Kenseth Stays Third in Sta-Green 200

In a white-and-green Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), Matt Kenseth started third, ran third and finished third in the Sta-Green 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series race Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.

“We had a pretty solid weekend with our Interstate Batteries Camry. We unloaded pretty close and we qualified third and finished third,” said Kenseth after making his 11th Nationwide Series start of the season. “Got to thank Norm Miller and everyone at Interstate Batteries for their support. They’ve been with Joe Gibbs Racing for 22 years now and I’m proud to represent them.”

The finish equaled Kenseth’s best Nationwide Series result this season, as the Cambridge, Wisconsin-native finished third April 11 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. It was Kenseth’s 130th top-five finish in the Nationwide Series and it came in his 275th start.

“The guys that qualified first and second, finished first and second,” Kenseth said. “I felt like we were a third-place car and we finished third. I felt like the two best cars were in front of me and I couldn’t catch them. The 42 (Kyle Larson) was better on the short run and we were better on the long run and got away there a little bit. It’s just what we had. We had a couple of shots to make it better and we made it better, but not good enough to run with the 22 (Brad Keselowski) and the 54 (Kyle Busch).”

The third-place finish was Kenseth’s seventh straight top-10 at New Hampshire in the Nationwide Series and it came in his ninth career Nationwide Series start at the 1.058-mile oval. It was Kenseth’s fourth top-three in the Nationwide Series at New Hampshire, with his best result being a win in the 2004 race.

Dallas-based Interstate Batteries is the No. 1 replacement battery in North America. Known to be “Outrageously Dependable”, Interstate Batteries is JGR’s founding partner, having been with the team since its inception in1992.

Kenseth’s JGR teammates – Busch, driver of the No. 54 Toyota Camry and Elliott Sadler, driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry – finished second and sixth, respectively.

Keselowski won the Sta-Green 200 to score his 29th career Nationwide Series victory, his second of the season and his second at New Hampshire.

TSC PR