Kenseth gets the win
Keselowski gets final championship berth
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Matt Kenseth won’t get to end his career the way he had hoped to.
He believes he has a handful of good years left in him, that he can win races and compete for championships. But the economics of the sport have made Kenseth a casualty of NASCAR’s new youth movement, so he doesn’t have a job for next year.
He’s going away. But he’s not going quietly.
Kenseth won Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway, with his first victory of the season snapping a 51-race winless streak and earning him at least one more victory celebration.
“Just got one race left, and everybody dreams of going out a winner,” a tearful Kenseth said after climbing from his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota. “It’s just been quite a journey, and today was a really special day for me, to know that next week is almost for sure my last week behind the wheel.”
Kenseth passed Chase Elliott with 10 laps remaining to win and deny Elliott the final championship berth in next Sunday’s season finale. Had Elliott hung on for the win, he would have qualified for the last of four title-eligible spots at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Instead, he finished second for the seventh time in his young career.
Brad Keselowski earned the final spot in the championship field on points because a playoff-eligible driver did not win the race. Keselowski will race Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. for the title. The field of two Toyota drivers and two Ford drivers includes three former series champions and Truex, the most dominant driver of this season.
Kenseth had already been eliminated from the playoffs, so his victory was purely personal satisfaction. The 2003 Cup Series champion is a two-time Daytona 500 winner and consistent playoff qualifier, but he’s 45 and being replaced at JGR next season by Erik Jones.
With his experience and past success making him too expensive to land a competitive ride, Kenseth has decided to take time away rather than drive a car that can’t win races.
“He’s been really down and frustrated and trying to figure out this season and what it’s all about, to try to go out there and try to win in his final season, not-on-his-own-terms final season,” said JGR teammate Busch, one of many drivers to congratulate Kenseth.
“I think it shows that there’s no reason why he couldn’t have gotten a job anywhere else. It’s just, I guess, the industry didn’t see Matt Kenseth as their driver, and that’s really, really unfortunate because I love the guy and have raced with respect for him for a long, long time and will forever respect him for what he’s done for the sport.”
Kenseth said he has finally found peace with his future.
“I probably knew around August that it really wasn’t meant for me to be racing anymore at this level, you know, going forward,” Kenseth said. “I probably fought it for too long and kind of looked at different opportunities and thought about doing something different but then just really embraced it.
“Not many people get to go out in really good cars and win races and have a chance to win a championship. It’s really a blessing to be able to go to work every day and work as hard as you can on it, put everything into it that you’ve got and finally get one here.”
The Kenseth win salvaged the day for JGR, which had a chance to get Denny Hamlin into the championship until his feud with Elliott cost him the chance.
The two were racing for position, and Elliott gave Hamlin several taps as he tried to get past him for position, and when he finally was able to pull alongside Hamlin, the two cars made contact. Hamlin grazed the wall and immediately began losing positions on the track.
Just a few laps later, Hamlin’s tire blew, his car hit the wall and his race was over. Elliott admitted he raced Hamlin aggressively, the same as Hamlin did when he wrecked Elliott from the lead at Martinsville Speedway two races prior.
“A wise man once told me that he’ll race guys how they race him with a smile on his face, so that’s what I did today,” Elliott said. “I raced him how he raced me, and that’s the way I saw it. That’s about all I have to say.”
Hamlin was racing to win, but he could have beaten Keselowski into the finale on points had he not wrecked. He has maintained he didn’t mean to wreck Elliott at Martinsville, and the payback Sunday was redemption.
“It just proves to the people who thought I was a bad guy that he would do the exact same thing under the same circumstances,” Hamlin said. “I got into him, and he chose to retaliate.”
Jimmie Johnson also wrecked early in the race, ending his bid to make the title field. The elimination of the seven-time champion means NASCAR will not have a repeat title winner this year.