Pit stop payoff

Monday, Nov. 11, 2002 | 10:17 a.m.

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Matt Kenseth won the battle and Tony Stewart is on the verge of declaring victory in the war.

Kenseth earned his fifth NASCAR Winston Cup victory of the season in Sunday's Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway and Stewart closed in on his first Winston Cup championship with an eighth-place finish.

Although Stewart lost 23 points to Mark Martin, who took fourth, all Stewart has to do is finish 22nd or higher in Sunday's season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to claim the championship trophy.

"I want to win that thing," Stewart said of the season-ending race. "We went and tested this past week (at Homestead) and we were fastest in testing. I feel like we can win that race.

"We've dominated there in the past and I think it's time we get our crown back there."

The 31-year-old Stewart, who leads Martin by 89 points, would not discuss the championship race.

"Don't want to talk about it even," he said. "I think we can win the race at Homestead next week and that is the way I want to finish my year out."

No matter who wins next weekend's race, Kenseth will end the season as this year's winningest driver -- although his series-leading fifth victory did not come easy.

Kenseth survived a scare early in the race when he ran out of gas and had to pit under a green flag. A great pit stop by his crew kept Kenseth on the lead lap -- as did a timely caution flag less than a dozen laps later.

But it was a strategic move during the final caution period of the race -- with 52 laps remaining -- that won the race for Kenseth. Running third before the caution flag fell, Kenseth's crew elected to take on only two tires and he was able to beat the race leaders out the pits.

"Our last pit stop was a big key point of the race," Kenseth said. "The other (key) was when we ran out of gas, we didn't get a lap down and that was a big help, too.

"But the last stop, to get two tires, our car really worked well on two (new) tires instead of four, for some reason. So when we got two that last time, I got clean air and I was able to pull away."

Kenseth held off Rusty Wallace, who also took only two new tires on the last stop. Jeff Gordon took third, Martin was fourth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was fifth.

Martin, who has finished second in the championship three times, admitted he might have been playing it a little conservatively when he elected to take four tires instead of two on the last pit stop.

"We had a car that could contend, we just didn't get the track position," he said. "Maybe we should have taken two there at the end. I was really thinking about it but we also didn't want anything to go wrong there.

"We can't afford to do anything stupid, either, so four tires was the conservative route."

Las Vegas native Kurt Busch, who led a race-high 117 laps, was third on the final restart but battled an ill-handling car over the final 50 laps and finished sixth.

Wallace said he could not catch Kenseth in the closing laps because Kenseth had the advantage of not running behind other cars.

"I just couldn't catch him," Wallace said of Kenseth. "That clean air was just incredible for the (leading) cars.

"I think if I got out in front, I would have pulled away just like (he did). When you've got clean air, those first two laps are incredible with how much you can jump out and then maintain that (lead)."

Although he has made a habit of winning races this season, Kenseth said he doesn't exactly feel like a world-beater.

"I'm still surprised with all the wins this year," he said. "I'm real surprised (because) when I show up to the racetrack, I don't think 'man, we can win this weekend.'

"I don't have that comfort level over here where I think next week I'm going to go to Homestead and qualify in the top fifteen and be one of the leaders and have a shot to win."

Kenseth's average speed was 113.857 mph in a race that was slowed by four caution periods for 18 laps. There were 14 lead changes among nine drivers.