Hard Charger: Matt Kenseth

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Beating and banging is great if it doesn't slow you down. It's those lengthy behind-the-wall repairs that ruin afternoons.

Matt Kenseth was one of the lucky few following Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. No significant scrapes marred his No. 17 Ford at the end, and he was one of only six drivers to finish on the lead lap.

"We got lucky and missed all the wrecks," said Kenseth, who finished second behind Roush Racing teammate Kurt Busch.

But a lack of scars doesn't mean boredom. Kenseth started 37th on a provisional, which usually invites the opportunity to beat and bang. Bristol's tight, high-banked, half-mile oval also invites claustrophobia (imagine 43 cars racing in a washing machine), and with five cautions within the first 100 laps, dodge-ball comparisons applied.

"It's always physical out there, and we didn't have a scratch on the car there until right at the end," Kenseth said. "So it was pretty good."

He had plenty to occupy him without wrecks. A deliberate march through the field saw him in 28th place by lap 25 and in 24th by lap 50. By lap 75, just two laps after the end of the fifth caution, Kenseth sat fourth. He hung in the top 10 for the next 100 laps, slipping unscathed through five more cautions.

SI.com  •  SI.com's complete NASCAR coverage

But on the 11th caution, he and Busch jolted each other. An incident that could have ended both their afternoons happened in Turn 2 -- a multi-car jam-up involving Bobby Labonte, Busch and Ricky Rudd. All were running mid-pack -- Labonte 14th, Busch 16th, Kenseth 17th and Rudd 19th -- and all checked up to avoid one another.

Kenseth got into Busch's rear bumper just enough to dent it but not enough to harm it. On the restart he sat 13th. By lap 250, he was back in the top 10, running in sixth place.

Kenseth even led once for 25 laps -- from lap 334 to lap 358. But a long, green-flag run from lap 263 to lap 390 (127 laps) played havoc with positioning. Qualifying laps for Sunday's race hovered around the 15-second mark. That's about the average of a Winston Cup-caliber pit stop, which means it's easy to fall a lap or two behind during green-flag stops at Bristol's half-mile.

Without frequent cautions to tighten the field, teams had to gamble on stopping, and Kenseth eventually fell a lap back after all the pit sequencing.

"There's so many cars all over the place, the track's so small, and you have no idea what's going on," Kenseth said of the pressure.

He was 18th on lap 375. By lap 400, he'd climbed back to sixth, but his excitement wasn't over. With approximately 20 laps remaining, Kenseth set up a pass of Labonte for second place.

"He was trying to protect his position, and I was trying to take it," Kenseth said of the resultant contact. "It bent my right front fender really bad, and my car wouldn't turn for about 10 or 15 laps, until it wore the metal away from the fender where the wheel would actually turn again."

The incident cost him a shot to chase Busch, but Kenseth was almost as pleased with his runner-up result. He's already won once this season -- at Las Vegas -- and he entered the race as the Cup points leader. Now Kenseth heads to Texas with a 138-point margin over Busch.

"It's early to worry about points," Kenseth said. "But it sure is nice to be running this good, so I'll enjoy it while we have it."