Matt Kenseth Cruises To NASCAR Victory At Michigan [Video]

Matt Kenseth cruised to dominant and score the NASCAR Sprint Cup Victory At Michigan International Speedway on August 16, 2015.

From Matt Kenseth's point of view, the competition package NASCAR used at Michigan International Speedway could well have had a big, bright bow on it.

The Coors Light Polesitter for Sunday's Pure Michigan 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, Kenseth quickly exhibited his mastery of the high-drag aerodynamic package, leading 146 of 200 laps in winning for the third time this season, the third time at Michigan and the 34th time in his career.

The 2003 premier series champion had to survive a restart with 13 laps left, after Jimmie Johnson spun off Turn 4 to cause the eighth and final caution of the race. With a push from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, Kenseth cleared Kevin Harvick after the Lap 187 restart and went on to win by 1.722 seconds.

"Denny did a spectacular job pushing me," Kenseth said of the last run. "From the restart zone to about Turn 2 was like a superspeedway race–whoever got locked up—and those Chevys could really hook up.

"Denny did a heck of a job giving me a good push there to get by. Honestly, the toughest one was with the 3 (Dillon, with the two drivers swapping the lead after a restart on Lap 131). We went back and forth a few times and made some contact there, and it was hard to get away from him. My car took about five laps to get going, but once it got going, it was pretty stellar."

Harvick ran out of fuel under green on Lap 114 but recovered to finish second. Martin Truex Jr. ran third, followed by Austin Dillon (who started from the rear of the field after an engine change) and Hamlin.

Kenseth’s victory was the fifth for Joe Gibbs Racing in the last six Sprint Cup races but Kenseth stopped short of declaring the JGR cars the favorites for the series championship this year. There are three regular-season races left before the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs start at Chicagoland Speedway on Sept. 20.

"It’s early to talk favorites—there’s so much racing to do, and there are 16 teams (in the Chase) that are capable of winning races on a weekly basis as well as a championship," Kenseth said. "It’s one week at a time like always.

"It’s been a great week, and we’ve had a great couple months. We definitely have some momentum built. The guys gave us a rocket today and gave us rockets the last couple months. We’re just going to work hard to try to keep it rolling."

IOWA DRIVER RECAP:
All three Iowa drivers finished back-to-back-to-back in the final standings. Brett Moffitt (Grimes, IA) finished 34th followed by Michael Annett (Des Moines, IA)  and Landon Cassill (Fairfax, IA).

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race - Pure Michigan 400
Michigan International Speedway
Brooklyn, Michigan
Sunday, August 16, 2015

1. (1) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 200, $226586.

2. (7) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 200, $185285.

3. (22) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 200, $137130.

4. (4) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 200, $150746.

5. (2) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 200, $114000.

6. (3) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 200, $97890.

7. (10) Joey Logano, Ford, 200, $137348.

8. (17) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 200, $130540.

9. (14) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 200, $141756.

10. (9) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 200, $107415.

11. (6) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 200, $132906.

12. (24) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 200, $98790.

13. (34) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 200, $118098.

14. (30) Aric Almirola, Ford, 200, $126501.

15. (11) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 200, $103615.

16. (18) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 200, $118431.

17. (21) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 200, $132826.

18. (13) David Ragan, Toyota, 200, $114879.

19. (15) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 200, $113610.

20. (16) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 199, $102340.

21. (5) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 199, $113754.

22. (25) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 198, $127390.

23. (20) Greg Biffle, Ford, 198, $117023.

24. (19) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 198, $82390.

25. (23) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 198, $93415.

26. (27) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 198, $93015.

27. (35) Cole Whitt, Ford, 198, $102823.

28. (26) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 198, $115573.

29. (28) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 197, $106398.

30. (32) Matt DiBenedetto #, Toyota, 197, $98798.

31. (33) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 197, $93062.

32. (36) David Gilliland, Ford, 197, $88915.

33. (29) Jeb Burton #, Toyota, 197, $80840.

34. (38) Brett Moffitt #, Ford, 197, $80740.

35. (39) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 197, $80565.

36. (31) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 196, $80515.

37. (41) Josh Wise, Ford, 196, $80454.

38. (37) JJ Yeley(i), Toyota, 194, $75877.

39. (8) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 190, $119741.

40. (42) Travis Kvapil(i), Chevrolet, 190, $67805.

41. (12) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 164, $97963.

42. (40) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, Overheating, 51, $67805.

43. (43) Timmy Hill(i), Chevrolet, Parked, 9, $56305.