Kenseth dominates Texas to snap losing streak

Kenseth dominates Texas to snap losing streak
(April 9, 2011)
FORT WORTH, Texas—With a dominating performance in Saturday night’s Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, Matt Kenseth ended his winless streak at 76 races when he beat race runner-up Clint Bowyer to the finish line by 8.315 seconds.
The victory was Kenseth’s second at Texas and the 19th Sprint Cup win of his career. Kenseth’s Roush Fenway Racing teammates Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle came home third and fourth, respectively, with Paul Menard completing the top five.
Kenseth, who led 169 laps, passed Bowyer for the lead on Lap 249, but one lap later, Kenseth relinquished the top spot when he brought the No. 17 Ford to pit road. After a lengthy cycle of pit stops, during which Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch pressed the issue by staying out as long as possible, Kenseth opened his advantage to more than four seconds.
Busch pitted on Lap 270. Stewart waited until Lap 276, opening a fuel window that would allow him to finish the race without another stop—or so he thought. Stewart ran out of fuel on the last lap and finished 12th, the last car on the lead lap.
Bowyer had just grabbed the lead after a restart on Lap 214 of 334 when a bone-jarring wreck on the backstretch sent the cars of Martin Truex Jr., Mark Martin and Regan Smith to the garage. Brad Keselowski checked up in front of Truex, who did likewise, and the chain reaction turned Truex sideways after slight contact from Kevin Harvick.
Martin and Smith were innocent victims, but their cars were crippled nonetheless.
By Reid Spencer

Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service