Matt Kenseth Wins IRWIN Tools Night Race At Bristol (Video)

Matt Kenseth shook of an early penalty and held off Kasey Kahne for 12 laps to hang on and win Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Kahne, who won in the spring, tried numerous times over the final dozen laps to make the pass but never could get it to stick. On the last lap, he went for the bump and run and missed.

Kenseth’s win in the IRWIN Tools Night Race was the fifth of the season, most in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. With the win, he clinches a spot in the Chase for the Championship, which starts in three weeks at Chicagoland Speedway. 

“I know he wanted it bad,” Kenseth said afterward. “We raced as hard as we could race.”

The race was fairly clean until a seven-car crash erupted on a restart with 53 laps remaining.

Hamlin, who started on the pole, made contact with Brian Vickers, cutting Hamlin’s right rear tire. Hamlin clipped Ryan Newman in a chain reaction crash that also collected Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex, Jr., and Brad Keselowski.

he NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to action at 7:30 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 1, at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the AdvoCare 500 (ESPN).

Unofficial Race Results:

1. Matt Kenseth
2. Kasey Kahne
3. Juan Pablo Montoya
4. Brian Vickers
5. Joey Logano
6. Paul Menard
7. Jeff Gordon
8. Marcos Ambrose
9. Greg Biffle
10. Dale Earnhardt
11. Kyle Busch
12. David Ragan
13. Jeff Burton
14. Clint Bowyer
15. Aric Almirola
16. Travis Kvapil
17. David Stremme
18. Ricky Stenhouse
19. Jamie McMurray
20. Mark Martin
21. Ryan Newman
22. Dave Blaney
23. Landon Cassill
24. JJ Yeley
25. David Gilliland
26. Danica Patrick
27. Ken Schrader
28. Denny Hamlin
29. David Reutimann
30. Brad Keselowski
31. Kurt BUsch
32. Tony Raines
33. Casey Mears
34. Kevin Harvick
35. Martin Truex KJr
36. Jimmie Johnson
37. Josh Wise
38. Bobby Labonte
39. Carl Edwards
40. Scott Speed
41. Michael McDowell
42. Ryan Truex
43. Joe Nemechek