Matt Kenseth has turned his track record pole time to victory at the STP 400 at Kansas Speedway.
In a repeat of the Las Vegas race, Kenseth had to hold-off a fast-finishing Kasey Kahne to give the Toyota driver consecutive race wins at the track.
In a sport where pole position doesn’t always convert into race wins, Kenseth made it the third-straight pole winner this season to go to victory lane. The last time this occurred was back in 1985.
The win was the 26th career victory for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.
“It’s a dream come true to drive this stuff,” said Kenseth.
“These guys are contenders; they’re an awesome race team. I’m glad to be wheeling this thing.”
While Kenseth got the win, the rest of his JGR team had a rough day, along with powerhouse Penske Racing. Both suffered multiple crashes, including a memorable one involving both teams.
The trouble started on lap 5 when Kyle Busch spun on the backstretch. He avoided damage in the incident, but the Penske Ford of Keselowski got rammed by another car while trying to slow down. After two pit stops under yellow, the defending series champion fell a lap down. Keselowski later rebounded, though, running as high as second as his team took advantage of wise strategy plays and an opportune caution flag.
The trouble wasn’t over for Busch who on lap 104 spun and was collected by Joey Logano leaving both cars out of the race.
Marcos Ambrose was eyeing a top-10 finish, but as the conditions heated up his Ford didn’t respond and he even spun, causing contact with Sam Hornish Jr. and Casey Mears. The Australian finished 20th and is 19th in the standings.
“I’m just disappointed,” said Ambrose.
“We had a good car and were running around the top-10 all day and when the sun came out it changed. I didn’t expect it and spun out off of two and got some damage.
“We were able to stay on the lead laps, but that’s not the day we wanted.”
Video of the Ambrose incident
Video of Kyle Busch and Joey Logano accident
Result: STP 400
| Pos | Driver | Car/Engine | Laps |
| 1 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 267 |
| 2 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 267 |
| 3 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 267 |
| 4 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 267 |
| 5 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 267 |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 267 |
| 7 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 267 |
| 8 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 267 |
| 9 | Mark Martin | Toyota | 267 |
| 10 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 267 |
| 11 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 267 |
| 12 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 267 |
| 13 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 267 |
| 14 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 267 |
| 15 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 267 |
| 16 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 267 |
| 17 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 267 |
| 18 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | 267 |
| 19 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 267 |
| 20 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | 267 |
| 21 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 266 |
| 22 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | 266 |
| 23 | David Gilliland | Ford | 266 |
| 24 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | 266 |
| 25 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 265 |
| 26 | Josh Wise | Ford | 265 |
| 27 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Chevrolet | 264 |
| 28 | David Reutimann | Toyota | 263 |
| 29 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 263 |
| 30 | David Ragan | Ford | 262 |
| 31 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | 257 |
| 32 | David Stremme | Toyota | 256 |
| 33 | Timmy Hill | Ford | 242 |
| 34 | Casey Mears | Ford | 216 |
| 35 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | 210 |
| 36 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | 209 |
| 37 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Ford | 181 |
| 38 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 102 |
| 39 | Joey Logano | Ford | 102 |
| 40 | Elliott Sadler | Toyota | 85 |
| 41 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | 65 |
| 42 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 43 |
| 43 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | 36 |
Points after 7 of 36 rounds
| Pos | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 311 |
| 2 | Kasey Kahne | 274 |
| 3 | Brad Keselowski | 273 |
| 4 | Greg Biffle | 265 |
| 5 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 263 |
| 6 | Carl Edwards | 262 |
| 7 | Kyle Busch | 257 |
| 8 | Matt Kenseth | 252 |
| 9 | Clint Bowyer | 247 |
| 10 | Paul Menard | 240 |
| 11 | Jamie McMurray | 227 |
| 12 | Kevin Harvick | 224 |
| 13 | Aric Almirola | 222 |
| 14 | Martin Truex Jr. | 210 |
| 15 | Jeff Gordon | 202 |
| 16 | Mark Martin | 201 |
| 17 | Ryan Newman | 200 |
| 18 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 196 |
| 19 | Marcos Ambrose | 193 |
| 20 | Joey Logano | 184 |
| 21 | Kurt Busch | 182 |
| 22 | Tony Stewart | 181 |
| 23 | Jeff Burton | 178 |
| 24 | Casey Mears | 169 |
| 25 | Danica Patrick | 154 |
| 26 | Denny Hamlin | 145 |
| 27 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 142 |
| 28 | Bobby Labonte | 127 |
| 29 | Dave Blaney | 124 |
| 30 | J.J. Yeley | 123 |
| 31 | David Ragan | 121 |
| 32 | David Reutimann | 116 |
| 33 | David Gilliland | 114 |
| 34 | David Stremme | 101 |
| 35 | Travis Kvapil | 93 |
| 36 | A.J. Allmendinger | 92 |
| 37 | Landon Cassill | 75 |
| 38 | Michael McDowell | 44 |
| 39 | Terry Labonte | 37 |
| 40 | Scott Speed | 35 |
| 41 | Ken Schrader | 29 |
| 42 | Timmy Hill | 24 |
| 43 | Michael Waltrip | 23 |
| 44 | Scott Riggs | 6 |
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