CONCORD — There are Chinese fighter pilots who won’t fly this close.
With 1000 yards left to decide an otherwise uneventful 300 miles of racing, Jeff Green and Matt Kenseth put on a close-quarters exhibition Saturday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
After exchanging the lead twice in the final ten laps, the pair duked it out over the final half-mile — crossing the finish line beatin’-and-bangin’ on each other with Green’s Ford winning the Carquest Auto Parts 300 by a measly .055-seconds over the Chevrolet of Kenseth.
“I drove her wide open,” said Green, who took the lead from Greg Biffle on lap 170 (of 200) and led 29 of the final 30 circuits. “My hat’s off to Matt (Kenseth). He did everything he could do without spinning me out.”
The win was Green’s second of the season and his first in 12 attempts at LMS. It was the 12th career Grand National victory for the 2000 Busch Series champion.
It was also one that he’ll remember for a long time.
As the pair roared off the final corner, Kenseth put his fender into Green and muscled his way alongside the No. 10 ppc Racing Ford. As Kenseth continued his advance, the two got together and rubbed quarter panels all the way to the finish line like two squirrels chasing the same nut.
“The thing was loose all day,” said Green. “Matt got me loose and got by me ( on lap 191), and then I got him loose and got back by him (on lap 192).
“That’s what stock car racing’s all about. We weren’t that good to begin with, but we outfoxed them at the end and got out front.”
After seemingly settling for second after a failed pass attempt on lap 192, Kenseth made his final charge out of turn 3 on the 200th circuit. He got a run on Green in a pack of lapped traffic and seemed to have the momentum off the corner.
“I thought I had him and I just got loose,” said Kenseth, the defending Winston Cup Series rookie of the year. “It took me a while. I was trying to save the tires and get one last run. There was some lapped cars and I got close to him there in four and we were rubbing and banging there at the finish. I hope he had fun because I sure did.”
“I was trying to drive it as hard as I could drive it,” said Green. “I’m glad Matt gave me a break there. He could have spun me out, but I knew he wouldn’t do that. He’s a great competitor; he wanted to win just as bad as I did.”
Jason Keller finished third followed by Winston Cup regulars Todd Bodine and Mike Skinner.
Green, whose list of accomplishments in Busch Series racing in steady growing, seemed mortal for much of Saturday’s event, the 14th on a schedule of 34 races.
After qualifying was rained out for the event, Green started the event on the outside of the front-row alongside Kevin Harvick.
Green never challenged early, but managed to hang around the top-five throughout and had the best car at the right time.
“I think my first race here was in 1991, so it took me 10 years to win,”
Green said. “It’s a goal of mine to win everywhere, but Charlotte is our home court. We sleep in our own beds. It’s a little more pride in winning this one.
“This race track is one of the goals of every driver to win. To win one of the biggest races of the year makes you a little more proud of what you did today than you normally might be.”
Greg Biffle, the Rookie of the Year leader, led 154 of the races 200 laps and seemed on his way to becoming the first three-time winner of the 2001 season. Instead, he struggled with the overcast skies and overadjusted his car on the final pit stop. After dominating three-quarters of the race, Biffle settled for a sixth-place finish.
“I thought a half-pound of air pressure was what we needed,” said Biffle. “But the car wouldn’t hardly turn there at the end. It was really loose.”
Jeff Burton, Jimmy Spencer, David Green and Jeff Purvis rounded out the top-10 finishers.
The race was marred by eight cautions for 35 laps. There were nine lead changes among six drivers.
Thanks to Harvick’s bad luck, Green took over the points lead heading to next weekend’s 200-miler at Dover. He leads Harvick by 19 points. Biffle is third, followed by Keller, Mike McLaughlin, Purvis, Jimmy Johnson, Tony Raines, Randy LaJoie and Chad Little.
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