Kenseth in conflict with anyone behind a wheel

The driver said that he was going too slow when Jeff Gordon hit him Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Forgive Matt Kenseth for thinking his rental car got tapped by another NASCAR driver.
No, it wasn't Jeff Gordon following him to the track. Nor was it Kenseth's other suspect, teammate Greg Biffle. This time, Kenseth was done in by a complete novice.
"On the way to the racetrack, I got ran into by a student driver. That was the start of my morning," Kenseth said, shaking his head after arriving at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for testing Monday. "They wanted to stop and fix it. I didn't care whether the bumper was laying on the ground or not, it was a rental."
For Kenseth, it's been that kind of week -- on and off the track.
He lost Sunday's race when Gordon spun him out with four laps left in regulation, then flew to Indianapolis and was again hit from behind before making it onto the track.
More misfortune
When he finally got in his stock car, the first one was slower than expected and when he switched cars he crashed again -- this time without help.
Between practice sessions, Kenseth was peppered with questions about his brewing rivalry with Gordon, a four-time Cup champion, and in the afternoon his top speed of 174.101 mph was 19th.
Tuesday's practice was rained out, and today, Gordon will have another chance to answer Kenseth's claim of foul play.
"The beginning of our test hasn't been very good," Kenseth said.
While little may have gone right in the last 72 hours, Kenseth's first 18 races have been almost flawless.
He is in very good position to secure one of the 10 qualifying spots for the season-ending shootout. Points leader Jimmie Johnson holds a 51-point advantage over second-place Kenseth, but Kenseth is more than 400 points ahead of Biffle, who is 11th.
It's little solace this week.
Too many questions
After arriving at Indy's historic 21/2-mile oval, Kenseth repeatedly rubbed his forehead and eyes during a news conference.
The latest episode with Gordon has drawn other drivers into the debate.
"That was a little bit of an abnormal situation," Mark Martin said. "I don't believe that Jeff intended for Matt to spin out, although I am pretty sure he knew he was going to hit him before he did."
On Tuesday, Jeff Burton said: "All of the Matt Kenseth fans right now, they really don't like Jeff Gordon, and vice versa. And by the way, I'm sure Matt Kenseth doesn't like Jeff Gordon right now, too."
Kenseth, the 2003 Cup champion, has endured more controversy than usual this season.
He's been involved in at least three major confrontations during the first half of the season -- at Daytona, Bristol and Chicago.
Kenseth places the blame partly on himself, partly on others and partly on old-fashioned racing. Sunday's crash, Kenseth said, was a result of him going too slow, getting in Gordon's way and being trapped behind a lapped car -- and Gordon's wise calculation that he could take the lead with a bump-and-run that wouldn't take him out of the race.
But that didn't make it any easier to accept either the result or Gordon's reaction.
"Yeah, he looked sorry when he was out there doing them doughnuts, looked real sorry," Kenseth said.
All Kenseth can hope for now is that things revert more to form this week at New Hampshire -- and that he can avoid another tussle with Gordon, Biffle or a student driver.
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