NASCAR Season Review: Matt Kenseth

Matt Kenseth could rival Martin Truex Jr. in the bad luck department. His No. 20 was leading at the Daytona 500 and had been for 40 laps when he wound up on the losing end of last-lap gamesmanship due to the draft. He finished 14th. Kenseth had qualified second for the race, and the bad luck began when he had to start at the back of the pack after a final-lap crash in the second qualifying race for the Daytona 500, forcing him into a back up Camry.

Bad, or at least bizarre, luck continued in the season's second race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kenseth led 47 laps and had a strong car but was black flagged after his crew chief and spotter failed to call him to serve a pass-through penalty after a disputed pit stop penalty. Not realizing his laps wouldn't be counted, Kenseth stayed out after the white cross was shown, and finishes two laps down in 19th place.

Kenseth's luck turned around at Dover in May. He escaped an 18-car pileup on Lap 356 that caught up Kevin Harvick, who had led 117 laps, and a host of others. It was Kenseth's third career win at the "Monster Mile" and the first for him in 2016.

Win No. 2 for the No. 20 came two months later at New Hampshire, where Kenseth also has three career victories. Kenseth led the final 31 laps as the Toyota family of cars led 299 of the 301 laps in the race.

Matt Kenseth's Darlington throwback paint scheme featured the iconic Tide look similar to the one on Ricky Craven's car in 2003 when he edged Kurt Busch at the track "Too Tough to Tame." Ricky Rudd and Darrell Waltrip also ran the scheme. Kenseth finished sixth in the race.

Kenseth and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates (Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards), along with fellow Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr., entered the Chase as favorites after the five drivers accounted for half of the wins in the 2016 regular season.

Kenseth's 2016 Chase was solid, with eight top 10s in the 10 races, including runner-up finishes at New Hampshire and Charlotte.

Kenseth's Chase came to an end in a wreck at Phoenix. He was leading in the closing laps before a caution came out, setting up a dramatic restart -- the first of NASCAR overtime. Contact with Alex Bowman in a battle for the lead sent the No. 20 out of sorts. Kenseth would go on to finish fifth in the final season standings, his sixth ranking of seventh or better in the last seven seasons.

Info taken from NASCAR.com.