Kenseth glory revives title hopes

Kenseth's win moves him from 15th to 11th in the driver standings

Matt Kenseth is back in the hunt for the Nextel Cup title after securing his first Nascar win since March 2004 at the Sharpie 500 in Bristol, Tennessee.

The Ford driver dominated the race, leading 415 of the 500 laps, and is now 11th in the overall standings.

After the next two races, only the top 10 drivers will be allowed to compete for the Nextel Cup.

Jeff Burton was second, Greg Biffle third while points leader Tony Stewart could only finish in eighth place.

Kenseth is now just 11 points behind Jeff Gordon, who occupies the 10th and final play-off spot after a sixth-place finish at the Bristol Motor Speedway.

"I thought we were out of it," said Kenseth. "There's still a couple races to go, but we're a lot closer.

"If we can run like this in the last two races, we'll make it."

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Sharpie 500 result:
1 Matt Kenseth Ford 500 laps
2 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 500
3 Greg Biffle Ford 500
4 Ricky Rudd Ford 500
5 Rusty Wallace Dodge 500
6 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 500
7 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 500
8 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 500
9 Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 500
10 Kurt Busch Ford 500

Driver standings:
1 T Stewart 3410
2 J Johnson 3197
3 G Biffle 3186
4 R Wallace 3139
5 M Martin 3014