Kenseth's 3rd-Place Finish Leads Team Valvoline with 3 Top 10s in Texas Cup Race
FORT WORTH, Texas (Nov. 8, 2009) -- Led by Matt Kenseth's solid third-place run, Team Valvoline scored three top-10 finishes in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Other top-10 finishers for Team Valvoline in the Dickies 500 were Greg Biffle (eighth) and AJ Allmendinger (10th).
Kenseth battled back from a 30th-place starting spot to earn his seventh top-five finish of the season and his sixth consecutive top-10 at the 1.5-mile Texas track.
"The guys did a really good job this weekend," said Kenseth. "We were pretty slow when we got here. We qualified 30th and had an uphill battle all day. I think we would have finished about third or fourth on performance and the way everything shook out, we still ran third, so, overall, I'm happy with that."
Biffle continues to lead Team Valvoline in the Chase driver point standings. He is ranked seventh while Kasey Kahne is 10th and Carl Edwards 11th. Kenseth, who is not in the 12-driver Chase, sits in 14th place with two races remaining in the 2009 season -- Nov. 15 at Phoenix International Raceway and Nov. 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The Texas race winner was Kurt Busch. Rounding out the top-five in order were: Denny Hamlin, Kenseth, Mark Martin and Kevin Harvick.
In Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide Series race, Team Valvoline also posted three top-10 finishes -- Kenseth (fourth), David Ragan (eighth) and Edwards (ninth).
Valvoline driver Colin Braun finished fifth in Friday night's Camping World Truck Series race at Phoenix.
NASCAR Chase Point Standings following Texas Cup Race, Nov. 8, 2009
1. Jimmie Johnson, 6297 points
2. Mark Martin, 6224 (-73)
3. Jeff Gordon, 6185 (-112)
4. Kurt Busch, 6126 (-171)
5. Tony Stewart, 6119 (-178)
6. Juan Pablo Montoya, 6061 (-236)
7. Greg Biffle, 6050 (-247)
8. Denny Hamlin, 5975 (-322)
9. Ryan Newman, 5973 (-324)
10. Kasey Kahne, 5898 (-399)
11. Carl Edwards, 5857 (-440)
12. Brian Vickers, 5777 (-520)
Team Valvoline NASCAR Race Results
Sprint Cup Series Race
Nov. 8, 2009
Texas Motor Speedway
Forth Worth, Texas
(starting position in parenthesis)
AJ Allmendinger, No. 44 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Fusion
Finished: 10th (16th)
Point Standing: 26th
Greg Biffle, No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion
Finished: 8th (8th)
Point Standing: 7th
Erik Darnell, No. 96 Yates Racing Ford Fusion
Finished: 30th (38th)
Point Standing: 49th
Carl Edwards, No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion
Finished: 39th (6th)
Point Standing: 11th
Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge Charger
Finished: 33rd (2nd)
Point Standing: 10th
Matt Kenseth, No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion
Finished: 3rd (30th)
Point Standing: 14th
Jamie McMurray, No. 26 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion
Finished: 20th (22nd)
Point Standing: 22nd
David Ragan, No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion
Finished: 17th (17th)
Point Standing: 27th
Elliott Sadler, No. 19 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Fusion
Finished: 22nd (33rd)
Point Standing: 25th
Reed Sorenson, No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge Charger
Finished: 36th (18th)
Point Standing: 28th
Next NASCAR Sprint Cup Event
Nov. 15
Phoenix International Raceway
Phoenix, Ariz.
Nationwide Series Race
Nov. 7
Texas Motor Speedway
Fort Worth, Texas
Carl Edwards, No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion
Finished: 9th (15th)
Point Standing: 2nd
Matt Kenseth, No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion
Finished: 4th (2nd)
Point Standing:*
David Ragan, No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion
Finished: 8th (6th)
Point Standing:*
*Not competing full-time in Nationwide Series
Next Nationwide Series Race
Nov. 14
Phoenix International Raceway
Phoenix, Ariz.
Camping World Truck Series
Nov. 6th
Texas Motor Speedway
Forth Worth, Texas
Colin Braun, No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford
Finished: 5th (19th)
Point Standing: 5th
Next Camping World Truck Series Race
Nov. 13th
Phoenix International Raceway
Phoenix, Ariz.
