Matt Kenseth wins at Kansas after Kyle Busch-Brad Keselowski dust-up

KANSAS CITY, KS - OCTOBER 05: Matt Kenseth, driver of the #18 Reser's Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series 13th Annual Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on October 5, 2013 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
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KANSAS CITY, KS - OCTOBER 05:  Matt Kenseth, driver of the #18 Reser's Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series 13th Annual Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on October 5, 2013 in Kansas City, Kansas.  (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, KS – OCTOBER 05: Matt Kenseth, driver of the #18 Reser’s Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series 13th Annual Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on October 5, 2013 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

KANSAS CITY, Kan.—Matt Kenseth may have won Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kansas Speedway, but Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski provided the most explosive fireworks in a wild race that featured 11 cautions in 200 laps.

Kenseth pulled away after a restart with five laps left and won going away, as Paul Menard edged Regan Smith for second on the final lap. Busch ran fourth after causing the final caution by sending Keselowski into the fence on Lap 188.

Justin Allgaier ran fifth, followed by Austin Dillon, who took the series lead from Sam Hornish Jr., who came home 17th. Dillon leads Hornish by eight points with four races left in the season.

The victory was Kenseth’s second of the season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, his first at the 1.5-mile speedway and the 28th of his career.

To Kenseth, the key to the win was his ability to clear the rest of the field after the final restart.

“I knew it was important to get going,” Kenseth said. “Regan gave me a little bit of a push there. The 31 (Allgaier) was pushing the 54 (Busch) as well. I had just enough speed to get around ‘em off (Turn) 2. I had ’em cleared off of 2, which was a big key, because I could use the whole track from there.”

Keselowski surged into the lead after a restart on Lap 151 but surrendered the top spot to Kenseth on Lap 166. Busch caught Keselowski a few laps later, and as the cars that were 1-2 in the owners’ championship standings battled for the second position, Kenseth’s lead expanded from 1.4 seconds to more than 2.5.

With Kenseth streaking away, Busch closed up on Keselowski’s rear bumper. Contact from Busch’s No. 54 Camry sent Keselowski’s No. 22 Ford spinning toward the infield grass and then back up the track rear-end-first into the outside wall.

“Really?!” Keselowski said incredulously on his radio as his car began to spin.

Keselowski climbed from his car, which was unable to restart, ran toward Busch’s pit and saluted his rivals’ crew, then headed full-speed toward the infield care center, as Busch and Kenseth rolled toward a five-lap shootout for the win.

But Kenseth pulled away after the restart as Busch was shuffled back to fifth, leaving Menard and Smith to settle second place between them on the final lap.

After the race, Keselowski expressed his displeasure and suggested he may exact retribution during the final seven Cup races. Busch is third in the Cup standings, contending for what would be his first championship. Keselowski, the reigning champion, missed the Chase this year.

KANSAS CITY, KS - OCTOBER 05:  Brad Keselowski, driver of the #22 Discount Tire Ford, is held back by officials on pit road after an on track incident with Kyle Busch, driver of the #54 Monster Energy Toyota, during the NASCAR Nationwide Series 13th Annual Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on October 5, 2013 in Kansas City, Kansas.  (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, KS – OCTOBER 05: Brad Keselowski, driver of the #22 Discount Tire Ford, is held back by officials on pit road after an on track incident with Kyle Busch, driver of the #54 Monster Energy Toyota, during the NASCAR Nationwide Series 13th Annual Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway on October 5, 2013 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

“I got wrecked by a dirty driver,” Keselowski said. “There’s no other way of putting it. He’s cool with that. I have raced him really cool over the last year to be respectful to him and try to repair our relationship…

“He put me in the fence in Chicago in the Truck race, and the Nationwide races he has been pulling this crap. It is not going to last, I can tell you that. I feel bad for the guys next to me (indicating the No. 54 team) that are going to have to fix his stuff. That’s going to be part of racing and they are going to have to deal with it…

“Now we’ve got war.”

Busch took responsibility for the incident but dismissed it as a racing accident.

“It was hard racing,” Busch said. ”There were a lot of moments where maybe I felt a little crowded, but the contact there that ultimately ended it… I just got real tight off (Turn) 4. I’ve been battling tight underneath him and behind him and everything else, and finally I thought I had a run, and I tried to stay in the gas so I could get a run on him and get to his quarter and side-drafted him down the front straightaway.

“I got too tight, got inside his wake and just got too close to him and spun him out.”

As to Keselowski’s comments, Busch shot back: “Brad Keselowski knows what dirty drivers are because he’s done it plenty of times. But I have yet to wreck a person on purpose…I got wrecked for the Chase spot by Brad Keselowski (in 2012) and then had an opportunity to wreck him a few times throughout the Chase and didn’t.

“(I) let him and Jimmie Johnson battle it out on their own, and ultimately he won the deal. If I wanted to, I could have cost Brad Keselowski a championship, but I’m a bigger person than that.”

NASCAR Nationwide Series Race – Kansas Lottery 300

Kansas Speedway

Kansas City, Kansas

Saturday, October 05, 2013

1. (17) Matt Kenseth(i), Toyota, 200, $73450.

2. (4) Paul Menard(i), Chevrolet, 200, $57800.

3. (5) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 200, $57775.

4. (12) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 200, $32975.

5. (2) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200, $38925.

6. (1) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 200, $38075.

7. (7) Parker Kligerman, Toyota, 200, $30325.

8. (9) Brad Sweet, Chevrolet, 200, $29225.

9. (8) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 200, $28135.

10. (3) Elliott Sadler, Toyota, 200, $30300.

11. (11) Alex Bowman #, Toyota, 200, $27950.

12. (18) Michael Annett, Ford, 200, $26200.

13. (21) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 200, $25650.

14. (20) Travis Pastrana, Ford, 200, $25140.

15. (25) James Buescher(i), Chevrolet, 200, $19580.

16. (10) Chris Buescher, Ford, 200, $24670.

17. (15) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 200, $24185.

18. (6) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 200, $23925.

19. (30) Dakoda Armstrong(i), Chevrolet, 200, $23715.

20. (14) Nelson Piquet Jr. #, Chevrolet, 200, $24180.

21. (22) Ryan Sieg(i), Chevrolet, 200, $17395.

22. (34) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 199, $23285.

23. (28) Bryan Silas(i), Ford, 199, $23150.

24. (23) Johanna Long, Chevrolet, 199, $23040.

25. (36) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 196, $23380.

26. (39) Jennifer Jo Cobb(i), Ford, 195, $22795.

27. (38) Eric McClure, Toyota, 191, $22685.

28. (13) Brad Keselowski(i), Ford, Accident, 187, $16565.

29. (16) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 179, $22415.

30. (19) Kyle Larson #, Chevrolet, Handling, 145, $22605.

31. (32) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 137, $22150.

32. (37) Ken Butler, Toyota, Accident, 131, $22040.

33. (33) TJ Bell, Chevrolet, Accident, 120, $21925.

34. (40) Carl Long, Dodge, Vibration, 102, $21814.

35. (27) Hal Martin #, Toyota, Accident, 80, $21689.

36. (24) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Engine, 77, $20445.

37. (29) Blake Koch, Toyota, Overheating, 28, $14325.

38. (31) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, Vibration, 11, $14265.

39. (35) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 8, $13940.

40. (26) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 4, $13830.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  114.262 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 37 Mins, 32 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.952 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  11 for 50 laps.

Lead Changes:  17 among 10 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   A. Dillon 1-6; J. Allgaier 7-19; P. Kligerman 20-26; J. Allgaier 27; M. Wallace 28; A. Dillon 29-30; R. Smith 31-57; M. Kenseth(i) 58; R. Smith 59-84; M. Kenseth(i) 85-86; P. Menard(i) 87; T. Bayne 88; C. Buescher 89-90; A. Dillon 91-118; R. Smith 119-146; T. Bayne 147-150; B. Keselowski(i) 151-165; M. Kenseth(i) 166-200.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  R. Smith 3 times for 81 laps; M. Kenseth(i) 3 times for 38 laps; A. Dillon 3 times for 36 laps; B. Keselowski(i) 1 time for 15 laps; J. Allgaier 2 times for 14 laps; P. Kligerman 1 time for 7 laps; T. Bayne 2 times for 5 laps; C. Buescher 1 time for 2 laps; M. Wallace 1 time for 1 lap; P. Menard(i) 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 10 in Points: A. Dillon – 1,024; S. Hornish Jr. – 1,016; R. Smith – 989; E. Sadler – 981; J. Allgaier – 959; B. Vickers – 957; B. Scott – 942; T. Bayne – 939; K. Larson # – 878; P. Kligerman – 858.

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.