Defending All-Star Challenge winner Matt Kenseth ended the special three-segment event with an 11th-place finish Saturday night under the lights at the Lowe's Motor Speedway, while Roush Racing teammate Mark Martin, in his final year of Nextel Cup racing, took the checkered flag.
The competitors in the All-Star Challenge began their weekend with a rain-delayed practice session on Friday afternoon. Kenseth and the No. 17 DEWALT Ford posted the 10th quickest lap during practice and, following suit, qualified in the 10th starting position for the All-Star shootout. The special format called for three segments - 40, 30 and then 20 laps.
Upon taking the green flag in the first segment, Kenseth started going backwards through the field, dealing with an ill-handling racecar. Per the rules of the Challenge, all teams were required to make a green flag four-tire pit stop between laps 13 and 16. Kenseth brought the DEWALT Ford down pit road on lap 14 and, in addition to four tires, received a track bar adjustment. As the green flag stops cycled through, Kenseth ended up in the 18th position by lap 20.
Caution flew for debris in Turn 3 of the racetrack on lap 30 and Kenseth again brought the No. 17 down pit road, radioing to his crew that the car was "tighter than it is loose." The crew put on four fresh tires and made a wedge adjustment in the left rear. Kenseth restarted the race in the 19th position on lap 34. The second caution of the first segment slowed the field on the very next lap and Kenseth radioed to his crew that the car was terribly loose and that he just couldn't stay in the gas. This caution was for an accident on the front stretch involving nine cars, resulting in a red flag period which stopped the competition for approximately fifteen minutes.
Kenseth finished the first segment in the 12th position, noting that the No. 17 was "massive loose." The first segment was followed by a 10-minute pit stop during which the DEWALT crew made numerous adjustments to the car, including adding a rubber in the left rear and track bar and wedge adjustments. After a random drawing which resulted in the inversion of the first six positions, the second segment of the Challenge was underway, with Kenseth starting in the 12th position.
The second segment, consisting of thirty laps, was fairly uneventful and Kenseth finished this period in the 10th position, feeling that the No. 17 was a little tight. The DEWALT team elected to pit between segments 2 and 3, removing the spring rubber they had previously put in the left rear, and making track bar and wedge adjustments. Kenseth restarted the third segment in the 9th position, after teammate Greg Biffle blew a left front tire, creating damage to his racecar which spelled the end of his day.
There was one caution in the final 20-lap third segment, during which the No. 17 elected to stay out on the track. Kenseth just didn't have the car to get up to the front and wound up with an 11th-place finish.
"I'm disappointed," said Kenseth after the race, "We just didn't have the car tonight. But if we couldn't get the win, I'm happy that my teammate Mark Martin did. He's been a huge influence in my racing career and I'm glad that he could win the All-Star Challenge in his final year of Cup racing. For us, we'll go back to the shop and use what we learned here tonight to prepare our car for the 600."
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