Matt Kenseth led 101 of the final 102 laps of the Sharpie 500 Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway in winning the race for the second straight year.

Kenseth posted the first Nextel Cup/Busch Series weekend sweep of his career and secured a place in the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup, as did points leader Jimmie Johnson, who finished 10th. Kenseth also won Friday’s Food City 250 Busch Series race.

Kyle Busch rallied from an early problem with a loose wheel to come home second, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. benefited from astute pit strategy to finish third. Scott Riggs was fourth, outdueling fifth-place Jeff Gordon in the closing laps.

Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Jeff Burton and Johnson completed the top 10. With the victory, Kenseth cut Johnson’s points lead to seven.

Burton was first out of the pits after David Stremme smacked the wall in Turn 4 to bring out the eighth caution of the race on Lap 324. Burton remained out front during a 57-lap green-flag run that ended when Elliott Sadler tangled with Joe Nemechek entering Turn 3 in a wreck that also collected J.J. Yeley.

Earnhardt, who had started 40th and reached the front of the field by staying out under caution after David Gilliland’s wreck on Lap 114, won the race off pit road and led Kenseth, Burton and Gordon to the restart on Lap 387.

Twelve laps later, Kenseth passed Earnhardt for the lead and dominated the next 57 laps under green until Sadler brought out the caution again, thanks to a violent collision with the outside wall between Turns 1 and 2.

Polesitter Kurt Busch saw his luck turn from bad to worse. Busch was running second on Lap 226 before colliding in Turn 4 with Reed Sorenson’s No. 41 Dodge, which was out of control with a flat tire. The wreck damaged the nose of the No. 2 Dodge, but that was the least of Busch’s problems.

He subsequently lost more than 50 laps in the pits to repair a broken transmission, finished 37th and was mathematically eliminated from the Chase.

Sporting News

Fin St Car Driver Make Sponsor Pts/Bonus Laps Status

1 4 #17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT 185/5 500 Running
2 19 #5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet Kellogg’s 175/5 500 Running
3 40 #8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 170/5 500 Running
4 23 #10 Scott Riggs Dodge Valvoline/Stanley Tools 160/0 500 Running
5 13 #24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 160/5 500 Running
6 6 #11 Denny Hamlin * Chevrolet FedEx Freight 150/0 500 Running
7 39 #99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 151/5 500 Running
8 21 #12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL Fastap 142/0 500 Running
9 2 #31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Cingular Wireless 148/10 500 Running
10 18 #48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s 134/0 500 Running
11 7 #29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Reese’s 130/0 500 Running
12 31 #9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 127/0 500 Running
13 17 #21 Ken Schrader Ford U.S. Air Force 124/0 500 Running
14 22 #22 Dave Blaney Dodge Caterpillar 121/0 500 Running
15 32 #88 Dale Jarrett Ford UPS 118/0 499 Running
16 29 #55 Michael Waltrip Dodge NAPA Auto Parts 115/0 499 Running
17 11 #42 Casey Mears Dodge Texaco/Havoline 112/0 499 Running
18 24 #1 Martin Truex Jr. * Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops/Tracker 109/0 499 Running
19 35 #16 Greg Biffle Ford National Guard/Charter Communications 106/0 499 Running
20 28 #32 Travis Kvapil Chevrolet Tide-Downy 103/0 499 Running
21 12 #49 Kevin Lepage Dodge LoansDepot.com 100/0 498 Running
22 5 #20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 97/0 498 Running
23 3 #43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios/Hamburger Helper 94/0 498 Running
24 16 #66 Jeff Green Chevrolet CertainTeed 91/0 498 Running
25 34 #96 Tony Raines Chevrolet DLP HDTV 88/0 498 Running
26 41 #01 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet U.S. Army 85/0 498 Running
27 42 #7 Robby Gordon Chevrolet Jim Beam 82/0 498 Running
28 15 #6 Mark Martin Ford AAA 79/0 496 Running
29 37 #26 Jamie McMurray Ford Sharpie 76/0 496 Running
30 26 #178 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing 73/0 493 Running
31 25 #18 J.J. Yeley * Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 70/0 492 Running
32 14 #14 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet Ginn Clubs & Resorts 67/0 490 Running
33 20 #25 Brian Vickers Chevrolet GMAC 64/0 487 Running
34 8 #45 Kyle Petty Dodge Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil 61/0 481 Running
35 36 #40 David Stremme * Dodge Coors Light 58/0 468 Running
36 10 #41 Reed Sorenson * Dodge Target 55/0 460 Running
37 1 #2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 57/5 446 Running
38 27 #07 Clint Bowyer * Chevrolet Jack Daniel’s 49/0 415 Running
39 9 #19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 46/0 395 Out of Race
40 38 #38 David Gilliland Ford M&M’s 43/0 346 Running
41 30 #34 Carl Long Chevrolet Front Row Motorsports 40/0 256 Out of Race
42 43 #4 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet Bully Hill Vineyards/Food City 37/0 209 Out of Race
43 33 #74 Derrike Cope Dodge Sundance Vacations/Royal Admin. Svcs 34/0 7 Out of Race