Better than Busch
JOLIET, Ill. – Matt Kenseth does not believe in a race track owing him one.
But if there's one track that has frustrated the Cambridge, Wisc., native perhaps more than any other, it's his unofficial "home" track, Chicagoland Speedway.
In seven starts at the 1.5-mile oval 50 miles south of Chicago, Kenseth has a couple of top fives but has yet to come home a winner.
It hasn't been for trying.
In 2005, Kenseth dominated there, leading 176 of the race's 267 laps. But a late pass for the lead by Dale Earnhardt Jr. with 10 laps to go relegated Kenseth to runner-up finish by a mere .291 seconds.
A year later, Kenseth was in the lead when Jeff Gordon punted him aside with seven laps left to steal the win, leaving Kenseth with a disappointing 22nd-place showing.
Last year, Kenseth finished second once again (in both the Busch and Cup races), unable to overtake the much stronger and dominant No. 20 Chevy of Tony Stewart.
To come so close so often and not seal the deal would be maddening to some drivers. That's not the case with Kenseth.
"I don't think there's any such thing as a race track owing you one," he said. "But yet, we've been very competitive and still have never been able to win here. So, the key is if we can keep coming here and be competitive, sooner or later we can get one."
Perhaps Saturday, he will.
Outside of Kyle Busch, who has been hotter than Chicago in July, no driver has been better over the last two months than Kenseth.
Following a disappointing 38th-place finish at Richmond in early May, Kenseth was in serious trouble of missing the Chase for the first time since its inception. He was 22nd in the standings – 224 points behind Kasey Kahne in 12th place.
But in the eight races since, Kenseth has actually been better than Busch, albeit without the wins. He has three top-five finishes and four other top-10s races since.
More importantly, he's jumped all the way to ninth in the standings, inserting himself back in the chase for the Chase.
"We’re operating more like a championship team here the last month or two, so that gives me some confidence," said Kenseth, fresh off a third-place finish at Daytona last Saturday. "Overall, I think everyone's been doing a better job – the car has been more competitive on the track, we've been more competitive on pit road and in preparing the cars. All that stuff, everybody's just been doing a better job at and we've been able to put together a string of some pretty good finishes.
With the way he's been going of late, coupled with his past performance here, success at Chicagoland would seem a likelihood. But ask Kenseth about that and he quickly demures.
"There's so much racing between now and Richmond," Kenseth said, talking about the final race before the Chase begins in September. "I don't really think about where we are in the points or where everybody else is.
"If we go out and run the way we're capable of running and run competitively up front – in the top five and the top 10 and contend for some wins – if we do the things we know we're capable of doing and get the finishes we're capable of getting, it doesn't matter what everybody else does because you'll be in (the Chase)."
It's not surprising that Kenseth is wary. While he's in ninth place, 520 points behind Busch, he's just 21 points ahead of 12th-ranked Tony Stewart and 23 points ahead of 13th-ranked Kevin Harvick.
"We're not really in it yet," Kenseth said. "You can look at where we're at today, but it's not over until then. Until after Richmond, you don't know if you're in or out unless you've got a big enough lead going in there.
"The goal is to keep getting some good finishes, hopefully win some races and get up in the standings further where you're in a comfortable spot where you can make it."
