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Crash Leaves Kenseth With Deficit

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By TONY FABRIZIO The Tampa Tribune

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 15, 2008

LOUDON, N.H. - Matt Kenseth is the only driver besides Jimmie Johnson to qualify for every Chase, but unlike Johnson, he doesn't have a championship under the format.

He'll have to fight from behind to get one this time after getting caught up in a late crash in Sunday's Sylvania 300 and finishing 40th.

"We've got to get our cars running better," Kenseth said, referring to the fact he ran outside the top 10 most of the day until Chad McCumbee spun and David Gilliland T-boned him on Lap 229 of 300.

"If we would have been running where Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards were running first and third, we wouldn't have got wrecked, so I always feel like it's partially your fault."

Kenseth's best finish in the Chase is second in 2006 - three years after he became the final driver to win the championship under the old format. He finished 12th last year, and he's in 12th after Sunday's opener, 177 points out of first.

Knowing he has the same cars and resources as Roush Fenway Racing teammates Biffle and Edwards gives him some hope, though. "We just have to approach it one week at a time and work as hard as we can every week to get our cars better," Kenseth said.

PHENOM'S DEBUT: Here's the answer to a future trivia question: Joey Logano finished 32nd in his Sprint Cup debut Sunday.

Driving a Joe Gibbs Racing-owned Toyota carrying Hall of Fame Racing's sponsor and number, Logano started 40th, picked up an early penalty for leaving pit road with his jack dragging, and finished three laps down. "We tried hard, but it just wasn't there the whole time," said Logano, who will replace Tony Stewart in Gibbs' No. 20 Toyota. "We started so far back in the hole trying to get this car good and we just got close to it too late."

Logano, who has a win and three top-fives in 12 Nationwide Series starts, hasn't shown much patience for races in which his car isn't fast.

"By Lap 200, I wanted it to end because we weren't running worth a darn," he said. "We are going to take what we learned and go at it."

ON A ROLL: David Reutimann's 15th-place finish was his third consecutive top-15, following career-best finishes of ninth at California and Bristol. It's the first time in the two-year history of Michael Waltrip Racing that one of its drivers has posted three consecutive top-15s.

As with any finish outside the top 10, though, Reutimann wasn't happy with his outcome.

"We just couldn't get any track position during the race and ended up finishing 15th, which isn't very good," said Reutimann, of Zephyrhills. "I'm really disappointed. It was a long day, but it is what it is."

Reutimann started 27th and ran as high as 11th within the final 60 laps.

SOLID SHOWING: Making his ninth start of the year in Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s No. 8 Chevy, Tampa's Aric Almirola avoided serious trouble and took 18th.

"We had a clean race and a decent finish - not a bad day overall," said Almirola, who has 15 career Sprint Cup starts with best finishes of eighth and 13th in this year's two races at Bristol. "I'm learning a lot and looking forward to applying it to next year."

HOT LAPS: Republican presidential candidate John McCain gave the command to start engines with his wife, Cindy, and Sylvania Global Automotive CEO Rick Leaman. ... Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. were the only non-Chase drivers to finish in the top 10, in sixth and seventh respectively. ...

Ever wonder what happened to former Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Richard Childress Racing driver Steve Park? He's competing in the Camping World East (former Busch East) Series and finished second in Saturday's race at New Hampshire. Park's major-league career was cut short by several hard crashes. ... Dover again hosts the second race in the Chase. The four Chase races at Dover have been won by Ryan Newman, Johnson, Jeff Burton and Edwards.

Tony Fabrizio

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