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Kenseth Outshines Kyle Busch At Charlotte

Charlotte, N. C. – Matt Kenseth outshined Kyle Busch in the late going at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, enabling the Wisconsin native to win the Bank of America 500 before a chilled crowd on Saturday evening.

The 500-mile race marked the 31st event of the 2011Sprint Cup season and the mid-point of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

In winning for the third time this season, Kenseth moved up to third in points seven behind leader Carl Edwards, who finished third tonight. Sixth-place race finisher Kevin Harvick holds down second place five off the pace and runner-up finisher Kyle Busch is in fourth place 18 back.

While the top-four Chase contenders excelled, reigning Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson did not as he crashed out of the race with 18 laps to go, putting a damper on his championship hopes. He was scored 34th.

Driving the Fluidmaster Ford, Kenseth led three times for 46 laps to win for the second time at CMS. The first win came 11 years ago in his rookie season.

“It was an awesome win,” the victor said. “We had a pretty decent car all night. I thought if we could get it to the front in the last 150 laps, we could be hard to beat but it was so hard to pass. One time I dropped back to fifth or sixth, and it took a while to get back to the lead. It feels good to win, and winning is what racing is all about. I am glad we could make it happen, and it was very challenging.”

Said team co-owner Jack Roush, “I am really proud of what Matt (Kenseth) and Jimmy Fennig did tonight. Jimmy is a championship quality crew chief, and he makes great decisions. For Matt, it was just a matter of time until he worked his way to the front tonight.”

Quiet-spoken Fennig stated, “It was pretty good at the end when the car came to life after an adjustment was made.”

Arch-rivals Busch and Edwards battled hard in the waning laps to end up second and third, respectively, a reversal of their finish in Friday’s Nationwide Series race.

Due to an engine change in the M&M’s Toyota, Busch started in the back of the field but not unexpectedly, he powered toward the front as soon as the race commenced. He moved into first place on the 125th lap and proceeded to lead 111 circuits, a race high.

Busch dominated restarts until the fleet Kenseth maneuvered around him on the 310th lap and from then on, Busch could only see the leader’s rear bumper.

“It was a good race for us,” Busch said. “Starting deep in the field wasn’t good, but we worked our way up there. It was tough to pass, and we had to be creative. I don’t think we made a change to the car all night, and we just let the race play out. Low and behold, we thought we were going to win one but then those late-race restarts let us give it away. I was leading at the end, but got outdrove by Kenseth. He passed me like I was standing still. I have yet to win a Chase race, but we will keep working on it.”

Edwards put the Aflac Now Hiring Ford into the show position and seemed happy with the outcome, although somewhat vexed with Busch over a maneuver on a restart.

“We have had this race circled on the schedule as our whole team was nervous about this race,” Edwards said. “We weren’t that fast at the beginning of race, but my team did a great job dialing it in. Also, the track came to us. A great night for Roush Fenway Racing, and it was great to see Matt (Kenseth) win.”

Regarding the point lead, he added, “It is huge for us to still be holding the point lead.” He also said Johnson cannot be counted out of the championship race.

As soon as the race ended, Edwards went to Busch’s car and the two had a private discussion while Busch was still sitting in the car. According to Edwards, he thought Busch had cut him off on a restart but the latter said he didn’t do anything intentionally.

“We should be racing each other hard, but there’s a difference between racing hard and cutting across another guy’s nose,” Edwards said with Busch sitting beside him. “I wondered why he drove me the way he did but when he told me he didn’t mean to do that, I have to believe him. It was just racing, and we didn’t wreck.”

Kasey Kahne put the Red Bull Toyota into fourth place with Marcos Ambrose scrambling to fifth place in the Stanley Bostitch Ford.

Harvick garnered sixth place with A. J. Allmendinger seventh.

Tony Stewart, who led 94 laps, ended up eighth after getting involved in a pair of unlucky pit stops where he was caught in the pits when the yellow flag came out.

Denny Hamlin took ninth place with Ryan Newman 10th.

Greg Biffle, another of the formidable competitors, led 68 laps, but ended up 15th after brushing fenders with Stewart.

Hendrick Motorsports drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Johnson didn’t fare well, ending up 19th, 21st and 34th, respectively.

Said Johnson about his jarring crash, “It was a pretty big impact, and it was unfortunate that we wrecked. There’s a bit of racing left in the season, and we won’t quit.”

Eight caution flags slowed the race for 34 laps, but Johnson’s wreck was the only serious crash.

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