In his first Nationwide Series start of the season—and his debut in the current-generation race car—Matt Kenseth outdueled Roush Fenway Racing teammate Carl Edwards to win Saturday’s Top Gear 300 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Subbing for sidelined Trevor Bayne, Kenseth won the 26th Nationwide race of his career. Edwards ran second, followed by Kyle Busch, pole-sitter Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Reed Sorenson. NASCAR.com
“We had new tires, and I could see [Edwards] fade a little bit at the end of the run,” Kenseth said. “Carl is one of the best out there every Sunday and Saturday, so when you can beat him at the game, you know you’ve had a good day.”
Edwards conserved enough fuel to cross the finish line 0.8 seconds behind Kenseth. It was a 1-2 finish for Roush Fenway. Last Saturday, Edwards won the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race here.
“I got a little bit tight, but Matt raced me really clean,” said Edwards, who led the most laps with 63. “He was kind of messing with me there a little bit. I could tell when he needed to go he took off.”
Kimi Raikkonen struggled in his Nationwide debut at Charlotte. Raikkonen was caught speeding off of pit road and had to serve a pass-through penalty on lap 141. The 2007 Formula One champion had to pit one lap after his penalty when he ran over a piece of debris on the track, and finished four laps behind in 27th. MiamiHerald.com
FIN CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 16 Matt Kenseth Ford 2 60 Carl Edwards Ford 3 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 4 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 5 32 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 6 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 7 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 8 11 Brian Scott Toyota 9 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 10 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 11 20 Joey Logano Toyota 12 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 13 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 14 62 Michael Annett Toyota 15 99 Cole Whitt Toyota 16 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 17 7 Josh Wise Chevrolet 18 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 19 39 Danny Efland Ford 20 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 21 38 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 22 30 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 23 15 Timmy Hill * Ford 24 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 25 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 26 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 27 87 Kimi Raikkonen Toyota 28 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 29 97 Joe Nemechek Toyota 30 28 Derrike Cope Dodge 31 113 Jennifer Jo Cobb * Ford 32 70 Dennis Setzer Chevrolet 33 52 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet 34 81 Blake Koch * Dodge 35 141 Jeffrey Earnhardt Chevrolet 36 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Dodge 37 172 John Jackson Toyota 38 79 Tim Andrews Ford 39 175 Carl Long Ford 40 174 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 41 49 David Green Chevrolet 42 104 Kelly Bires Ford 43 44 Jeff Green Chevrolet
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