Kenseth, who won his series-high fifth race this season, clinched at least a wild-card spot in the Chase
BRISTOL, Tenn. — They bill Bristol Motor Speedway as "The Last Great Colosseum," a place where modern-day gladiators do battle in heavily-armored stock cars.
It's why more than 100,000 people came to the mountains of eastern Tennessee on Saturday for the annual night race and why almost all those in attendance figured Kasey Kahne might send race leader Matt Kenseth spinning in the final laps when he had the chance.
After all, Kahne had been wrecked four times by Joe Gibbs Racing cars this year — including Kenseth — and this seemed to be the most opportune moment for revenge.
But Kahne did no such thing. Instead, he tried to win the race with a clean pass over a thrilling final 12 laps, but Kenseth held him off for the win.
It was Kenseth's fifth victory of the season — a Sprint Cup Series high — and left fans wondering what it would take for Kahne to ever retaliate.
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"I think at the end of the day, I just don't wreck people," Kahne said afterward.
Kahne had the faster car — both he and Kenseth agreed on that point — but Kahne couldn't quite get past the No. 20 cleanly.
"I would have wrecked probably both of us. I just tried to pass him as clean as I could and race him as hard as I could, and I thought I had him at one point, had a good run and tried to slide across, and he just kept position.
"I just didn't clear him. I just didn't get it done. I'm upset with myself for not figuring out how to win tonight because I clearly had a better car at the end of the race."
Kahne had chances, certainly; the two drivers were side-by-side on several different occasions and even rubbed doors at one point.
But Kahne lived up to his reputation as a clean racer, which is exactly what Kenseth expected would happen.
"We've raced each other hard a lot of times, but I feel like we've always been fair with each other," Kenseth said, adding that any rift between he and Kahne was "blown out of proportion."
Kahne, though, had singled out Kenseth as racing him particularly hard during an Aug. 14 teleconference with reporters. He said history with Kenseth was "definitely on my mind" and seemed to suggest he was tired of coming out on the wrong end.
And after Bristol, Kahne said he still hadn't forgotten a recent Watkins Glen incident.
"He just didn't lift and wiped us out and those kind of things are discouraging because that's not how I race," Kahne said.
Still, that wasn't enough for Kahne to take his revenge.
"I needed a win bad, but I also needed a finish, and I just didn't do anything crazy," he said.
But he could have, and Kenseth certainly recognized the possibility. He just wasn't going to fret about it as the two fought for position while the laps wound down.
"The only car you can drive is your own, and I looked out the windshield and I raced as hard as I could race pretty much all night," Kenseth said. "If somebody decides to run into you or to do something to you, there's not really a lot you're going to do about it."
Even if Kahne was going to retaliate, though, it was unclear how he would have done it. Unlike the old Bristol where Dale Earnhardt once rattled Terry Labonte's cage, the new Bristol has drivers racing the high line, so there's no room for a driver to put another into the wall without doing damage to himself.
"He's going to hit the fence. Well, you're right behind him a foot off the fence — where are you going to go?" Kenseth said. "So I'm not smart enough to figure out probably how to do it. I would try to do it the right way and hope it turns out in your favor."
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To win, Kenseth overcame a pit road speeding penalty early in the race, but other several stars couldn't overcome misfortune.
Chase contender Kurt Busch had a wheel hub problem while leading 90 laps in and finished 31st, Jimmie Johnson crashed with 140 laps to go and finished 36th and Mark Martin, driving for the injured Tony Stewart, was three laps down in 20th.
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Another driver with a strong car, Carl Edwards, blew an engine while running up front.
He dropped from second to 10th on a restart with 390 laps to go, then diagnosed his issue as a broken valve spring.
"Want me to keep going or just shut it down?" he said on the team radio. "We're going to blow the thing up."
When he finally parked, it marked Roush Fenway Racing's first failure to finish of the season between its three cars (Edwards, Greg Biffle and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.).
"We had a great car, probably the best car we've had in a long time," Edwards said. "I feel like we were in control of that race. We were gonna win that one."
Tempers flared with 53 laps to go when, following a restart, a seven-car pileup collected Chase contenders like Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr.
Denny Hamlin was hit by Brian Vickers, which cut down a tire and shot Hamlin up into Kevin Harvick. Several other cars piled in, and NASCAR threw a red flag.
Hamlin shoved Harvick's wrecked car out of the No. 11 team's pit stall, and Harvick got out of his car holding his hands to the side as if to say, "What the heck?"
Though officials and Hamlin team members tried to keep Harvick away, the Richard Childress Racing driver went over and stuck his head in Hamlin's car to have a conversation.
"He told me his version of it," Harvick said. "It's all good. It's Bristol racing and it's something I just wanted to know."
Said Hamlin: "He was under the impression I caused it. He didn't see the replay. … It sucks, but I didn't cause it."
The wreck contributed to a shakeup in the point standings with two races to go until the Chase field is set. The top 10 drivers plus two wild cards make the 10-race playoff.
Kahne (eighth) and Joey Logano (10th) jumped into the top 10 while Keselowski (11th) and Kurt Busch (12th) dropped out. The two wild cards are now Martin Truex Jr. (14th) and Ryan Newman (15th).
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