Matt Kenseth Wins His Fifth Race Of The Season

Only two races left until the start of the chase for the Sprint Cup Championship begins, and only Jimmie Johnson and now Clint Bowyer and Matt Kenseth have clinched spots for the title run.

Kenseth held off Kasey Kahne over the final 12 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday night for his fifth win of the season. And for Kahne, it’s the third time this season he’s finished second to Kenseth although he claimed he had the better car.

Juan Pablo Montoya battled back from a speeding penalty to finish third, with Brian Vickers and Joey Logano closing out the Top Five.

Martin Truex, Jr., one of the drivers in position for a wild card spot in the chase, caused a wreck involving a number of contenders when he had a tire go down collecting up the cars of Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin. Harvick thought Hamlin intentionally caused the wreck and drove into his pit stall. When Hamlin arrived, he drove up behind his bumper and shoved him out of the way. Then after getting past NASCAR officials Harvick confronted Hamlin and got the explanation that he was a victim too.

Jimmie Johnson had a tough night finishing 36th after a wreck. He still lead the chase by 18 points over Clint Bowyer. Kenseth is only sixth in the standings, but his five wins alone puts him in the Chase.

Kurt Busch started off strong, but a wheel problem put him in the pits for repairs and he dropped from ninth to 12th in the standings.

Atlanta Motor Speedway is up next on the schedule.