OREGON, Wis. - Matt Kenseth was the best of the NASCAR Sprint Cup trio that competed in Tuesday night's All-Star Challenge late model stock car race at the Madison International Speedway.
The annual mid-week special, which is promoted by Kenseth's father Roy and his RK Promotions group, attracts some of the best asphalt late model drivers in the Midwest to the half-mile Wisconsin track. Kenseth, Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch all made the trip to compete in the 100-lap main event.
Kenseth started second and was in the mix for the win all night, but came up short to veteran Steve Carlson when the checkered flag flew.
"Steve's (Carlson) awesome and I've raced with him for a long time," Kenseth stated. "He did just about what I thought he was going to do on that last restart and I made a 'Hail Mary' pass but just couldn't make it stick. It was a great race and I had a lot of fun."
Stewart started ninth but an early race spin thwarted his chance to win. He wound up finishing 16th.
"I thought we were going to be a little better," said Stewart. "When I spun and kept my foot in it, that probably didn't help any saving tires.
"I was really loose getting back to the gas. It turned better than it did last year, but the payback on it was poorer drive on the exit. Working with the same set of guys, (crew chief) Jason (Schuler) will make notes and have a good idea of where to start me, what we've got to do to find the middle ground."
Busch wasn't a factor all night and after starting 12th finished 10th.
Another Wisconsin special is on tap Tuesday night, July 15th at the quarter-mile Slinger Super Speedway. Kenseth, Busch and a host of other NASCAR drivers will be on hand to compete against an expected strong field of late model drivers.
