September 19, 2020
Bristol Motor Speedway (Bristol, Tenn.)
266.5 miles
Start: 19th | Finish: 14th Points: 23 | Standings: 25th
Kenseth raced much of the day inside the top 20 after starting 19th. He was one of the last cars to pit during a long green flag run in Stage 3, and was one of the few cars one lap down, as much of the field had gone two laps down to the leader.
Tonight race was the final race in Round 1 of the Playoffs
The caution flag was shown five times for a total of 50 laps
The lead changed 14 times among eight drivers
Phil Surgen, Crew Chief, No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
“Bristol is always a fun and intense place to race, and tonight was no exception. From just about the start of the race, the biggest issue we faced with the car was the center of the corner handling too tight. We made adjustments during the first half of the race to move in the right direction with the balance and were able to gain some spots on the track by the end of the second stage. Unfortunately, for much of the second half of the race the adjustments we made didn't help the balance and the car continued to handle too tight in the center. With about 100 laps to go we were running around the top-10 and hadn't come to pit under green when the caution came out around Lap 410, so caught a little bit of break being able to pit under yellow, even though we were a lap down. We restarted what was the final green flag laps on Lap 418 in 10th, but the car was still too tight in the center to make moves forward. We didn’t have the car we needed tonight, and should have freed up more late in the race, but Matt did a good job tonight to get the finish we got.”
Up next:
NASCAR heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the South Point 400 on Sunday, Sep. 27. NBC Sports, PRN affiliates and SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90 will have live coverage beginning at 7 p.m. ET.