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Kansas NASCAR: Matt Kenseth holds off Kasey Kahne to triumph

Matt Kenseth held off a late challenge from Kasey Kahne to take his second NASCAR Sprint Cup victory of the year at Kansas Speedway

Polesitter Kenseth dominated much of the race in his Joe Gibbs Toyota, leading 163 of the 267 laps.

He was untouchable until almost half-distance, when divergent pit and tyre strategies among a number of yellows jumbled the lead pack.

But after the final pitstops Kenseth was back in front, with Hendrick driver Kahne now his main rival.

The two broke away from Kahne's third-placed team-mate Jimmie Johnson, with Kenseth keeping Kahne arm's length until the last few laps.

Traffic then allowed Kahne to close back onto Kenseth's tail, and he had some determined looks down the inside in the closing moments as Kenseth's lead looked increasingly in jeopardy.

Ultimately the 2003 champion had enough pace to rebuild a 0.151-second margin and take victory.

Johnson was a lonely third, followed by Martin Truex Jr, who had a spell in the lead mid-race in another strong run for Michael Waltrip Racing.

Truex's team-mate Clint Bowyer finished fifth, ahead of Brad Keselowski, whose sixth place was a remarkable result after two early pitstops with car issues and his Penske Ford shedding a few parts over the final laps.

Despite such dramas Keselowski still passed Jamie McMurray late on to reach the top six. McMurray had produced a recovery drive of his own after a tap from Mark Martin at a restart dropped him from second to last.

Martin escaped that moment and a separate clout of the wall to finish ninth between Aric Almirola and Paul Menard.

Rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr was in the thick of the lead fight approaching the final stint, but was caught out when a yellow came out just after he had made his last pitstop. That dropped him a lap down and he could only get back to 11th.

Kyle Busch jumped to third at the start only to spin four laps into the race.

He survived unscathed that time, but a later spin sent him into the path of Joey Logano. Neither driver was hurt in the violent, near head-on, impact.

The race's other big crash featured second-row qualifier and Cup returnee Sam Hornish Jr, who collected a spinning Marcos Ambrose, with Casey Mears also getting wrapped up in the subsequent mess.

Results - 267 laps:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                         Time/Gap
 1.  Matt Kenseth        Joe Gibbs Toyota             2h59m51.000s
 2.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet               + 0.151s
 3.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet               + 4.025s
 4.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota                   + 8.355s
 5.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota                  + 10.069s
 6.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford                     + 10.480s
 7.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet     + 12.602s
 8.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                      + 13.129s
 9.  Mark Martin         Waltrip Toyota                  + 13.393s
10.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet             + 14.016s
11.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford               + 14.323s
12.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet             + 15.846s
13.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet              + 18.641s
14.  Ryan Newman         Stewart-Haas Chevrolet          + 19.469s
15.  Kurt Busch          Furniture Row Chevrolet         + 20.120s
16.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet              + 21.011s
17.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford               + 22.979s
18.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet             + 24.973s
19.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford               + 26.974s
20.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                      + 30.313s
21.  Tony Stewart        Stewart-Haas Chevrolet            + 1 lap
22.  Regan Smith         Phoenix Chevrolet                 + 1 lap
23.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford                    + 1 lap
24.  Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota              + 1 lap
25.  Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet           + 2 laps
26.  Josh Wise           Front Row Ford                   + 2 laps
27.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet      + 3 laps
28.  David Reutimann     BK Toyota                        + 4 laps
29.  Landon Cassill      Circle Sport Chevrolet           + 4 laps
30.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford                   + 5 laps
31.  Brian Vickers       Joe Gibbs Toyota                + 10 laps
32.  David Stremme       Swan Toyota                     + 11 laps
33.  Timmy Hill          FAS Lane Ford                   + 25 laps

Retirements:

     Casey Mears         Germain Ford                     216 laps
     JJ Yeley            Baldwin Chevrolet                210 laps
     Travis Kvapil       BK Toyota                        209 laps
     Sam Hornish Jr      Penske Ford                      181 laps
     Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota                 102 laps
     Joey Logano         Penske Ford                      102 laps
     Elliott Sadler      Joe Gibbs Toyota                  85 laps
     Mike Bliss          Humphrey Smith Toyota             65 laps
     Michael McDowell    Parsons Ford                      43 laps
     Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet                 36 laps

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