And after being bit by the racing gods all season, Matt Kenseth was the driver to tame Dover International Speedway. He won his 37th Sprint Cup race and his third at Dover — where he made his first career start in 1998.
For Joe Gibbs Racing, it was the seventh win of the season and the 135th career for Joe Gibbs which elevates the company to third behind Petty Enterprises and Hendrick Motorsports.
“Thanks guys, I really appreciate it,” Kenseth said over the radio.
Massive pileup takes out several contenders
Kenseth didn’t have the dominant car but he capitalized on other’s misfortunes. The race was slowed 12 times, but the biggest hit came on the Lap 353 restart when Jimmie Johnson stalled on the Lap 353 restart after his transmission jammed. Martin Truex Jr., who led 47 laps before the incident, plowed into Johnson with a push from behind from Kevin Harvick. Johnson spun sideways and collected Ryan Newman in the process. Sixteen cars were collected in the melee.
After an 11-minute red-flag caution, the race resumed on Lap 359 with Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards leading the 17 cars remaining on the lead lap to the green. But before the field completed a full lap, Edwards became loose on the backstretch and Larson tagged the No. 19 sending it into the wall.On Lap 365, Kenseth started at the point again when Larson in pursuit. But as the two continued to battle, Chase Elliott, who restarted fifth worked his way to the fight. By Lap 380, Elliott was second. As he and Larson exchanged positions, Kenseth extended his lead by one-second over the No. 42. Over the final 15 laps, Larson searched for the fastest line around the track. With four to go, Larson pulled to the inside of Kenseth but couldn’t make the pass after his battle with Elliott.
Kenseth held on by 0.188-seconds over Larson. Elliott, Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch rounded out the top-five finishers. Kahne’s car failed the Laser Inspection Station during post-race review. His car will be taken to NASCAR R&D for further review.
“It was a lot of fun racing with Matt there,” Larson said after leading 85 laps, his mist since Bristol last spring (90). “I just had to be patient. I knew I was better than he was, then the 24 got to third and was catching us pretty quick. I got side-by-side with the 20 for a couple of laps. He was just too far ahead of me, but we came up a little short.”
For Larson, it was his fourth finish of second and his 12 career top-five finish. He remains 21st in the standings.
Brad Keselowski, who slammed into the damaged car of Austin Dillon on Lap 282, recovered to finished sixth, followed by Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Truex and Trevor Bayne.
Kevin Harvick, who had the dominant car early and led the most laps (117), finished 15th, one lap down.
Harvick retained the points lead by 21 over Kyle Busch. Kurt Busch gained two positions and moved into third in the standings followed by Edwards and Johnson, who finished 25th.
