Matt Kenseth: We were no match for Harvick

AVONDALE, Ariz. — With a third, Matt Kenseth scored his best finish in seven years at Phoenix International Raceway and still didn't reach the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship round.

The 2003 series champion wasn't overly disappointed, though, because he knew nothing short of ending a seasonlong winless drought would be worthy of racing for the title.

"We were no match for (race winner Kevin Harvick)," Kenseth said. "I thought we did everything right: good strategy, good pit tops, all that stuff. Best we've ran here in a while.

"Overall, it was a great day for us. It wasn't good enough to get us to the next round, but after last week, I knew that that was going to be tough. We were probably going to have to come here and win, and we just didn't have enough speed to do that."

That's been the story of the second season at Joe Gibbs Racing for Kenseth, who led the circuit with seven victories last year and finished second in points.

Though he is in jeopardy of his first winless season in four years, he actually has more top fives (13) and top 10s (21, his most since 2007).

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"I feel like we haven't necessarily performed at a championship level," Kenseth said. "I think the pit stops and the strategy and the car prep and the morale … all that has been there, but we haven't had the speed in our race cars.

"To still be in it all the way to the second‑to‑last race was a good feeling to keep getting another shot. I wish we had one more."

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