team of Scott Wimmer. Crew chief Chad Knaus made the decision Sunday morning to have his Hendrick Motorsports crew service both Johnson and Wimmer during the race. It was a decision that would prove costly for Wimmer as during the second caution he would run out of fuel while circling the track and waiting for Johnson to complete his stop.
Johnson would lose a lap and found himself running towards the back of the pack a majority of the afternoon. The low point came when he spun with 127 laps to go after David Stremme slid up into him in turn four. Johnson would make his second amazing save of the weekend keeping his car off the wall. His team showing their championship caliber form never threw in the towel however and Johnson battled back to finish 6th.
The second half of the race was peppered with yellow flags; six of the eight cautions on the day occurred during the final 200 laps. Among the victims were J.J. Yeley who crashed twice before retiring and Elliott Sadler who slid in some oil put down by Kevin Lepage and popped the turn three wall. Lepage would make a fiery exit with a 105 laps to go and some teams began to think that they could go all the way after pit stops during the caution.
Kevin Harvick who had jumped in for tires and fuel only few laps prior, took only fuel and found himself second. Jamie McMurray, who stayed out, inherited the lead.
McMurray, who had to start the day at the rear of the field after an engine change, had lost a lap earlier in the day. He then got his lap back via the ‘lucky dog’ free pass rule on lap 92 and assumed command as the laps wound down. The driver, who had celebrated his 30th birthday on Saturday, held off the hard charging Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch and looked poised to score his second career victory and his first with his Roush Racing team.
When Robby Gordon spun with 56 to go bringing out the 8th and final caution, the question became who would come in and who would stay out.
Among those who rolled the dice were the top five all of whom stayed out.
The top five included Kenseth, who stayed out in defiance of his crew chief Robbie Reiser.
McMurray led when the green waved with 51 to go. Harvick and Kyle Busch battled behind him, while McMurray stretched his lead back out to nearly one second.
After Busch used up his tires and began to fade, Harvick began to chip away at the lead at the rate of a tenth a second a lap. The drama began to build as Harvick crept closer to McMurray with each of the final 25 laps.
Harvick who hadn’t led all day finally caught him with 20 to go and began to work on McMurray for the lead. Kenseth joined the fray and worked on passing Harvick.
Harvick worked on the lead with 14 to go. While Kenseth worked on Harvick. Harvick battled with McMurray for the lead with 8 to go. Kenseth worked on Harvick finally clearing him 7 to go and began to charge forward.
Kenseth caught McMurray with 3 to go and took the lead. McMurray faded as Kenseth stretched out his lead denying McMurray his second career win.
“Yeah, you’re very disappointed – especially to come that close. I was like three or four laps or something from the end, and when Matt passed me I lost all my momentum,” McMurray said. “I went up to kind of block him, and when I did I lost all my speed. He just barely cleared me when he came up in front of me, and if he hadn’t cleared me I think I could’ve got back around him, but just kind of see that away within like 100 feet and I knew once he got in front of me I thought, ‘I have no chance unless something happens to his car,’ of passing him back, so it’s very disappointing when you want to win.”
The consolation for McMurray is seeing his new Roush Racing team starting to become contenders after a less than stellar season so far.
“It’s very, very disappointing and very frustrating when you have four other teammates who have shots to win races almost every single week,” McMurray said. “And you know everything they have, and the shocks and springs and everything about their cars, and that’s frustrating when you can’t make that work. So, it definitely feels good today.”
For Kenseth is was the second win of the season and his best finish at Dover since a second place in 2000.
“Obviously, it was great,” Kenseth said. “We had a great car all day. We kind of started in the middle of the pack and were able to make the right adjustments to the car. Robbie and Chip did a great job last night of figuring what they wanted to put in the car, and coming up with a plan and stick with it and it worked well. That’s by far the best we ever performed here, and it was an exciting race to be part of it and I’m glad that we came out on top.”
Kenseth’s chief Robbie Reiser was glad his driver stayed out towards the end of the race.
“Towards the end there when we had the cautions right in a row we had to make some decisions,” Reiser said. “We just basically stayed out until we got to our fuel window and then pitted. And then at the end I thought that we needed tires and Matt thought we didn’t. He knew what he had there and made a decision to stay out, and thank God he won the race because we’d probably be in the trailer fighting right now.”
Kenseth was also glad his decision not to pit worked out.
“There really wasn’t any discussion,” Kenseth said. “He just told me to pit and I didn’t say anything. I just kind of watched what everybody did and when I saw everybody stay out I just kind of decided on my own to stay out. When I looked over going down the frontstretch and saw the look on his face, I knew I better finish pretty good or it was going to be a long couple of months.”
Johnson amazing comeback kept him in the points lead. Dale Earnhardt Junior finished 10 and moved up a spot in the standings to fourth, swapping places with Tony Stewart. Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick, both of who finished in the top five Sunday, each moved up a spot in the standings, Burton to seventh and Harvick to eighth. Jeff Gordon was the biggest loser in the points after Sunday. His 12th place finish dropped him two positions form seventh to ninth.
The series heads to Pocono Raceway for the running of the Pocono 500 this Sunday.
Greg Engle, the Editor of the Cup Scene Daily is seeking employment within the motorsports journalism industry. If you are interested, please contact him at:greg@cupscene.com
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