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March 7, 2010 5:55 PM

Kenseth Finishes Second to Earn His Best Career Finish at Atlanta; Moves up to Second in the Point Standings

Hampton, Ga (March 7, 2010) – Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Ford, came to Atlanta on a roll. He had started the 2010 season with one top-five and three top-ten finishes in the first three races of the season and was eager to add to those statistics. Along with the momentum his team was riding, the team also had a new paint scheme at Atlanta as Valvoline’s colors proudly covered the No. 17 machine for the first of three races in which they will serve as the primary sponsor. Kenseth was able to showcase why he’s one of the series’ top drivers Sunday in the 500-mile event at Atlanta Motor Speedway when during a green-white-checkered finish, Kenseth made a skillful pass for position in the closing laps to claim second at the end of the race.

The weekend’s events at Atlanta weren’t without challenges however for Kenseth and his team. Racing at Atlanta and being successful there requires teams to have cars that handle well in the turns. Atlanta is a very fast track and if the balance and handling are off even by the slightest of margins, it can make for a long day at the office for the drivers.

Kenseth qualified 14th in Friday’s evening qualifying session, in which wind and cold temperatures found teams challenged to get all the speed out of their car in their qualifying laps. Kenseth took his two laps and posted a fast lap time of 29.058 seconds in his Valvoline Ford.

The Kobalt Tools 500 took the green flag at 1:17 p.m. EST on Sunday as Kenseth readied himself to challenge for track position. The first caution of the race came early on lap five after the No. 7 spun out. Kenseth took the opportunity to radio in to his crew chief Todd Parrott that the Valvoline Ford wasn’t turning as well as he had hoped from the start, but that it was still a bit too early to tell.

The field restarted and the next caution didn’t appear again until lap 35. This time Kenseth had a bit of a longer run under his belt to be able to judge the car’s performance. While the race was under yellow, he radioed in to Parrott that the car was tight in the center, loose on the gas, and just needed more overall grip. Parrott called his driver down pit road on lap 37 for four tires, fuel, air pressure change, and a rubber out of the left rear. Kenseth restarted 15th and shortly after the restart he called back into his team that the adjustments hadn’t helped the car’s handling and in fact, he told his team that he couldn’t tell if the car was loose or tight because it was just all over the place.

Parrott and the team knew that in order to help their driver, they’d have to take a bigger swing at changes to the car. During a caution on lap 81, the Valvoline Ford pitted for a wedge and track bar adjustment along with four fresh tires and fuel. Kenseth restarted 14th, and within four laps, he radioed in to his team that those changes had made the Valvoline Ford much better than it had been earlier as he found himself in seventh.

The team continued to make those same adjustments over the course of the next few runs and Kenseth found himself challenging for positions within the top five. During a run mid-race, Kenseth found the car starting to drift back into the field and he told his team that the car’s handling seemed to be similar how it had been at the start of the race. Another round of wedge and track bar adjustments on lap 212 set the car back on the right path for Kenseth as he focused to challenge for positions once again.

Kenseth and the Valvoline Ford broke back into the top ten on lap 230 after a fast pit stop saw the No. 17 gain five positions off of pit road. Tightness in the middle of the turns and a need for more rear grip continued to challenge Kenseth over the remainder of the race, but another quick pit stop on lap 290 found the No. 17 in second on the restart. A caution on lap 324 found Kenseth coming down pit road for four tires, a splash of fuel, and a slight air pressure change while four cars only took two tires.

The No. 17 Valvoline machine restarted the race on lap 332 in tenth for a green-white-checkered finish, but a seven car wreck off of turn four forced the race to go into its second green-white-checkered finish. Kenseth restarted fourth on the low line and as the leaders were jockeying for position around those cars that had taken two tires, Kenseth saw an opportunity to make the pass and he launched the Valvoline Ford into second.

Kenseth’s second-place finish was his best Sprint Cup series career finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Sunday’s finish also saw Kenseth move up in the driver point standings to second where he currently trails leader Kevin Harvick by 26 points.

“That is the best finish we have had here at Atlanta ever,” commented Kenseth following the race. “I am really proud of my team because they did a great job today. We qualified really well and it translated to the race today. I couldn’t be happier with the way the season has started. It feels good to be competitive and it feels like we are headed in the right direction, so it feels good.”

Kurt Busch won Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway marking his third win at Atlanta and his first win of the 2010 season. Kenseth claimed the runner-up position in his Valvoline Ford and Juan Pablo Montoya finished third Sunday afternoon.

Next weekend the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has the weekend off, but will return to action the following weekend for the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Pre-race television coverage begins on Sunday, March 21st at 1:00 p.m. E.S.T. on FOX. Radio coverage will be provided by the Performance Racing Network (PRN).

NEXT UP:
Food City 500
Bristol Motor Speedway (0.533-mile speedway)
Bristol, TN
Sunday, March 21, 2010

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