USG Racing News Releases

AVONDALE, Ariz. (Nov. 15, 2009) - Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 USG/DEWALT team drove to an 18th-place finish in Sunday's Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. The team was forced to overcome an accident midway through the race, before driving back to the top-20 finish.

"The guys did a great job all day on pit road and we were able to come back after that accident," said Kenseth. "The car just really wasn't fast enough today and that is pretty much what we had out there. We'll take that and move on to Homestead next week, where hopefully we'll be competitive."

Kenseth was running in 20th position when he got caught up in a multi-car accident on lap 170 of the 312 lap event. The team was able to come down pit road and make repairs to the car. The car struggled on the run after the repairs, with Kenseth losing valuable ground and eventually going down a lap to the leader.

The team later opted to stay out under green longer than the remainder of the field, hoping for a caution to fall and gain track position. However, the caution never came and although Kenseth was able to lead four laps, he would lose valuable time to the leaders who had pitted earlier.

Late in the race the USG Ford would come back to post some of the fastest times on the track, but the damage was done and the team was forced to settle for the 18th-place finish, one lap down once the smoke had cleared and the checkered flag had waved. 

Kenseth started the race 28th based on Friday's qualifying effort. He was able to quickly move up to 23rd, but his USG Ford was 'loose' and he would settle back to 25th by lap 30. He eventually settled in 20th. The No. 17 over-the-wall crew was quick on the day, picking up positions on each of its five stops during the race.

The No. 17 team heads to South Florida next week for the series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where Kenseth has led 287 laps in the last two races. Kenseth and the team have finished inside the top-six in three of the last four at HMS, including a victory there in 2007.