NASCAR rules, but Kenseth still reigns

Monday, March 8, 2004 | 10:22 a.m.

To paraphrase Dan Rather and the rock group R.E.M, the biggest question on everybody's mind following Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 was "What's the frequency, Kenseth?"

How about two wins for every three starts?

While it's doubtful that Matt Kenseth will be able to maintain his 66-percent winning percentage over the course of the NASCAR Nextel Cup season, it's looking as if he has what it takes to capture his second consecutive series championsip -- regardless of how many new rules the sanctioning body adopts to prevent it.

Last year, Kenseth's only win was at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas oval but by taking advantage of an outdated point system that rewards consistency more than victories, he won a series championship that some felt he didn't deserve.

Hey, he didn't make the rules.

And he didn't change them this year.

In a radical move that may have been designed to keep guys such as Kenseth from earning the championship via the tortoise-and-hare method, NASCAR this season will essentially throw the yellow flag after 26 races, bunching the top 10 in points for what essentially amounts to a 10-race playoff run for the title.

Kenseth should add pinstripes to his driving suit because at this early stage, he is starting to look like the Yankees. He just might clinch a playoff berth -- or whatever you want to call NASCAR's new method for determining its champion -- by Memorial Day.

The only driver to post top-10 finishes in each of the first three races, Kenseth was so dominant in winning his second consecutive race of 2004 and second in a row in Las Vegas that there's no telling what NASCAR might do next in an attempt to stop him.

I would suggest one of those tack strips that the Highway Patrol lays down to bring freeway chases to a halt.

While Kenseth had to fight tooth and nail to hold off precocious Kasey Kahne for the win at Rockingham two weeks ago, there was no need to bring his dental floss and hammer to the track on Sunday. He spent the first half of the race making amends for his 25th-place qualifying speed, but after he took the lead for the first time on Lap 95, it was like Dick Dastardly against the Wacky Racers. Only Kenseth didn't have a snickering dog named Muttley to slow him down.

He had the lead for 123 of the final 172 laps, relinquishing it only during a late-race stop when his crew opted to finish lunch before refueling him. But any time lost in the pits was quickly made up when the track went green.

These are the best stock car drivers in the world, and Kenseth made them look like Penelope Pitstop.

While most of the front-runners were having trouble preserving the softer tires Goodyear prescribed, allegedly to make the racing here more competitive, Kenseth's appeared to have pine tar on them. They stuck to the racing groove like discarded bubblegum on an August day and never lost their grip, even during long fuel runs.

Kenseth hails from Wisconsin, and his personality is about as lively as Milwaukee after dark. Still, he managed to get in a couple of subtle jabs on NASCAR and anybody else who would question his ability and/or worthiness as champion.

"I've learned something," Kenseth said of his critics. "At Rockingham, it would be hard to say we didn't have the dominant car, yet all you saw in the headlines was that the caution didn't fall right. We weren't on the lead lap and we shouldn't have won and this and that. It's always something, but I'd rather have them talking about us because we're doing so good other than the other way around, I guess."

Of course, it wasn't long before the media that assembled for the postrace news conference began deflecting some of the credit from Kenseth toward his car owner Jack Roush, whose cars have won five of the seven Cup races contested here.

But it should be noted that none of his teammates had anything for Kenseth, either. Mark Martin finished fifth, Kurt Busch ninth, Jeff Burton 13th and Greg Biffle 40th.

While it helps to have a good setup, a good engine program, a good sponsor and a good group of guys for teammates, I have yet to see a car -- unless you count KITT of "Nightrider" fame -- get around the track without a driver.

At this stage of the season, Matt Kenseth rules. Regardless of which ones NASCAR asks him to play by.