Matt Kenseth Scores First Victory of the Season

Matt Kenseth

Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

The middle-aged man without a ride for 2018 drove a dagger through the heart of the youngster expected to shine in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series for years to come.

With nine laps left in Sunday's Can-Am 500 at Phoenix Raceway, 45-year-old Matt Kenseth passed 21-year-old Chase Elliott for the lead and pulled away to win for the first time since the July 2016 New Hampshire race, breaking a 51-event winless string.

Kenseth's victory, the 39th of his career, deprived Elliott of a chance to run for the series championship next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway and kept Chevrolet out of the title race. The win also was a gift to Brad Keselowski, who survived a lackluster afternoon with enough points to advance to the Championship 4 event.

Resigned to a hiatus from NASCAR racing after Erik Jones takes his seat in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at the end of the year, Kenseth won at Phoenix for the second time and provided a rare show of emotion in Victory Lane.

"Yeah, it's really not describable," Kenseth said. "With only two (races) left, I didn't think we probably had a good chance of getting back to Victory Lane. It's been, I don't know how many races – somebody's probably going to tell me tonight – but it's been at least 50 or 60, so it's been a long time.

"We've had a lot of close ones. Just felt like it was never meant to be, and today it was meant to be…. I've got to be honest with you, I never dreamed I'd win one of these races, so obviously I've been so incredibly blessed throughout my whole career."

Chase Elliott (24) had to win in order to advance, but came up one spot short

Robert Laberge/Getty Images

Elliott has had some painful runner-up finishes this season—running second five times in his quest for a first career victory—but the sting of this one was especially severe. After squeezing Playoff contender Denny Hamlin into the outside wall on Lap 270, Elliott grabbed third place before Hamlin blew a tire and shot into the Turn 3 wall on Lap 275, his race and his championship run were over.

One lap after the final restart on Lap 282, Elliott passed Martin Truex Jr. for second. One circuit later, he shot past Kenseth through Turns 3 and 4 for the lead and began to pull away. As the run continued, however, Kenseth closed the gap. On Lap 303 of 312, he cleared Elliott off Turn 2 and stretched his advantage to 1.207 seconds at the finish.

"We were so close to having another shot next week," Elliott said. "But, man, I can't say enough for our team and our Hooter's Chevrolet this weekend. We fought really hard today and gave ourselves a chance. Our car was really fast on those short runs after a caution and after pit cycles on tires. It fired off really good, and we did pretty good on the short run all day and got really tight as the run went long.

"And once the rubber laid back down, I was just hanging on and hoping I could get to traffic before (the car) started going away. It's just such a bummer. I was telling my guys we'll get it right someday, or I'll get it right someday. We've had so many good opportunities, and at some point, we've just got to close."

Denny Hamlin was in position for the last Final Four spot before crashing on lap 275

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Hamlin had led 193 laps before his run-in with Elliott. The two drivers had a recent history, with Hamlin depriving Elliott of a possible victory and a Championship 4 berth by knocking him into the Turn 3 wall with fewer than four laps left two weeks ago at Martinsville.

"Oh, well, I'm going to race guys how they race me and keep a smile on my face regardless," Elliott said of the incident. "I'm happy to race guys how they choose to race me, and that's the way I see it."

Keselowski, who muscled an ill-handling car to a 16th-place finish and beat polesitter Ryan Blaney (17th Sunday) for the final berth in the championship race, moves on to Homestead to battle Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch for the series title. Truex, the series leader, finished third on Sunday in front of Jones and Harvick.

Jamie McMurray, Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Aric Almirola and Dale Earnhardt Jr. completed the top 10.

Jimmie Johnson, who like Elliott needed a victory to advance to Homestead, blew his right front tire and crashed out of the event on Lap 150, ending the day in 39th place.

MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Circle K Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

What are your thoughts and emotions after this win?

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]“Yeah, it’s really not describable. With only two left, I didn’t think we were probably had a good chance of getting back to victory lane. It’s been I don’t know how many races – somebody’s probably going to tell me tonight – but it’s been at least 50 or 60, so it’s been a long time. We’ve had a lot of close ones. Just felt like it was never meant to be and today it was meant to be."

What made the difference and enabled you to win?

“Well, kept doing them cycles and short runs and we were a little too tight all day, but we were really pretty happy with it and when we got in front, we were just too loose and I got loose on that restart and Chase (Elliott) got by me and as soon as he got by me, it actually made my car better and I saw him get loose and starting to slip, so I knew we were going to have a heck of a race."

How much sweeter is this win given the circumstances?

“It couldn’t be any sweeter. I just don’t know how else to explain it, you know? You always feel like you can get the job done, but, you know, if you’ve got a big enough sample size of numbers, numbers don’t really lie, so we needed to go out and get the job done and get us a win and we were able to do that today, so we’ve got one more race left and, like I said, great way to go out."

What would it mean to get your 40th-career win next weekend?

“You know, I’ve got to be honest with you, I never dreamed I’d win one of these races, so obviously I’ve been so incredibly blessed throughout my whole career and I’ve had so many great people work with me – great sponsors, crew chiefs, car owners. I’ve raced against great drivers, so, you know – but last year, we won a couple races and I usually never look at stats and I saw Mark (Martin) had 40 and I was like, ‘I just want to get 40 so I can tie my hero Mark’."

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 HOOTERS CHEVROLET SS – Finished 2^nd

THIS SECOND PLACE FINISH HAS GOT TO HURT A LITTLE BIT MORE

‘Yeah, for sure. We were so close to having another shot next week. But man, I can’t say enough for our team and our Hooter’s Chevrolet this weekend. We fought really hard today and gave ourselves a chance. Our car was really fast on those short runs after a caution and after pit cycles on tires. It fired off really good and we did pretty good on the short run all day and got really tight as the run went long. And once the rubber laid back down I was just hanging on and hop I could get to traffic before I started going away. It’s just such a bummer. I was telling my guys we’ll get it right someday, or I’ll get it right someday. We’ve had so many good opportunities and at some point, we’ve just got to close."

WE SAW A LOT OF HARD RACING BETWEEN YOU AND DENNY HAMLIN FOR THAT POSITION. WERE YOU THINKING OF MARTINSVILLE IN THAT MOMENT?

“Oh, well I’m going to race guys how they race me and keep a smile on my face regardless. I’m happy to race guys how they choose to race me and that’s the way I see it."

JUST A WHISPER SHORT DESCRIBE THE DIFFERENCE IN YOUR RACE CAR IN THE CLOSING LAPS:
“Yeah, our car was really good on the short run after those cautions and the rubber got picked up. As I went, I just got tighter and tighter and couldn’t keep it turning and couldn’t roll the middle like I needed to. I felt like I might have had enough to keep him back there if I hit all my marks and got really tight off (Turn) 2 and made it one lap and basically gave away all my gap and once he got there it was obviously hard to hold him off. Man, it’s such a bummer to be so freaking close again. Had a shot to go race for a championship next week, so we fought as hard as we could today. I told my guys a minute ago, at some point we will figure out how to close or I will figure out how to close and we can have some great opportunities down the road, I hope."

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU GREW AS A RACE CAR DRIVER TODAY?
“I would like to think so. I hope we grow every week. I hope I grow as a person every week and grow as a racer every week. That is something I think everybody tries to do and I try to do better and do my job and came up short again and that is frustrating and I get it. We just have to keep our morale high and go to Homestead next week and get ready to close out the season strong and bring everything we’ve got come next season."

RACE RESULTS