It moved him two spots in the standings to third, and he’s only 7 points behind leader Carl Edwards at the halfway point of the Chase.
“It doesn’t really matter to me that much what everybody thinks,’’ Kenseth said. “We’re in it or out of it or whatever.
“What’s important to me is trying to win races and trying to be competitive and go do the best job we can do every week.
“If somebody wants to say I’m boring or whatever - I was hired to try to go win races and try to run good, and that’s what I try to do every week.’’
But the path to the championship may have become just a little clearer.
Five-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson was in a hard accident that sent him spiraling in the standings. He was running seventh with 17 laps remaining when contact with Ryan Newman sent him headfirst into the wall. The hit was so hard, his back tires briefly lifted off the track.
He finished 34th and dropped to eighth in the standings.
“That one stung for sure. Pretty big impact,’’ Johnson said.
Johnson, winner of last week’s race at Kansas, had started the race ranked third in points and only 4 points behind Edwards. He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated last week, and had dismissed the idea of falling prey to the so-called cover jinx.
After notching his lowest Chase-race finish since he was 38th at Texas in 2009, he may now be wondering if the curse is credible.
“This is not going to help us win a sixth championship,’’ he admitted.
Because it can change so quickly, Kenseth was more even-keeled than normal in his celebration. It’s hard to look too far ahead with such a tight field and Talladega looming next.
“What happened to Jimmie Johnson is a sobering lesson for everyone,’’ winning car owner Jack Roush said.
That’s probably what Busch thought, too, after dominating the race only to come up short in his bid for his first win in a Chase race.
Busch had to change his engine before the race and started last in the 43-car field. Although he was initially frustrated with his car, he rallied to lead a race-high 111 laps and finish second, his best showing in the Chase.
