Kenseth

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- After finishing sixth in Sunday's NASCAR Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, Matt Kenseth's quest for the Winston Cup championship just got a whole lot easier.

All the Roush Racing driver has to do is finish 30th or better in each of the two remaining races and he clinches the 2003 championship.

If he finishes seventh in next Sunday's 400-mile race at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina, Kenseth can add his name to the list of champions that includes the late Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Richard Petty.

"That's a good number," Kenseth said. "If we can't finish 30th the last two races, then we don't deserve to win the title.

"My team ran really well. I qualified bad and we're able to drive all the way up through the field to a sixth-place finish. That feels really good. We have a real good car going to Rockingham. I feel real good about that. We should be good going to Rockingham."

Kenseth entered the race with a 258-point lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr. and had it trimmed to 228 with just two races remaining.

If Kenseth has a 152 point-lead after next Sunday's race, all he has to do is start at Homestead, Florida to clinch the championship. If he has a 186-point lead after Rockingham, he is the Winston Cup champion.

"Rockingham is real good for us," Kenseth said. "We've run real good there in the past and I'm really looking forward to it."

For the third time in the last six races, Kenseth had to take a provisional position and start 37th in the race. He was able to drive his way through the field until he was solidly in the top 10.

"The car wasn't really better at the end of the race than the start, we just started 37th, so it took me all day to get up there," Kenseth said. "I don't really beat myself up over qualifying as bad as I used to. We don't qualify very good.

"I do the best I can and that's all I can do. I think there are certain programs we need to work on over the winter, and if we do that, we'll be a lot better in qualifying."

Kenseth said the team was lucky at the end of the race because he didn't pit.

"That was a good call by Robbie Reiser," Kenseth said, crediting his crew chief. "We needed short runs because of having old tires and we got what we needed at the end."

Kenseth's championship would be the first for team owner Jack Roush, who has come close three times with Mark Martin, including last year when he lost by 38 points to Stewart.

But with the title so close, Roush isn't ready to count it as a given.

"I'm not going to think about that yet," he said. "We didn't break a part today and that is a bit plus. Phoenix has dry air and it's real hard on engines. It's easy to burn a piston.

"For a race track this size, there are more engine problems than you expect. I was real nervous about it, but he dodged the wrecks and had a good day. They worked on the car and his car was the best at the end."

Roush added that he doesn't have a thought one way or another about the championship.

"I just hope we don't break the next two races," he said.

Kenseth knows what lies ahead and he looks forward to wrapping up the title soon. That would be a finality to a season where he has led the standings since the fourth race of the year.

"Yeah, I'm pretty excited now that we're out of here," Kenseth said. "We've got two races to go. Obviously, the 8 (Earnhardt Jr.) gained a few points on us, but where we need to finish is probably a pretty reasonable number.

"Unless we break stuff or crash, I think it's real attainable, so I feel good about that. Obviously, it's not over 'til it's over, but I feel great about where we're at with two races to go."

Kenseth made his quest for the title easier with a finish just out of the top five. That dramatically simplified what he has to do to hoist the Winston Cup at the end of the season.

"I think it takes a lot of pressure off," he said. "If we would have gotten out of here with a 25th- or 30th-place finish and they would have gained a bunch of points on us, that would have put a lot more pressure on us. So this was real good.

"There is still pressure. There are still two races to go, but it will be a lot easier going to Rockingham and Homestead knowing we don't have to finish quite as high."