Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 DEWALT Ford Taurus posted a solid top-ten finish in the MBNA RacePoints 400 in Dover, Delaware, by finishing seventh on a hot and humid Sunday afternoon.
The weekend started out wet and soggy as rain drenched the area on Friday. Both practice and qualifying were rained out Friday, and the starting line-up was set by point positions, with Kenseth scheduled to roll off in the 23rd starting position. The guys were able to get in two practice sessions on Saturday as the weather cleared up, and the No. 17 was strong in practice. Kenseth posted the fourth quickest lap in the first practice session, getting around the 1.0-mile oval in just 23.172 seconds. He followed that time with the 10th fastest lap in the second session.
The No. 17 DEWALT Ford rolled off in the 23rd position and when Kenseth brought the car down pit road for service for the first time during the second caution period on lap 34, he had moved up into the 17th spot. The DEWALT crew, who executed fast pit stops all day, gave Kenseth four fresh tires and fuel in just 12.6 seconds, and gained Kenseth two positions off of pit road.
By lap 116, Kenseth had made his way into the 7th spot, and brought the No. 17 down pit road during the fourth caution period of the day. Kenseth informed his crew that when the car was running in open air, it was pretty good, but was a little tight in traffic. The crew made an air pressure adjustment and changed four tires in 12.9 seconds, and Kenseth restarted the race in 6th-place. Kenseth would stay in the top ten for the remainder of the day as the crew continued to make adjustments to the No. 17 to improve the car.
Citing that the car was loose during the beginning of a run and that the right front tire was chattering, the crew made air pressure and track bar adjustments during the eighth caution period on lap 206. The DEWALT crew executed the stop in just 12. 5 seconds, this time gaining Kenseth an impressive four positions off of pit road. Kenseth restarted the race in the 5th position, but the car became loose and Kenseth dropped back a few spots to the 9th position. The car started to tighten up around lap 361 and Kenseth was able to gain a few positions as the laps dwindled down, finishing the race in 7th-place.
With his top ten finish at Dover, Kenseth gained one position in the point standings, moving up to 22nd.
"This was a solid run for us today. Of course, we always wish we were a little bit better, but our primary goal was to leave here with a solid top-ten finish and we accomplished that," said Kenseth. "I know there were a lot of folks here today from DEWALT watching the race and I'm glad that we were able to stay out of trouble and finish near the front. I wish we would have had a little more time there at the end, as we were moving up through the field. But we'll take this finish and build upon it. We're halfway through the regular season before the Chase begins, and we have to focus on being consistent every weekend to get into the top ten."
The No. 17 DEWALT Ford will be back in action next Sunday at the Pocono Raceway.
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