Kenseth continues hot streak

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Matt Kenseth continued his momentum-building run toward the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship Saturday night, pulling off a weekend sweep at Bristol Motor Speedway by winning the Sharpie 500.

His fourth win of the season clinched him a spot in NASCAR's 10-race playoff format, which begins Sept. 17 in New Hampshire.

It also showed he's peaking at the perfect time.

Kenseth is the first driver since the late Dale Earnhardt in 1987 and 1988 to win the Bristol night race in back-to-back seasons.

"The last two weeks have been just unbelievable," he said. "If we can go into the Chase like this, we'll have a shot at the championship."

Kenseth won last week's Cup event in Michigan, then Friday night's Busch Series race at Bristol.

He passed leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. with a little more than 50 miles to go, running him down and then sliding past when Earnhardt appeared to slow coming out of the fourth turn. There was no looking back from there for Kenseth, the 2003 series champion.

NASCAR changed the title-crowning format after Kenseth's championship, and he hasn't contended under the new 10-race playoff format.

He's now second in points, and his back-to-back wins have sliced Jimmie Johnson's lead to just seven points.

"The guys are operating at a championship level," Kenseth said. "I was worried about going into the Chase and not running good. But this is what it's about, bringing your best piece and go there and try to win some races."

Kyle Busch finished second and was followed by Earnhardt, who had a terrible car when he arrived in Bristol and worked all weekend to salvage his title hopes.

"I am so proud of my team, they worked their butts off to turn a pile of crap into a good car," Earnhardt said.

Earnhardt, who came into the race in 10th in the standings -- on the bubble of making the Chase -- moved up one spot to relieve the playoff pressure.

"I feel a whole lot better now as far as trying to get in," he said. "All of us have really just got to watch what we are doing -- minimize mistakes and utilize every minute of practice we get.

"I think we've got a really good shot of it. Before it was really just 50-50, up for grabs."

Scott Riggs scored a season-high fourth-place finish and was followed by Jeff Gordon. The two exchanged heated words after the race, apparently disagreeing over the way they raced each other in the closing laps.

Rookie Denny Hamlin was sixth and was followed by Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman and Jeff Burton, who led 262 of the 500 laps but faded late. Johnson rounded out the top 10.

The only change to the top 10 drivers was in order, with Mark Martin dropping six spots to 10th after a dismal night.

Kasey Kahne, in 11th place in the standings, is the only driver capable of racing his way into the Chase. His 12th-place finish has him 90 points out of the final spot with just two races to go.

Pole-sitter Kurt Busch, who began the race looking for his sixth Bristol win and a season-sweep, led early but never contended late. He suffered front-end damage when he ran into Reed Sorenson, was caught speeding on pit road and then blew his transmission with just under 100 laps to go.

He ended up 37th, ending his last-ditch effort to make the Chase. A two-time qualifier and the 2004 Nextel Cup champion, Busch is now 14th in the standings.

Elliott Sadler, in his second race in his new Evernham Motorsports ride, was having a good run until a late accident. Running 14th at the time, he tried to make a pass and lost control of his car. He slid into rookie J.J. Yeley.

It brought out the ninth caution of the race and opened pit road for a round of stops with just over 50 miles to go. Kenseth went in as the leader and just beat Kyle Busch going out, essentially sealing the win for him.

"If (Busch) would have beat us out of the pits, he would have won," Kenseth said. "These guys (the crew) did it for me again."