It was a red, white and blue weekend as Matt Kenseth dominated the inaugural USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway by leading the majority of laps in his No. 17 USG Sheetrock/DEWALT Ford Taurus. After a late caution and pit stop to change four tires, Kenseth drove his way back to a second-place finish after leading the pack for over 170 laps.
Feeling confident, Kenseth rolled off the grid in the fourth spot and quickly moved to the front. Because of concern over tire wear, NASCAR called for a mandatory caution period after 25 laps to examine the Goodyear rubbers. Kenseth brought the No. 17 down pit road during this first caution period and received four fresh tires and fuel, along with an air pressure adjustment to add grip in the car. The crew determined that there were no major problems with the tires and Kenseth restarted the race in the third position. Kenseth made his way into the top spot on lap 32 and earned five bonus points early on for leading a lap. Kenseth bounced around between second and third position before assuming the lead on lap 70. Kenseth would hold the No. 17 USG Sheetrock/DEWALT Ford in that spot for approximately 170 laps.
Kenseth continued to dominate and led the field through lap 118, when the fourth caution of the afternoon slowed the field. Continuing to make small adjustments to the car, Kenseth got four fresh tires, fuel and another set of air pressure adjustments. The crew completed the stop in just 13.3 seconds and Kenseth maintained his position in the lead.
Kenseth continued to lead until lap 243 when a late, and unwanted, caution brought the field to a halt. Kenseth was running away with it but, with approximately twenty-five laps to go, elected to come down pit road for fresh tires. Many in the field elected to stay out and some took two tires only. As a result, Kenseth restarted the event in eighth place on lap 248. He managed to pick up a couple of spots before another late caution slowed the field on lap 249. The field didn't receive the green flag until lap 254, with Kenseth in sixth place. With thirteen laps to work with, Kenseth managed to move into the second spot, where he would ultimately take the checkered flag for his best finish of the season.
"I know finishing second was a good finish for us," said Kenseth after the race, "but I can't help feeling disappointed. We had the car to win this thing today and we came up short. We were fast all weekend, qualified well, and led the most laps here today. We're close. We're really close. We finally figured something out that's helped us over the last four or five weeks and our finishes reflect that. I think we can race our way into the Chase, and that is our goal for the next eight races."
With his second-place finish, Kenseth gained three spots in the Nextel Cup point standings, moving up to the 16th position.
The No. 17 DEWALT Ford Taurus will be back in competition next Sunday at the New Hampshire International Speedway.
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