Kenseth holds off Kahne at Kansas

Associated Press

kansas city, kan.

Matt Kenseth knew that he had a front-running car Sunday.

It was simply a matter of getting there.

So when a caution flag came out with several leaders on pit road, and Kenseth found himself leading the pack into the pits, he had a feeling things were going his way.

“That was the key,” he would say later.

Kenseth won the race off pit road after taking two tires under caution, and a No. 20 Toyota that had been strong all day slowly pulled away. Kasey Kahne trimmed into the lead once he moved into second, but Kenseth managed to block every move he tried to make.

Kahne pulled alongside him entering Turn 4 with the white flag flying, but Kenseth pulled back ahead along the front stretch and then cruised to the win at Kansas Speedway.

“When it was in front, we knew it was really fast,” Kenseth said after his second straight win at the track. “And if we could get out there first, we’d be tough to beat.”

It was the third straight win from the pole in the Sprint Cup series.

Jimmie Johnson did it two weeks ago at Martinsville, and Kyle Busch did the same last weekend at Texas. The last time three straight winners came from the pole was in 1985, when Bill Elliott and Dale Earnhardt combined to do it at Michigan, Bristol and Darlington.

“The fastest car is supposed to win, right? That’s what racing is about,” Kenseth said. “I think it’s a little bit of a coincidence, the way things worked out.”

Points leader Johnson finished third with a car that kept getting better during long, green flag runs. Martin Truex Jr. came home in fourth and Clint Bowyer was fifth.

“Matt’s good. He always has been,” Johnson said. “He impresses me in his ability to lead the team, make adjustments on the car, and his knowledge of the car, but most importantly, inside the car, and finding a little bit more. The guy can do it.”

Kahne, trying for his first win at Kansas, made one last charge with two laps remaining, pulling door-to-door in Turn 4. But he couldn’t make the move stick, and Kenseth pulled away over the final lap for the win.