Kenseth's late fortunes still leave him on Chase outs

If Matt Kenseth and his Roush Fenway Racing crew chief Chip Bolin aren't completely spun out after two consecutive weekends of nearly incomprehensible outcomes, they've got the Watkins Glen road race next weekend.

Bolin's got just one hope for next Sunday's Centurion Boats at The Glen, after seeing his team fall five spots in the standings in the last two weeks and out of a qualified spot for the Chase for the Sprint Cup with five races left until the cutoff.

Pennsylvania 500
Official Results

Pos. Driver Make

1. Carl Edwards Ford
2. Tony Stewart Toyota
3. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet
4. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet
5. David Ragan Ford
6. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet
7. Kasey Kahne Dodge
8. Mark Martin Chevrolet
9. Jamie McMurray Ford
10. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet
11. Matt Kenseth Ford

• Results | Points | Lap-by-Lap
• Race Video | Photo Gallery"Don't run off the racetrack and finish as best we can," Bolin said in the lengthening shadows of the post-race Pocono garage, as he contemplated next week's race where Kenseth's finished 12th, 21st and 18th in his last three outings. "We've just got to stack up as many top-10s as we can and hope that we finish in front of [Kevin Harvick] and [Clint Bowyer]."

"Every point matters all year from Daytona to Richmond [the Chase cutoff race] to get in so, yeah, it matters -- but it doesn't matter today if you're 13th or fifth," Kenseth said. "You've got to be in after Richmond so we'll just keep digging as hard as we can and, hopefully, we'll make it."

Kenseth, the 2003 Cup champion whose long run back from 35th in the standings after the season-opening Daytona 500 put him eighth in points going into last weekend's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. But he left the Sunoco Red Cross 500 at Pocono Raceway Sunday unofficially 13th in points -- 11 behind 12th-place Bowyer and 20 behind 11th-place Harvick.

Kenseth finished 11th at Pocono, but only after a wild shuffle of cars making fuel stops or flat running out of gas in the race's final laps moved him up from 17th. It was a blessing on a day in which Kenseth thought he and Bolin had made the right calls.

"Obviously, I probably couldn't keep track of what's going on out there very well," Kenseth said. "You kind of know what's going on, but it's really hard to keep track of."

Kenseth, who had a rear tire explode last week at Indianapolis and take most of the right-rear bodywork off his No. 17 when it did, saw his fortunes fluctuate all day Sunday.

He started fifth and by midway through the race had picked up three spots in the standings, to eighth. But when the weather began threatening, including a 41-minute red flag for rain at Lap 131 of 200, Kenseth's fortunes started spiraling downward.