Backstretch Motorsports

DARLINGTON, S.C. (May 8, 2009) — Maybe Matt Kenseth’s luck has turned again.

On Friday afternoon, Kenseth was the surprise pole winner for Saturday’s Southern 500 Sprint Cup race at Darlington Raceway.

On Friday night, he completed the daily double with a victory in the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 Nationwide Series race at the 1.366-mile egg-shaped track, after misfortune struck the dominant car of Kyle Busch in the closing circuits.

Kenseth inherited the lead when Busch was forced to pit under yellow with a cut right-rear tire and won the race under the record-tying 10th caution period of the night, when Morgan Shepherd spun moments after a restart for a green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the race six laps beyond its scheduled 147 laps.

The victory was Kenseth’s first of the season, his third at Darlington and his 25th in the series, fifth best all-time. Jason Leffler came home second, followed by Carl Edwards and rookie Erik Darnell, who posted his first top-five finish in his third start in the series. Fellow rookie Justin Allgaier ran fifth.

“Today couldn’t have gone any better than it did, that’s for sure,” said Kenseth, who won the first two Cup races of the season before his fortunes soured and a series of miscues and mishaps dropped him to 12th in the standings. “Like I said earlier, it’s all really about the cars and the people that work on them and your pit stops and all that.

“I can’t go fast with slow cars, which I proved over the last couple months. It feels good to be able to win one of these things… On the Cup side, it feels good to make changes today, and the car actually reacted to it and seemed to drive a lot better than our stuff has lately, so it’s been a good day for us. Hopefully, that will continue (Saturday).”

With Busch finishing 16th, Edwards trimmed the Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s advantage in the series standings to 37 points.

Busch, who led a race-high 143 laps, was two circuits away from victory when a wreck on the backstretch involving Scott Lagasse Jr. and Joe Nemechek brought out the ninth caution and set up the green-white-checkered-flag finish. Busch ran over debris from the wreck.

Busch’s right rear tire sustained a cut to the inside sidewall. The tire likely would not have survived the restart, and Busch and crew chief Jason Ratliff made the prudent call to pit and change tires.

Notes: Friday’s Nationwide qualifying session was rained out, and the starting field was set according to owner points. Busch started from the pole and Kenseth from the sixth spot… Brad Keselowski survived three spins, the first on the initial lap of the race, to finish 11th… Ryan Newman drove Kevin Harvick’s No. 33 Chevrolet to a sixth-place finish. That car now leads Busch’s JGR Toyota by seven points in the owners’ standings.

Race Fast Facts
Darlington Raceway
Diamond Hill Plywood 200

Race Winner: Matt Kenseth
Age: 37
Team : No. 16 - CitiFinancial Ford
Owner: Jack Roush
Crew Chief: Eddie Pardue
Matt Kenseth won the Diamond Hill Plywood 200, his 25th victory in 235 NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
This is his first victory and fifth top-10 finish in 2009.
This is his third victory and 12th top-10 finish in 15 races at Darlington Raceway.
Jason Leffler (second) posted his fourth top-10 finish in seven races at Darlington Raceway. It is his seventh top-10 finish in 2009.
Carl Edwards (third) posted his third top-10 finish in five races at Darlington Raceway.
Erik Darnell (fourth) was the highest finishing rookie.
Kyle Busch - who led 143 laps - leads the series point standings by 37 points over Carl Edwards.

NASCAR Race Number 10
Unofficial Race Results for the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 - Friday, May 8, 2009
Darlington Raceway - Darlington, SC - 1.366 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 153 Laps - 208.998 Miles - Purse: $1,118,669

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Winnings Status Times Laps Rating
1 6 16 Matt Kenseth CitiFinancial Ford 153 190 5 $44,795 Running 1 4 128.7
2 7 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Toyota 153 170 $38,868 Running 116.8
3 3 60 Carl Edwards Scotts Ford 153 170 5 $24,400 Running 1 5 118.1
4 5 6 Erik Darnell # Northern Tool + Equipment Ford 153 160 $27,518 Running 114.0
5 16 12 Justin Allgaier # Verizon Wireless Dodge 153 155 $24,143 Running 107.0
6 2 33 Ryan Newman KHI Chevrolet 153 150 $19,375 Running 103.1
7 19 1 Mike Bliss Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resort Chevrolet 153 146 $25,678 Running 91.6
8 9 29 Jeff Burton Holiday Inn Chevrolet 153 142 $16,770 Running 101.4
9 31 5 Scott Wimmer Fastenal Chevrolet 153 138 $22,568 Running 90.7
10 10 32 Brian Vickers Dollar General Toyota 153 134 $16,625 Running 94.7
11 8 88 Brad Keselowski DELPHI Chevrolet 153 130 $22,143 Running 88.5
12 4 20 Joey Logano GameStop Toyota 153 127 $15,600 Running 93.7
13 24 99 Scott Speed Red Bull Toyota 153 124 $22,418 Running 79.9
14 14 66 Steve Wallace US fidelis Chevrolet 153 121 $21,968 Running 86.2
15 11 27 Jason Keller Rite-Aid / Kleenex Ford 153 118 $22,668 Running 69.8
16 1 18 Kyle Busch Z-Line Designs Toyota 153 125 10 $15,325 Running 2 143 134.2
17 23 07 Patrick Carpentier PMCLife.com Toyota 153 112 $21,743 Running 76.9
18 17 28 Kenny Wallace US Border Patrol Chevrolet 153 109 $21,693 Running 73.9
19 15 62 Brendan Gaughan # 5-Hour Energy Drink Chevrolet 152 106 $21,643 Running 63.0
20 21 10 Brian Scott Dollar General Toyota 152 103 $22,718 Running 67.0
21 18 34 Tony Raines Long John Silver’s Chevrolet 152 105 5 $24,018 Running 1 1 68.5
22 13 11 Scott Lagasse Jr. # America’s Incredible Pizza Company Toyota 152 97 $21,468 Running 74.1
23 32 40 Jeff Green StopRepairBills.com Chevrolet 151 94 $14,950 Running 64.8
24 29 26 Brian Keselowski Schweitzer Title Dodge 151 91 $21,768 Running 61.9
25 30 61 Brandon Whitt Ford 150 88 $21,468 Running 51.7
26 25 81 Kevin Hamlin D.H. Griffin Companies Dodge 150 85 $21,268 Running 56.1
27 28 01 Danny O’Quinn Jr. MC2 Energy Drink / Black’s Tire Chevrolet 150 82 $21,218 Running 55.5
28 27 24 Eric McClure Hefty Ford 149 79 $21,168 Running 45.0
29 20 15 Michael Annett # Pilot Travel Centers Toyota 149 76 $21,133 Running 45.9
30 26 23 Jeff Fuller Mahindra Tractors Chevrolet 148 73 $21,393 Running 39.4
31 33 89 Morgan Shepherd Eldora Speedway / Lagina Plumbing Chevrolet 148 70 $21,038 Running 37.7
32 22 87 Joe Nemechek Nemco Motorsports Chevrolet 142 67 $20,993 Accident 60.2
33 12 47 Michael McDowell # Tom’s Snacks Toyota 140 64 $20,973 Running 75.8
34 35 09 John Wes Townley # Zaxby’s Ford 117 61 $14,485 Throttle 46.6
35 37 52 Kevin Lepage Ford 57 58 $14,440 Accident 39.3
36 36 42 Kenny Hendrick BailOutForBarney.com / Smith Iron Works Dodge 54 55 $14,420 Accident 38.2
37 43 84 Mike Harmon TEC Partners, LLC Chevrolet 36 52 $14,400 Brakes 34.0
38 38 31 Travis Kittleson Bob Steele Chevrolet / Circle K Thirst Buster Chevrolet 19 49 $14,350 Over 36.1
39 40 0 Mark Green sponsordavis.com Chevrolet 17 46 $14,315 Brakes 35.1
40 39 49 Kertus Davis GetMoreVacations.com Chevrolet 15 43 $14,290 Ignition 33.0
41 41 91 Terry Cook # MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 13 40 $14,265 Vibration 31.3
42 42 90 Johnny Chapman MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 12 37 $14,240 Ignition 31.4
43 34 05 Casey Atwood 31W Insulation Chevrolet 11 34 $14,203 Transmissi 32.4
Race Comments: With an estimated crowd of 25,000 in attendance, Matt Kenseth won the Diamond Hill Plywood 200. Prior to the start, the
following cars dropped to the rear of the field for reasons indicated: #27/#15/#62 (back-up cars); #23 (missing drivers’
meeting).
Failed to Qualify: (4) 96, 98, 73, 41.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 47 Mins, 33 Secs. Average Speed: 116.596 MPH Margin of Victory: Under Caution
Caution Flags: 10 for 32 laps: Laps: 2-3 (# 38, 88 accident, Turn 1. [None]); 7-8 (# 1, 10, 47 accident, Turn 2. [None]); 43-47 (# 42 accident, Turn 4. [40]); 51-53 (# 1, 09 accident frontstretch. [87]); 93-96 (# 52 accident Turn 2. [11]); 99-101 (# 88 spin, Turn 2. [07]); 108-111 (# 15, 88 accident Turn 2. [27]); 118-120 (# 09, accident Turn 3. [28]); 147-151 (# 11, 87 accident backstretch. [None]); 153-153 (# 89 accident frontstretch. [None]).
Lead Changes: 4 among 4 drivers: K. Busch 1-39; C. Edwards 40-44; T. Raines 45; K. Busch 46-149; M. Kenseth 150-153.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) K. Busch 1,539;(2) C. Edwards 1,502;(3) J. Leffler 1,386;(4) J. Logano 1,340;(5) Brad Keselowski 1,331;(6) J. Keller 1,181;(7) D. Ragan 1,139;(8) S. Lagasse Jr. # 1,095;(9) J. Allgaier # 1,089;(10) S. Wallace 1,088.
Featherlite “Most Improved Driver” : Mike Bliss, #1 (26 Places) Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Matt Kenseth, #16
Mobil 1 Oil Command Performance : Jason Leffler, #38 Raybestos “Rookie of the Race” : Erik Darnell, #6
Sunoco Diamond Performance : Matt Kenseth, #16 WIX Filters “Lap Leader” : Tony Raines, #34
Next Race: May. 23, 2009 - Lowe’s Motor Speedway at Charlotte