Kenseth chases unique feat

Matt Kenseth could leave Las Vegas today with a milestone never accomplished in 61 years of NASCAR racing.

No one has won the first three races of the season on stock cars’ premier circuit. Not Richard Petty. Not Dale Earnhardt. Not Jeff Gordon.

Down through the years, whether the series was called NASCAR Grand National, Winston Cup, Nextel Cup or the current Sprint Cup, only four previous drivers had a chance to complete such a feat, and none since 1957.

To add today’s Shelby 427 to his opening victories at Daytona and Fontana, Calif., Kenseth will have to come from deep in the field at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

But the 2004 Cup series champion said he isn’t especially concerned with streaks and trivia. Kenseth, 36, is just happy to be winning again after being blanked in 36 Sprint Cup starts last year.

“I haven’t really thought a whole bunch about it, to be honest with you,” the Wisconsin native said. “I didn’t think we would have won the first two races, so I haven’t really thought about the third.”

Kenseth qualified in the 40th spot but will move to 35th to take the green flag. Pole winner Kyle Busch and four other Toyota drivers will be sent to the back of the 43-car grid because they had to replace damaged engines Friday.

Nevertheless, Kenseth never will have started so far back in 10 Las Vegas Cup races. But he started 25th in 2004 when he gained his second straight win on the 1.5-mile tri-oval.

Kenseth and other Fords struggled with handling issues Friday, but he improved enough during practice Saturday to post the 20th-fastest lap with Cup rookie crew chief Drew Blickensderfer.

Rain helped Kenseth win the weather-shortened Daytona 500 two weeks ago, but he followed with a convincing victory Feb. 22 at Fontana in his No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

Any winning streak includes luck, and Kenseth said he got plenty at Daytona, where he avoided a multi-car wreck and led only the last lap.

“Everything (goes into it), from the car prep to the guys building the engines to the pit stops at the track. It’s just the whole thing,” Kenseth said.

Busch, whose older brother, Kurt Busch, will start on the front row with third-place qualifier Jimmie Johnson, will have to contend with Kenseth and other strong cars in an attempt to get to the front.

Jeff Burton, who qualified 14th in the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, was Kenseth’s teammate at Roush when Kenseth won two straight here. Burton, who also won back to back at Las Vegas in 1999 and 2000, said Kenseth can win today regardless of where he starts.

“He can do it,” Burton said. “He knows success last week doesn’t mean success this week, but when you’ve been successful (at one track) you certainly have a base to work on.”

It’s not only Kenseth’s success here, but that of the Roush operation, which has won six of the 11 Las Vegas Cup races, including Carl Edwards’ victory last year when Kenseth finished 20th.

The biggest change for Kenseth’s team has been the promotion of Blickensderfer to crew chief after working in that role last year with Edwards’ Nationwide team.

Longtime crew chief Robbie Reiser moved into a management role at Roush after Kenseth won the 2007 finale at Homestead, Fla., and Chip Bolin shifted from engineer to become Kenseth’s crew chief

The change hampered engineering efforts for the team last year, and Bolin has returned to his former role.

“I was really comfortable with Drew,” Kenseth said. “He was my personal selection. (I wanted) somebody young and somebody who hasn’t been a Cup crew chief before.”

If Kenseth falls short today, a victory by one of his four teammates would give Roush a share of the owner’s record with Peter DePaolo in (1957) and Petty Enterprises (1963), which opened with three wins.

Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0247. For more on racing, go to lvrj.com/motorsports.

SHELBY 427 LINEUP

At Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Lap length: 1.5 miles

(Car number in parentheses)

x-will start at the back of the field after blowing engine during practice

1. (18) x-Kyle Busch, Toyota, 185.995 mph.

2. (2) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 185.707.

3. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 185.688.

4. (00) David Reutimann, Toyota, 185.624.

5. (47) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 185.459.

6. (39) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 185.395.

7. (9) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 185.382.

8. (5) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 185.312.

9. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 185.28.

10. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 185.217.

11. (12) David Stremme, Dodge, 185.077.

12. (77) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 184.989.

13. (25) Brad Keselowski, Chevrolet, 184.786.

14. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 184.565.

15. (55) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 184.54.

16. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 184.496.

17. (96) Bobby Labonte, Ford, 184.433.

18. (78) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 184.433.

19. (44) AJ Allmendinger, Dodge, 184.395.

20. (20) Joey Logano, Toyota, 184.388.

21. (83) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 184.168.

22. (187) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 184.162.

23. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 184.118.

24. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 184.005.

25. (1) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 183.999.

26. (113) Max Papis, Toyota, 183.974.

27. (8) Aric Almirola, Chevrolet, 183.936.

28. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 183.799.

29. (34) John Andretti, Chevrolet, 183.786.

30. (171) David Gilliland, Chevrolet, 183.748.

31. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 183.742.

32. (7) Robby Gordon, Toyota, 183.486.

33. (19) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 183.461.

34. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 183.293.

35. (6) David Ragan, Ford, 183.144.

36. (98) Paul Menard, Ford, 182.921.

37. (33) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 182.772.

38. (26) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 182.574.

39. (43) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 182.469.

40. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, owner points.

41. (07) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, owner points.

42. (82) Scott Speed, Toyota, owner points.

43. (64) Todd Bodine, Toyota, 183.231.