Kenseth clinches spot in Chase

Driver makes Sharpie 500 his fourth victory of season

? Matt Kenseth continued his momentum-building run toward the Chase for the championship Saturday night, pulling off a weekend sweep at Bristol Motor Speedway by winning the Sharpie 500.

His fourth win of the season clinched him a spot in NASCAR’s 10-race playoff format, which begins Sept. 17 in New Hampshire.

It also showed he’s peaking at the perfect time. Tony Stewart got hot midway through the summer last year and streaked to his second Nextel Cup title.

Now Kenseth, winner of three straight NASCAR races, hopes to do the same. He is the first driver since the late Dale Earnhardt in 1987-88 to win the Bristol night race in back-to-back seasons.

“The last two weeks have been just unbelievable,” he said. “If we can go into the Chase like this, we’ll have a shot at the championship.”

Kenseth won last week’s Cup event in Michigan, then Friday night’s Busch Series race at Bristol. He needed a gutsy pass of Kevin Harvick to get the Busch win, but this one came much easier.

He passed leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. with just over 50 miles to go, running him down and then sliding past when Earnhardt appeared to slow coming out of the fourth turn. There was no looking back from there for Kenseth, the 2003 series champion.

Kenseth is second in points, and his back-to-back wins have sliced Jimmie Johnson’s lead to just seven points.

“The guys are operating at a championship level,” Kenseth said. “I was worried about going into the Chase and not running good. But this is what it’s about, bringing your best piece and go there and try to win some races.”

Kyle Busch finished second and was followed by Earnhardt, who had a terrible car when he arrived in Bristol and worked all weekend to salvage his title hopes. Earnhardt, who came into the race in 10th in the standings – on the bubble of making the Chase – moved up one spot.

Scott Riggs scored a season-high fourth-place finish and was followed by Jeff Gordon. The two exchanged heated words after the race, apparently disagreeing over the way they raced each other in the closing laps.

Rookie Denny Hamlin was sixth and was followed by Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman and Jeff Burton, who led 262 of the 500 laps but faded late. Johnson rounded out the top 10.