Matt Kenseth wins Michigan NASCAR race

First, Kyle Busch. Now, Matt Kenseth. And, as usual, Joe Gibbs Racing.

Kenseth, seizing the momentum supplied by his JGR teammate Busch for most of the summer, cruised to victory Sunday in the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

It was a dominant performance by Kenseth, who won for the second time in three NASCAR Sprint Cup races and led 146 of 200 laps. Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr., finished second and third, respectively. Austin Dillon was a career-best fourth.

The rest of the JGR team? Denny Hamlin was fifth, Carl Edwards sixth and Busch 11th.

“We obviously had a dominant car since we got here,” said Kenseth, whose 34th career victory moved him into 20th on NASCAR’s all-time list ahead of Kyle Busch and the late Fireball Roberts. “It showed up in qualifying and (crew chief) Jason (Ratliff) had it tuned up where the handling was great as we had enough speed to stay up there.”

It was another strong overall performance by a team that was struggling to find its way earlier in the season. Including a victory by Edwards at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend, JGR has won seven of 12 races. Busch won four times in five weeks during one stretch and now Kenseth has set out on his own blisteringly hot streak (he was fourth last week at Watkins Glen).

“I can’t remember where we’ve kind of had a stretch like this over these last 10 weeks or so, starting at Charlotte,” said team owner Joe Gibbs. “You really want to enjoy those. They’re hard to get, and pro sports, I think that’s the reason why we all love it so much. We don’t know what’s going to happen from week to week.”

Kenseth had to rely on Busch running out fuel ahead of him to win at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway two weeks ago. But Sunday was all about the power and speed that Ratliff and the No. 20 team found in Kenseth’s Toyota. Kenseth started on the pole after being fast in all three practice sessions on Friday and Saturday.

“Just execution from the time we unloaded,” said Ratliff. “I would say Friday was a huge part of our weekend, getting that No. 1 pit stall and starting on the front row and keeping that track position all day obviously was key. A few aggressive and fun-to-watch restarts by Matt and the pit crew did a fantastic job, as usual.”

That all led to Kenseth having his way with the field for most of Sunday. Starting from the pole, he quickly established that he would have the day’s fastest car. But after Jimmie Johnson spun in Turn 4 on Lap 184, Kenseth would have to prove himself one final time on what would be the race’s final restart.

“You never like to see those late-race restarts,” said Kenseth.

With Harvick on the inside, Kenseth got a push from Hamlin and bolted to the front. Harvick, who had come back to contend after running out of gas earlier in the race, couldn’t keep up.

“(Kenseth) was the class of the field,” said Harvick.

From Gibbs, through Ratliff and his crew, to the Kenseth – indeed throughout the entire JGR operation – these are good times, especially with just three races remaining before the Chase begins.

Gibbs, a former Washington Redskins coach and three-time Super Bowl winner, knows a thing or two about teamwork.

“It is a total team effort,” said Gibbs. “In pro sports, it can come and go in a week. I think it keeps us excited and after it and working hard.”

This story was originally published August 16, 2015 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Matt Kenseth wins Michigan NASCAR race."