KANSAS CITY — The fast, smooth new surface at Kansas Speedway had the potential to wreak havoc on the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. The recent repave cluttered Sunday's race with a record 14 cautions — a season high in the Sprint Cup Series — and contributed to issues that affected at least four title contenders. But the standings looked much the same when Matt Kenseth took the checkered flag in a battered Ford that he banged hard into the wall midway through the race. Kenseth still managed to drive it to his second victory in three races, while Brad Keselowski dodged accident after accident to hang onto his seven-point lead over Jimmie Johnson in the standings with four races remaining in the Chase. “I was thinking, ‘Man, this has to be entertaining for everybody to watch,'” Kenseth said. “There was a lot of wild stuff happening.” That was an understatement, when the longest green-flag run was 35 laps early in the race. Some of the cautions were caused by tire problems, others were for single-car spins, including Chase drivers Johnson, Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle. And, Danica Patrick wrecked herself when she intentionally wrecked Landon Cassill. Biffle's spin ended his day with a hard crash into the wall. Johnson, who led 44 laps early, was far luckier. He had pitted from the lead and was back in traffic when a caution came out, and he spun by himself shortly after the restart. He, too, hit the wall on his spin, but crew chief Chad Knaus called him to pit road to get a look at the car instead of conceding laps by going to the garage for repairs. Knaus then methodically dictated team orders, as Johnson stopped on pit road at least a half-dozen times for repairs over two caution periods. Even Keselowski was surprised to see the heavily taped No. 48 back on the track when the race went green. In the end, Johnson salvaged a ninth-place finish and was carefully inspecting his Chevrolet after the race. It was still good enough to keep the Chase margin unchanged with Keselowski, who finished a spot ahead in eighth. He came into the race with a seven-point lead and left with a seven-point lead as the series heads next weekend to Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. Martin Truex Jr. finished second, Paul Menard was third in the first race back for crew chief Slugger Labbe, who served a six-race suspension for an infraction at Michigan. Kasey Kahne finished fourth and was followed by defending champion Stewart, who overcame both a spin during the race and a pit road penalty for leaving his stall with equipment still attached to his car. Clint Bowyer, from nearby Emporia and the winner last week at Charlotte, finished sixth to maintain fourth in the Chase standings. He trimmed his deficit by three points to 25 behind Keselowski. Regan Smith, in his second race filling in for Dale Earnhardt Jr., was seventh. Keselowski, Johnson and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top 10. Denny Hamlin was 13th to remain third in the standings, but he lost five points and now is down 20 to Keselowski. — Agencies
