LONG POND, Pa. – At the start of Sunday’s Pocono 400 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, it appeared that Matt Kenseth would endure another struggling weekend with his No. 6 Ford Fusion.
However, a nearly three-hour race at the 2.5-mile triangle allowed his Roush Fenway Racing team to combat the handling on his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford with the dividends paying off the most with a solid 13th place finish when the checkered flag flew.
“It was a struggle all day for us,” said Kenseth. “I felt like we got fortunate at the end with some pit strategy by Matt (Puccia, crew chief) and some cautions that got us back in position to finish 13th but we didn’t run that well.”
By Stage 1, Kenseth was 25th, one lap down. Stage 2 wasn’t better. In fact, it was worse. The Cambridge, Wisc. native finished 31st but still only one lap down.
Having made a pit stop at Lap 75, Kenseth’s team opted to take the wave around at the end of Stage 2 – putting the team back on the lead lap in 28th for the Lap 106 restart.
By Lap 124, Kenseth had climbed to 23rd when the caution waved for a spin in Turn 3. The third yellow flag of the day came at an opportune time for the Matt Puccia led team as Kenseth pitted for four tires and fuel.
Restarting 21st, the veteran used the final 30 laps and a final pit stop for a splash of gas and tires to maneuver through the field to run as high as 12th but lost a spot to Austin Dillon to finish 13th, his best Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series finish since returning to Roush Fenway last month.
Overall, it was the best performance for the No. 6 Cup team since a 12th place finish by Trevor Bayne at Texas Motor Speedway in April.
Even though Kenseth wasn’t thrilled with the performance of his race car, he says progress is being made with his team.
“I feel like we made a small amount of headway today, but we still have a bunch of work to do,” Kenseth added.
Kenseth remains in the No. 6 at Michigan International Speedway next weekend, a track in the Irish Hills where the 46-year-old has earned three wins, 14 top-five and 20 top-10 finishes in 37 starts.
It’s also a homecoming for team owner Jack Roush whose Roush Industries empire is headquartered about an hour and 15 minutes east in Livonia, Mich.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
