Kenseth overtakes teammate for victory

DOVER, Del. -- Matt Kenseth and Jamie McMurray made it a 1-2 finish for Roush Racing.

And what a thrilling finish it was.

McMurray was the driver to beat, holding the lead for most of the final 90 laps Sunday until the patient Kenseth made his move, passing two drivers late before the leader was firmly in view.

Kenseth reached McMurray in lapped traffic, raced side-by-side, then dipped low on a clean pass off the fourth turn with three laps left and pulled away to win at Dover International Speedway.

"They were leaving me plenty of room to pass," Kenseth said. "I just caught him at the right time and was able to just barely squeeze in front."

Kevin Harvick finished third, followed by Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch. Jimmie Johnson maintained the points lead, finishing sixth after starting a season-worst 42nd.

McMurray seemed poised to win for the second time in his Nextel Cup career after taking the lead with 98 laps left in the Neighborhood Excellence 400. One day after turning 30, McMurray's belated birthday present to himself was so close to being a trip to Victory Lane.

Kenseth spoiled the party. His No. 17 Ford started nipping at the leaders with about 30 laps left in the caution-marred race.

First, he passed Burton, then Harvick. All that was left was McMurray.

With three laps to go, Kenseth got by McMurray after the leader was slowed a bit by Michael Waltrip's lapped car. With one lap to go, Kenseth pulled away for his second win of the season and 12th of his career.

"It was really exciting," Kenseth said. "I feel bad for Jamie."

The win earned him a small boost in the points standings. Kenseth sliced Johnson's lead from 109 points to 74.

"I never thought about the points at all today. We're thinking about winning races," Kenseth said. "It's early enough in the year. We're in a pretty solid position in the points."

Injured defending champ Tony Stewart completed 38 laps before Ricky Rudd replaced him. Stewart drove with a broken shoulder blade suffered last week at Charlotte, and had trouble lifting his right arm before he was eased into his car.

Stewart made a quick exit, lifting himself halfway out already unstrapped and with his helmet off before he was gently pulled out the rest of the way.

Stewart said he never felt comfortable and complained of some soreness.

"I was glad we got the caution when we got it," he said.

Rudd came out of a self-imposed, one-year break to race for the first time this season in the Nextel Cup series. He finished 25th, two laps off the lead.

"That was fun, sitting right there, being in the hunt and being able to run with some of those guys," Rudd said.

McMurray still finished with one of the best performances of his career. McMurray hasn't been in Victory Lane since winning his second career Nextel Cup race in October 2002.

"It's been a long time," McMurray said. "I thought I had him."

McMurray took the lead on the 302nd lap on the mile track, giving him more laps led in this race than he had all season (25). He said he knew he had no chance to win once he was passed.

"When I could see Matt catching Kevin, I knew it was going to make it interesting," McMurray said. "I just got tight at the end."

McMurray did record his second straight top-10 finish and jumped three spots to 15th in the points race.

"Making the chase is a huge deal," he said. "If we can run as well as we did today, we'll make the chase."

He surely needed the confidence boost. With McMurray struggling early in his first season with Roush Racing, owner Jack Roush ordered a shakeup designed to jump-start their struggling team. Bob Osborne, who was Carl Edwards' crew chief, took over McMurray's team and the move has seemingly paid off.

"What about Jamie McMurray? Was that not awesome today?" Roush said. "Jamie was certainly the underdog given the season he's had. Until Matt had passed Jamie, I was standing beside Bob Osborne in the 26 pit rooting for him as hard as I could."

Maybe not hard enough.

Only 15 laps were run under caution through 269 laps, but that quickly deteriorated with six more cautions for 36 laps the rest of the way.

J.J. Yeley hit the wall on lap 284 and did it again after the restart. Another caution came out with 101 laps left when Elliott Sadler hit the wall after losing control on some oil on the track left by Kevin Lepage.

McMurray never stopped and took the lead on 302, and stayed out on the last yellow flag.

Kenseth, who started 19th, recorded his ninth top-10 finish and won for the first time since California in the second race of the season. He made his Nextel Cup debut at Dover in 1998 as a substitute for Bill Elliott.

"Everything just kind of went right for us," he said.