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Kenseth wins at Dover

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Wisconsin NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth captured his first Sprint Cup race of 2016, holding off Kyle Larson to take the Triple “A” 400 in Dover, Delaware.

The Cambridge native led for 48 of the 400 laps to win his third career race at the one-mile Dover track and his 37th overall in NASCAR’s top circuit.

Kenseth is also on the verge of clinching a berth in this fall’s Chase for the Sprint Cup title series, as he moved up two spots to 12th in the season point standings.

Paul Menard of Eau Claire placed eleventh at Dover, moving up one spot for the year to 22nd.

Menard gets Year’s First Top-Ten Finish

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Paul MenardEau Claire native Paul Menard earned his first Top-Ten finish of the year in the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit.  Menard took eighth on Sunday at the S-T-P 500 in Martinsville, Virginia, and he rose one place in the season point standings to 21st.

Matt Kenseth of Cambridge placed 15th, and he remains Wisconsin’s top driver in the Sprint Cup standings in 14th, one spot higher than last week.

Kyle Busch won the race and Kevin Harvick remains the Sprint Cup series’ leader.

 

Late crash costs Kenseth in Daytona Beach

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Matt Kenseth

Matt Kenseth

Wisconsin’s Matt Kenseth has lost his front-row starting spot for Sunday’s Daytona 500.  The Cambridge native got into a six-car crash on the final lap of Thursday night’s second 150-mile qualifying race.

Kenseth will have to use a backup car for Sunday’s Sprint Cup season opener, and that means he’ll start at the bottom of the 40-car field for the Great American Race, losing the number-two spot he earned in last Sunday’s pole qualifying.

Kenseth led for 23 laps and was in second for 22 more before the crash sent him, Martin Truex Junior, Jimmy Johnson and A-J Allmendinger to the infield care center.  All four escaped injury.

Paul Menard of Eau Claire finished second-to-last after his engine overheated.  He’ll start 37th on Sunday.

 

Kenseth captures third Cup race this season

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Matt Kenseth

Matt Kenseth

Cambridge, Wisconsin native Matt Kenseth led for 146 of 200 laps, winning Nascar’s Pure Michigan 400 on Sunday.

Kenseth started in the lead and stayed there for much of the race, earning his third Sprint Cup victory of the season and 34th of his career.  It was also the fifth win in the last six races for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Kenseth led for 73% of the laps on Sunday, the highest percentage by anyone in a Sprint Cup race this year.  He remains in 7th positions in the point standings.

Eau Claire’s Paul Menard finished 12th and Janesville’s Travis Kvapil was 40th.

 

Matt Kenseth claims checkered at Bristol to snap 51-race drought

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Matt Kenseth

Matt Kenseth

Cambridge-native Matt Kenseth failed to win a NASCAR Sprint Series race in 2014, and had not crossed the finish line first since September 22, 2013.

That span of 51 consecutive races without a win ended Sunday when Kenseth took the checkered flag of the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Racing from the pole for the first time this season, Kenseth and the rest of the 43-car field had to wait through a 90-minute rain delay before starting their engines. The race was then halted three more times, including a near four-hour delay that push the overall race day past nine hours. [Read more…]

Kenseth wins on 41st birthday

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Matt Kenseth won on his 41st birthday for his new Joe Gibbs Racing team, holding off Kasey Kahne for his third victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday.

The Cambridge, Wisconsin native earned his 25th career victory and his first for Joe Gibbs Racing after leaving Roush Fenway Racing in the offseason.  It’s also the third win for Kenseth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, adding to his victories in 2003 and 2004.

Following Kenseth and Kahne were pole sitter Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards to round out the top 5.

Eau Claire’s Paul Menard finished 10th and Janesville’s Travis Kvapil ended 39th.

Crash ends Kenseth’s day

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Matt Kenseth led 86 laps of Sunday’s Daytona 500.  That’s more than any other driver in the field.  But the defending Daytona 500 Champion saw his day end on lap 149 after transmission issues.

Two laps later, teammate Kyle Busch left after blowing his engine.

Jimmy Johnson returned to the winner’s circle at Daytona for the second time.  Johnson took the lead with 6-laps to go and held off Dale Earnhardt jr., Mark Martin and Brad Keselowski for his first win at Daytona since 2006.  It’s Johnson’s 61st victory in his 400th start.  Danica Patrick started on the pole and finished 8th.

The two other Wisconsin drivers, Travis Kvapil (25th) and Paul Menard (21st) both fell victim to a last lap crash.

Kenseth falls out of NASCAR point lead

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A late crash during the Brickyard 400 left Matt Kenseth with a wrecked car, a 35th place finish, and most importantly, it knocked him out of the NASCAR Spring Cup Series points lead.

Kenseth couldn’t avoid a spinning Joey Logano after a restart with 27 laps to go. 

Kenseth held the points lead for six weeks.  He drops to second, 14 points behind Dale Earnhardt, who finished 4th.  Earnhardt sits in the top spot for the first time since September of 2004.

Eau Claire’s Paul Menard finished 14th, while Janesville’s Travis Kvapil crashed early and finished 37th.