Gone, apparently, is the idea that Matt Kenseth is a David Pearson sort of driver – that is, one who saves his car’s power for the final segment of races and then rushes to the front.Kenseth had a dominating presence in the Samsung Mobile 500 Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway, leading 169 of 334 laps on the way to a surprisingly easy victory.The win snapped a 76-race drought for the Wisconsin driver. He had not won since February 2009 at Auto Club Speedway.“Especially after two years, I didn’t know if I’d have a chance to get here again,” Kenseth said.It was a banner night for Roush Fenway Racing, which put Kenseth in first, Carl Edwards in third, Greg Biffle in fourth and David Ragan in seventh.Clint Bowyer finished second, 8.34 seconds behind Kenseth.“I didn’t have anything for him,” Bowyer said. “I was driving as hard as I could to stay in front of him. It was a solid run, one we can all be proud of.”The race, billed by track promoters as a night of lightning for fans as the speedway moved its spring race to evening hours, was a relative snoozer. There was little wrestling for first place, in large part because Kenseth’s car was so strong.Most of the night’s significant moments occurred on pit road, either in tangled traffic or with penalties, and the race evolved into one of the least entertaining in the track’s history.With 40 laps to go, there were only 12 cars left on the lead lap, and only 12 finished that way.Bowyer made a major save on lap 246. Leading the race, he was approaching Brian Vickers to lap the No. 83 when Vickers came down the track. Bowyer swerved but hit Vickers, sending the Bowyer car into a brief slide.Bowyer corrected and kept the car from spinning, but he lost the lead to second-place Kenseth.The race, the seventh of the Sprint Cup season, was contested on a warm and very windy night. The worst wind conditions of the season impacted the cars as they ran down the backstretch and into the third turn.The race’s first major accident occurred on lap 216 as Martin Truex Jr. lost control of his car exiting the second turn.Truex slid up the track after apparently being tapped by Kevin Harvick and was hit by Mark Martin, who slammed into the outside wall. Regan Smith’s car also was damaged in the wreck.Truex Jr. said traffic slowed in front of him, “and I checked up and was hit from behind.”The crash produced the night’s fifth caution.The opening portion of the race was dominated by Kenseth and Brad Keselowski after pole winner Ragan led the first 10 laps.The night’s first caution flew on lap 11 after Tony Raines’ car dropped fluid on the track.Caution 2 appeared on lap 47 as David Gilliland slapped the wall in the first turn.A tire problem on Ken Schrader’s car caused the third caution on lap 113.
File photo of Matt Kenseth
 driver  won his first race of the 2011 NASCAR   on Saturday during the  at  in , Texas. The win was his first since the beginning of the . Throughout the course of the race there were five  and 31 lead changes among 13 drivers.

On the 214th lap, a three car accident occured, prompting ,  and  to drive to the garage for repairs. Afterward, Truex said: "We were struggling a little bit tonight...It’s unfortunate. We sure didn’t need to be wrecked." Toward the conclusion of the race, Kenseth, who became the sixth different winner in the season, retook the first position after  .

Afterward, he remained the leader to finish ahead of  in second. ,  and  followed in the next three positions.  managed the sixth position ahead of  in seventh.  followed Ragan in eighth, while  could only manage ninth. Kurt Busch rounded out the top ten finishers in the race.

After doing his , Kenseth said: "Especially after two years, I didn’t know if I’d have a chance to get here again." Bowyer followed Kenseth's statement saying: "I didn’t have anything for him. I was driving as hard as I could to stay in front of him. It was a solid run, one we can all be proud of."

Following the race, Edwards became  leader with 256 points. Next,  is second with 247, four points ahead of Kenseth and Johnson. Busch and Earnhardt are fifth and sixth respectively with 240 and 235 points. , , , and  round out the top-ten point positions.

The 2011 season will continue on April 17, 2011 at  for the 2011 . The race will be televised in the U.S. on the  at 1:00 p.m. EDT. 


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