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Matt Kenseth beat Dale Earnhardt Jr. out of the pits during caution on Lap 168 and won Sunday's UAW/DaimlerChrysler 400 going away. Kenseth, leading winner last year with five trophies, won his first of 2003 by more than 9sec, largest victory margin in Winston Cup in nearly four years.
The last time a driver won by a larger margin was at Dover in June 1999, when Bobby Labonte, stretching fuel, beat Tony Stewart to the line by 22.071sec.
The race went green for the final 97 laps, and except for fuel stops around Lap 230, Kenseth enjoyed quality time alone with his car.
"The cars get separated [on long runs], so it's a lot easier to find where your car wants to be in the corner and where it feels good," Matty said. "You have the whole track to yourself to make a mistake or to drive it a little different or to move around."
Even the few mistakes Kenseth and crew made seemed to play in their favor. Chief Robbie Reiser had suggested that Kenseth "pit with the leaders" as green-flag stops approached around Lap 160, with Kenseth second. To Kenseth, that meant to wait for front-running Earnhardt to pit.
As it happened, caution came out on Lap 167 after Jamie McMurray spun in Turn 4. Kenseth then followed Earnhardt into the pits under yellow, and his championship pit crew, with a sub-14sec stop, got him out ahead of Junior.
Early leader Jeff Gordon, set back by pit difficulties on Lap 101, took two tires and regained the lead, but he was no match for Kenseth's Ford on four tires. Kenseth swept by to the lead (for good) on Lap 174.
The pit stop where we beat Dale Junior out of the pits, that was the key, and I stayed out by accident," Kenseth said. "When I stayed out with Dale Junior, they wanted me to pit, and I stayed out by accident, so that was a big help actually because of the way it worked out.
"There were probably 10 cars that pitted the caution before that [Lap 138], and they stayed out with us, so if we would have pitted, we would have been buried back in 12th. So that 30-lap run, or whatever it was, and then a caution again to get back on sequence was definitely the key.
"It was kind of like everything went right even by accident."
Despite talk that the troublesome aero push had been reduced by the new car bodies, the advantage definitely was with the leader. Gordon led early, building a lead of 2sec, before Earnhardt ran him down on Lap 51. Junior led a flock of strong Chevrolets through the mid-stages of the race, raising eyebrows among the Ford and Dodge men.
"It seemed like the Fords had trouble keeping up when we were behind, but when we got out front we could set sail, said Kenseth, the only Ford driver to lead. "I'm pretty excited. I didn't expect to win here. [The key was] just getting out front."
Kenseth, who started 17th, emerged as a challenger after the caution on Lap 100 (Ricky Craven's wreck). He was second after the Dale Jarrett caution on Lap 138, thus set up for the decisive pit stops 30 laps later.
The final tactical showdown came during final green-flag stops with 40 laps to go. Jimmie Johnson, 4sec behind
Johnson, who had hope of taking the points lead, then got spun by Sterling Marlin on the last lap and ended up 11th, last among the leaders. Johnson was furious but quickly was calmed by NASCAR officials.
Instead, Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip, who finished third, retook the top spot in points, just three marks ahead of Kenseth and 14 ahead of Johnson, after three races.
Kenseth continued owner Jack Roush's mastery of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway oval, with Roush cars winning four of the six Cup events here. Roush cars also have won five of the past eight races overall, dating to last fall.
UAW/DaimlerChrysler 400 results (1.5mi oval):
1) Matt Kenseth, No. 17 DeWalt Tools Ford, 267 laps
2) Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet, 267, -9.104sec
3) Michael Waltrip, No. 15 NAPA Chevrolet, 267
4) Bobby Labonte, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet, 267
5) Tony Stewart, No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet, 267
6) Jeff Burton, No. 99 CITGO Ford, 267
7) Ryan Newman, No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge, 267
8) Sterling Marlin, No. 40 Coors Light Dodge, 267
9) Joe Nemechek, No. 25 UAW/Delphi Chevrolet, 267
10) Steve Park, No. 1 Pennzoil Chevrolet, 267
11) Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 267
12) Johnny Benson, No. 10 Valvoline Pontiac, 266
13) Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, 266
14) Bill Elliott, No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 266
15) Casey Mears, No. 41 Target Dodge, 266
16) Terry Labonte, No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet, 266
17) Jimmy Spencer, No. 7 Sirius Dodge, 266
18) Ricky Rudd, No. 21 Motorcraft Ford, 266
19) John Andretti, No. 43 Cheerios Dodge, 266
20) Todd Bodine, No. 54 National Guard Ford, 266
21) Jeremy Mayfield, No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 266
22) Jerry Nadeau, No. 01 USG Pontiac, 266
23) Robby Gordon, No. 31 Cingular Chevrolet, 266
24) Tony Raines, No. 74 Staff America Chevrolet, 265
25) Ward Burton, No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge, 265
26) Jack Sprague, No. 0 NetZero Pontiac, 265
27) Jeff Green, No. 30 America Onlineee Chevrolet, 265
28) Ken Schrader, No. 49 Dodge, 263
29) Derrike Cope, No. 37 Friendly's Chevrolet, 263
30) Kenny Wallace, No. 23 Stacker 2 Dodge, 261
31) Kyle Petty, No. 45 Georgia-Pacific Dodge, 261
32) Jamie McMurray, No. 42 Havoline Dodge, 258
33) Hideo Fukuyama, No. 66 Kikkoman Ford, 258
34) Dave Blaney, No. 77 Jasper Engines Ford, 231, clutch
35) Larry Foyt, No. 14 Harrah's Dodge, 216, vibration
36) Ricky Craven, No. 32 Tide Pontiac, 211
37) Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, 193, handling
38) Kurt Busch, No. 97 Rubbermaid Ford, 179, handling
39) Mike Skinner, No. 4 Kodak Pontiac, 174, wreck
40) Rusty Wallace, No. 2 MillerLite Dodge, 174, wreck
41) Dale Jarrett, No. 88 Ford, 131, wreck
42) Elliott Sadler, No. 38 M&Ms Ford, 125, engine
43) Mark Martin, No. 6 Viagra Ford, 114, engine
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