Matt Kenseth gave himself a nice birthday present on Sunday, winning the Sprint Cup Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after holding off Kasey Kahne, who finished second after making a later push.
Kenseth took advantage during a pit stop by only taking fuel was able to take the lead over Brad Keselowski and Kahne and after a final restart on Lap 242, he was able to stay ahead and take the checkered flag. Kenseth finished barely ahead of Kahne at just .594 seconds and Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski, who started from the pole after a rainout during the week, finished third.
Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards rounded out the top five, while Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Paul Menard followed for the top 10 at the track for the third event of the year ahead of next week's race at Bristol.
Kenseth got his first win since moving from Roush Fenway Racing to Joe Gibbs Racing and also marked the 50th time Toyota has won on the Sprint Cup. Tony Stewart took home the race last season and finished 11th this year, while Denny Hamlin came in 15th after having an eventful week that saw him get fined $25,000 by NASCAR for making disparaging comments about the Gen-6 cars.
Kenseth also became the third driver on the Sprint Cup to win on his birthday, according to ESPN.com. The last driver to do it was Kyle Busch in 2009 on his 24th birthday at Richmond, with the other two being Cale Yarborough in 1983 and 1977. Kahne had a chance, but he ended up losing five spots when he went in the pit, allowing Kenseth to get the lead.
Kobalt Tools 400 Race Results from ESPN.com:
1. (18) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 267, $403466.
2. (4) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 267, $279340.
3. (1) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267, $248956.
4. (13) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 267, $208698.
5. (16) Carl Edwards, Ford, 267, $180590.
6. (3) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 267, $173526.
7. (12) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 267, $137690.
8. (11) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 267, $153215.
9. (8) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 267, $160576.
10. (17) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 267, $146206.
11. (9) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 267, $155930.
12. (21) Joey Logano, Ford, 267, $139588.
13. (23) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 267, $136925.
14. (15) Mark Martin, Toyota, 267, $117430.
15. (6) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 267, $125780.
16. (22) Aric Almirola, Ford, 267, $144166.
17. (5) Greg Biffle, Ford, 267, $120230.
18. (7) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #, Ford, 267, $151066.
19. (25) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 267, $131244.
20. (24) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 266, $129275.
21. (27) Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 266, $129188.
22. (19) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 266, $127944.
23. (36) Trevor Bayne(i), Ford, 266, $99630.
24. (33) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 266, $114663.
25. (10) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 266, $141141.
26. (20) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 266, $104955.
27. (2) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 265, $134838.
28. (31) David Gilliland, Ford, 265, $108463.
29. (30) Casey Mears, Ford, 265, $113638.
30. (26) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 263, $111752.
31. (29) David Ragan, Ford, 263, $102005.
32. (38) David Stremme, Toyota, 261, $90305.
33. (37) Danica Patrick #, Chevrolet, 261, $90105.
34. (32) David Reutimann, Toyota, 261, $89905.
35. (43) Josh Wise(i), Ford, 260, $89680.
36. (35) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, 259, $89480.
37. (34) Ken Schrader, Ford, 258, $89252.
38. (14) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, Engine, 234, $118143.
39. (28) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, Engine, 217, $87985.
40. (42) Joe Nemechek(i), Toyota, 216, $75985.
41. (40) Scott Speed, Ford, Transmission, 143, $71985.
42. (41) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, Vibration, 66, $67985.
43. (39) Michael McDowell, Ford, Vibration, 21, $64485.
