NASCAR WCUP: Kenseth Brings Home 4th in Michigan
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
August 21, 2001BROOKLYN, MI -- Matt Kenseth and the DEWALT Power Tools team brought home a fourth place finish in Pepsi 400.
Kenseth and the team had a disappointing qualifying run on Friday and had to start the race from the 33rd position. However, during practice sessions throughout the weekend, Kenseth was competitive. He and crew chief Robbie Reiser were optimistic they would race with the front runners when the green flag dropped.
The Pepsi 200 started at 2:00pm ET. As the 43-car field started the pace laps, the rain started. The rain was brief, and shortly after the race began, Kenseth stormed toward the front. Within the first 20 laps, he was in the 17th position and running lap times faster than the leader.
The DEWALT crew serviced the No. 17 car on lap 46, making the only adjustments of the day as Kenseth was a little tight off the corners. The adjustments were key as Kenseth then started to reel in the leaders and passing cars for positions. On lap 61, Kenseth radioed in and told Reiser, "This car is driving real good, no more changes."
Rain came on lap 100, when Kenseth was in the 11th position. Almost two hours later, the field took the green flag again. Kenseth powered his way into the 4th position before rain stopped the event with less than 50 laps to go.
"I think if we raced a little longer maybe we would've had a shot to get up there and run with those guys," said Kenseth. "The DEWALT Taurus was really good all day. We knew we could run as good if we could get up there. It was big morale booster for everybody to be able to run good here today. We haven't had the greatest year, by no means, but it was good to come here and run up front, and if we could've had a little longer maybe we could've gotten up there."
"This team had it all today," added Robbie Reiser. "We had awesome pit stops and no mistakes. We worked from the back today and Matt did a great job driving that car. It was a total effort by this DEWALT team, and we're really happy."
Text provided by Amy Walsh
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