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Kenseth wins at rainy Chicagoland
nascar.com
JOLIET, Ill. -- The rich got richer.
Matt Kenseth, the top seed in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup,
added to his advantage in Sunday's rain-interrupted GEICO 400 at
Chicagoland Speedway.
With a strong push from Kevin Harvick after a restart with on Lap 245
of 267, Kenseth pulled away to beat Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle
Busch to the checkered flag by .749 seconds and deny Busch the second
three-series weekend sweep of his career.
The victory was Kenseth's sixth of the season, tops in the Cup series,
and his most ever in a single season. The driver of the No. 20 Joe
Gibbs Racing Toyota claimed his first win at Chicagoland and the 30th
of his career, 22nd on the all-time list.
“I’ve always wanted to win here in Chicago,” an elated Kenseth said in
Victory Lane. “It’s only a couple hours from where I grew up -- up in
Wisconsin. So it feels great to finally get the win here. We’ve been
close a lot.”
Harvick came home third, followed by Kurt Busch, who rallied from a lap
down after a pit road speeding penalty in the first third of the race.
Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon both
overcame considerable adversity to finish fifth and sixth,
respectively, as Chase drivers claimed the top six spots in the
finishing order and 10 of the first 12.
Other championship contenders weren't so lucky. Pole winner Joey Logano
brought his car to pit road under caution with engine issues on Lap 149
of 267. After Lap 175, the engine gave up the ghost, and Logano retired
in 37th place.
With the nose of his car punctured during a pit road accident on Lap
169, Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffered an engine failure on Lap 226, his
heavily taped car overheating and ultimately erupting in a geyser of
steam and smoke. Earnhardt dropped out in 35th place.
For the rest of this story and more, go to nascar.com
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