Matt Kenseth drove his Wyndham Rewards Fusion to a 23rd-place finish Sunday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway.
After initially qualifying 27th on Saturday, Kenseth rolled off 24th after a set of cars failed pre-race inspection Sunday morning. The 2003 Cup Champion maintained that spot through the opening 40 laps, before a caution came out at lap 43 of the first 160-lap stage. The team would pit again at lap 72 after another yellow, trying to give Kenseth more stability in his Fusion.
He would restart 29th for the final 55 laps of the stage, and after falling back on the restart, would charge all the way to 22nd to end the stage, reporting his machine improved over the long run. He restarted the second stage in 21st, and was 19th by the next break at lap 200. He restarted 18th, one lap down for the final stage, before losing another lap to the leaders after a long green flag run.
Following a trio of three caution flags within a 30-lap window, Kenseth would take the wave around with 44 to go, putting him back one lap down off the leaders in 23rd, where he’d end the day.
The No. 6 returns to the track next weekend with Trevor Bayne back behind the wheel at Texas Motor Speedway. Race coverage begins next Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN and PRN.
RFR PR/Photo Credit Getty Images for NASCAR
