Bouncing back
FONTANA, Calif. — Matt Kenseth and his team started the new season 50 points in the hole and with crew chief Robbie Reiser on suspension for the first four races.
Then, just days after NASCAR handed down the penalties to the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing team for cheating, Kenseth started the final lap of the Daytona 500 in third and wound up 27th after getting caught up in a multicar wreck.
It was time for the veteran driver and his team to assert themselves, and that's just what they did on Sunday at California Speedway.
Kenseth, the 2003 series champion, drove to the front and his crew, working under the direction of team engineer Chip Bolin, gave him a series of sparkling pit stops, including a very fast one near the end of the Auto Club 500 that put Kenseth in the lead for good.
While his team plans to appeal the 50-point penalty, principle owner Jack Roush was still excited about the inroads his guys have made. Kenseth is up to 12th in the standings, 103 points behind new leader Mark Martin.
"It takes a while to make up 50 points, but we're well on our way," he said. "It's always good to come back to California Speedway because it's a great, competitive track and we've had our share of success here."
Roush, who earlier this month sold 50 percent of his team to John Henry and the Fenway Sports Group, now has 14 victories at the Fontana track — five in Cup, seven in the Busch Series and two in trucks.
"This one's a special win," an emotional Kenseth said after bouncing back from the disappointments of Daytona with his second victory of the weekend and second Nextel Cup win at California Speedway. "It's not without Robbie though. He spent the week at home while we were at Daytona building this car. Robbie built this team."
Kenseth took the lead for good Sunday with a fast pit stop during a caution period just 23 laps from the finish.
The victory, his 15th in Cup, came less than 24 hours after Kenseth won the Busch Series race on the same 2-mile oval.
A year ago, it was Jimmie Johnson whose team overcame the loss of crew chief Chad Knaus to get off to a strong start on the way to a championship.
"Those guys didn't let some bad luck stop them or slow them down," Kenseth said. "Everybody on this team knows what Robbie would expect them to do, whether he is here or not."
Kevin Harvick, who swept the Busch and Cup races at Daytona, came out of the final pit stop in second and was making up ground up Kenseth until rookie David Reutimann and former series champion Bobby Labonte crashed on lap 243 of the 250-lap event.
NASCAR red-flagged the race to give safety officials time to clean up the debris from the wreck. Once the cars were restarted, Harvick found he had a deflating left front tire and had to pit.
