FORT WORTH, Texas — Matt Kenseth finally has that contending feeling again courtesy of a long-awaited return to Victory Lane.
“You keep working as hard as you can at it. And you try to get the cars going the best you can, and hopefully have some more chances to win,” the former Sprint Cup champion said after breaking a two-year, 76-race winless streak with a dominating run at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night. “It gives you a lot of confidence, and it’s a big relief.”
For the first time since opening the 2009 season with consecutive victories at Daytona and California, Kenseth was a NASCAR Sprint Cup winner, when he led 169 of 334 laps in his No. 17 Ford. He fronted an impressive showing by Roush Fenway Racing, which had its four drivers in the top seven.
Still, it was special for Kenseth to be the one holding the unique trophy and firing off the six-shooters that are part of the postrace celebration at Texas Motor Speedway.
“I can’t say how proud I am to be here with Matt, realizing that he’s not gotten the success that his effort has deserved in the recent past,” car owner Jack Roush said.
“Although we would like to win, that is pretty cool to see Matt in Victory Lane,” said teammate Carl Edwards, who finished third and took over the season points lead.
After his fast start with two victories in 2009, Kenseth didn’t even qualify for the 12-driver Chase for the Cup championship that season, missing NASCAR’s playoff for the only time since its inception in 2004. He got back into the Chase last season, and finished 16th or better in each of the last races with four top-10s.
Kenseth had led only five laps in the first six races this season, but the 39-year-old Wisconsin native got to Texas coming off three consecutive finishes in the top six and had been in the top 12 for every race since an accident in the season-opening Daytona 500 led to a 34th-place finish.
The victory at Texas pushed Kenseth up six spots to third in season points behind Edwards and Kyle Busch, who finished 16th at Texas.
Edwards finished third despite being bothered by an upset stomach from eating something his mother made him, apparently hitting a bird during the race and dealing with a loose car the entire race.
