Bristol, Tenn. – Matt Kenseth is knocking on the door.
Kenseth, written off months ago as an also-ran this season, has surged back into playoff contention. His dominating victory Saturday night in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway – Kenseth’s first win in more than a year – pushed him onto the playoff bubble and ensured the Chase for the Nextel Cup Championship will go down to the wire.
The top 10 drivers in the standings after the Sept. 10 race in Richmond, Va., will be eligible to race for the title, and Kenseth is a mere 11 points out.
“I was saying the last few weeks that I thought we were out of (the Chase),” Kenseth said.
Kenseth was as low as 36th in the point standings early in the season, was 20th eight races ago and 15th when he started Saturday night’s race.
But after starting from the pole and leading 415 of the 500 laps, Kenseth jumped four spots in the standings to 11th.
Now on the verge of making the Chase, Kenseth could give car owner Jack Roush all five of his drivers in the 10-car field. Roush drivers Greg Biffle (third), Mark Martin (fifth), Kurt Busch (seventh) and Carl Edwards (eighth) are in the top 10.
“We’ve got a really nice group of cars that can go pretty much on any given day what anybody can do in the business,” Roush said.
Point standings
1. Tony Stewart 3,410
2. Jimmy Johnson 3,197
3. Greg Biffle 3,186
4. Rusty Wallace 3,139
5. Mark Martin 3,014
6. Jeremy Mayfield 2,983
7. Kyle Busch 2,982
8. Carl Edwards 2,849
9. Ryan Newman 2,819
10. Jeff Gordon 2,799
