Matt Kenseth posted his career-best finish at Infineon Raceway on Sunday by finishing in the 11th position. This is the second top-fifteen finish in as many weeks for Kenseth, as he tries to put the forgettable early part of the season behind him and focus on working his way into the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship.
In what would be his 200th NASCAR Cup Series start, Kenseth rolled off the grid in the 24th position to start the first road course race of the season. Kenseth would never run lower than his starting position throughout the race, as he quickly began to move up through the field. The No. 17 DEWALT Ford Taurus found its' way into the 16th position by the second caution flag of the afternoon, which slowed the field on lap 19. Most of the lead pack elected to stay out on the course rather than come into the pits, including Kenseth, who radioed to his crew that the racecar was "not bad" and that he wanted to keep his track position, which is so important at Sonoma.
Kenseth had gained a couple of positions by the time the first cycle of green flag pit stops began around lap 33, and came in himself on lap 34, receiving four fresh tires and fuel, along with an air pressure adjustment. Kenseth worked his way up into the 8th spot by lap 45, and continued to run in the top ten until the seventh caution of the day flew on lap 68. Kenseth elected to come down pit road for the second and final stop of the day during this caution period, receiving four sticker tires and enough fuel to make it to the end of the race.
The No. 17 restarted the event in 17th-place on lap 72. There were several cars running near the front of the field that had pitted out of sequence towards the beginning of the race, and did not come in to pit during this caution period. The DEWALT team felt that some of these teams could have fuel issues as the remaining laps ticked off and hoped to gain an advantage through fuel mileage and pit sequencing. However, a late caution on lap 102 gave those cars a break on fuel, and any advantage was lost. Kenseth continued to pick up a few more spots as the laps wound down and finished in the 11th position.
"It was a little frustrating today because after a certain point, we just couldn't seem to move up any further," said Kenseth, after the race. "Our car was decent all day long, but we just didn't have enough to get to the front. I have to be pleased, though, as this is my best finish here at Sonoma. We've put some work into our road course program and I think it is paying off. We will be testing at Watkins Glen next month, and I hope that will continue to improve our program."
The No. 17 DEWALT Ford Taurus will be competing in the Pepsi 400 at the Daytona International Speedway next Saturday night for the only restrictor-plate race run under the lights.
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