Times wires
Sunday, April 10, 2011
FORT WORTH, Texas — Matt Kenseth finally has that contending feeling again after a long-awaited return to Victory Lane.
"You keep working as hard as you can at it," the former Sprint Cup champion said after breaking a two-year, 76-race NASCAR Sprint Cup winless streak Saturday with a dominating run at Texas. "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 winner again in the Samsug Mobile 500 after leading 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 hold the unique trophy and fire 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 the points lead.
Despite those two opening wins in 2009, Kenseth missed the 12-driver Chase for the Championship for the first time. He got back into the Chase last season and was fifth in points.
This season Kenseth, 39, led only five laps in the first six races, but the Wisconsin native got to Texas coming off three consecutive finishes in the top six and had been in the top 12 for every race but the Daytona 500.
"I felt better the last six months. Everything's been looking up. Certainly the previous 12 months before that were frustrating for me," said Kenseth, the 2003 Cup champion. "It's been a long time, and we've had a lot of fun going to the racetrack here the last two months the last year, and the first part of this year. It feels like we're back into a contending form."