With his victory in the Kobalt Tools 500 on Sunday, Matt Kenseth not only earned his first win in something other than a Ford, he became just the third driver to give himself an on-track birthday present – the checkered flag.
Kenseth, in just his third race in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, held off the late-race charge from Kasey Kahne to join Cale Yarborough and his JGR teammate Kyle Busch as the only drivers to win Cup Series races on their birthday; Kenseth, who came to JGR after 13 seasons with Roush-Fenway Racing, turned 41 on Sunday. With the win, Kenseth moved up 11 spots to seventh in points.
“I’m not a goal person, but my goal was to win and win early,” said Kenseth post-race on NASCAR.com. “Nobody put any pressure on me except for myself, but I also know that Coach (Joe Gibbs) hired me to come here and climb in the car and win races. You certainly want to do that – you don’t want to disappoint people…It’s still only week three, but I feel like this is the beginning.”
Busch, driving the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota on Sunday, backed up his second-place finish in Saturday’s Nationwide Series race with a fourth-place run on Sunday. Busch, who was 33rd in points going into Las Vegas, moved up 16 spots to 17th with the much-needed good finish.
The third JGR team, the No. 11 FedEx Office team of Denny Hamlin, finished 15th and maintained his fourth-place standing in points.
Brad Keselowski finished third behind Kenseth and Kahne, while Carl Edwards finished fifth.
The Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series visit Bristol Motor Speedway next weekend, March 14th through 17th. Stay up-to-date on the latest news at www.nascar.com and joegibbsracing.com.
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