Wisconsin News and Sports
Cambridge, Wisconsin native Matt Kenseth captured the first of two twin 150-mile qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway. Kenseth earned the third starting position in row 2 for Sunday’s Daytona 500.
Teammate Denny Hamlin won the second race, giving Joe Gibbs Racing a sweep of the evening.
It’s the second qualifying race victory for Kenseth, who also won it back in 2012. He won the Daytona 500 that year, as well as 2009.
Five-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson has a seven-point lead over Wisconsin native Matt Kenseth in the Chase for the Championship with two races left.
Johnson and Kenseth were tied in points when they got to Texas Motor Speedway, although Kenseth was considered the leader based on his seven wins.
Johnson dominated though. He led 255 of 334 laps for his sixth win this season, earning his 66th career win, including 24th in Chase races.
Kenseth was running second behind Johnson for much of the first half of the race but was penalized for speeding. That dropped Kenseth to 16th place, although he climbed as far back as 4th to finish.
The next event is in Phoenix, where Johnson has won four times and Kenseth once.
Jeff Gordon snapped a 32-race winless streak by using a late pass of Matt Kenseth to win at Martinville Speedway.
Gordon got by Kenseth with 21 laps to go and held on for his eighth career victory at Martinsville, but first since 2005.
Kenseth (Cambridge, WI) finished second and Jimmie Johnson was fifth. That puts Kenseth and Johnson tied atop the Chase Cup standings with three races to remaining in the Spring Cup Championship.
Brad Keselowski snapped a 37-race winless streak, becoming the first non-Chase driver to win a Chase race since 2010.
The defending Sprint Cup Series champion, who failed to qualify for the Chase this year, grabbed his first win of the season and first since Sept. 30, 2012. He passed Kasey Kahne with nine laps to go to take the checkered flag.
Kahne finished second and Chase points leader Matt Kenseth third. Kenseth remains in the playoff point lead with 2,225. That’s a slim 4-point lead over Jimmie Johnson at the midway mark in the Chase for the Championship.
Kevin Harvick pulled away from Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon on a late restart to win a wreck-filled race at Kansas Speedway.
With the win, Harvick moved into third in points behind leaders Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson. Kenseth, who finished 11th in Sunday’s race, has a slight 3-point lead over Johnson in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.
There were 15 cautions in the race, breaking the record of 14 set in last year’s race.
Harvick sat on the pole for the first time in 254 races. He also won the last time he qualified first, at New Hampshire in 2006.
Jimmie Johnson held off teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. down the stretch to win for a record eighth time at Dover International Speedway.
The entire top 10 Sunday was made up of Chase for the Sprint Cup championship drivers.
Joey Logano, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five. Cambridge native Matt Kenseth, who won the first two Chase races, finished seventh. He kept his points lead even as he fell short in trying to become the first driver to win the first three Chase races.
Matt Kenseth made it back-to-back victories to start the Chase with a convincing victory
Matt Kenseth
at New Hampshire.
Kenseth held off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It’s his series high 7th victory of the season.
Kenseth and Busch made it a 1-2 finish for Joe Gibbs Racing and helped the organization win for the fifth time in the last seven races, dating to Busch’s win at Watkins Glen in August.
Kenseth joins Greg Biffle (2008) and Stewart (2011) as the only drivers to win the first two Chase races. Steward went on to win the title.
Kenseth now heads to Dover, where he’s a two-time winner. He led 29 laps there earlier this year before an engine failure ended his day.
Cambridge, Wisconsin native Matt Kenseth won the Geico 400, finishing just ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch at Chicagoland Speedway.
Kenseth entered as the top seed in the Chase for the Championship and showed why after two rain delays that totaled 6 1/2 hours. He passed Busch on a restart with 23 laps remaining and padded his lead in the Sprint Cup points race.
Kenseth is in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing. He won five times in the first 26 races, which is a series best.
The last two Sprint Cup winners started their run by winning at Chicagoland. Tony Stewart did it in 2011 and Brad Keselowski pulled it off last year.
He’s not old enough to get a valid drivers license, but 15-year old Kyle Benjamin is breaking ARCA Racing Series records.
Benjamin won the Herr’s 200 at Madison International Speedway on Sunday to become the youngest race winner in series history.
Benjamin led the final 131 laps in his first appearance at the half-mile oval. Pole sitter Ross Kenseth, who is the son of Nascar driver Matt Kenseth, finished a disappointing 6th.
Matt Kenseth captured his Sprint Cup Series leading fifth win of the season, holding off Kasey Kahne for the checkered flag to win Saturday’s Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. It’s the third time this season that Kahne has finished second to Kenseth.
With the victory, Kenseth clinched at least a wild card berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. There’s two races to go to set the 12 driver field.
