Kenseth holds off Kahne to win in Vegas

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Matt Kenseth won on his 41st birthday in just his third start for the Joe Gibbs Racing, barely holding off Kasey Kahne at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday for his 25th career victory.

"I was real nervous all day," Kenseth said. "(Kahne) had the best car. I told (crew chief) Jason (Ratcliff) with about 12 to go that I was sorry we were going to lose. We were just too tight. ... We didn't have the fastest car there, but we had it where we needed it to be."

Kenseth took charge by taking only fuel on the final pit stop during caution while almost everybody else replaced two tires. He took the lead and held onto it, using his veteran savvy - and a few screamed instructions at his new spotter - to keep Kahne's impressive Chevrolet behind him to the finish.

Pole-sitter Brad Keselowski finished third, with Kenseth's teammate, Kyle Busch, in fourth and Carl Edwards fifth. Jimmie Johnson, the overall points leader, was sixth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. seventh.

NASCAR Sprint Cup

Kobalt Tools 400

Sunday

At Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Las Vegas, Nev.

Lap length: 1.5 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (18) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 267 laps, 120.9 rating, 47 points, $403,466.

2. (4) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 267, 138.9, 44, $279,340.

3. (1) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267, 118.3, 42, $248,956.

4. (13) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 267, 118.5, 41, $208,698.

5. (16) Carl Edwards, Ford, 267, 103.9, 39, $180,590.

6. (3) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 267, 123.7, 39, $173,526.

7. (12) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 267, 103.9, 37, $137,690.

8. (11) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 267, 103.8, 36, $153,215.

9. (8) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 267, 100, 35, $160,576.

10. (17) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 267, 90.4, 34, $146,206.

11. (9) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 267, 79.9, 33, $155,930.

12. (21) Joey Logano, Ford, 267, 82.6, 32, $139,588.

13. (23) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 267, 86.8, 32, $136,925.

14. (15) Mark Martin, Toyota, 267, 90.7, 30, $117,430.

15. (6) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 267, 92, 30, $125,780.

16. (22) Aric Almirola, Ford, 267, 80, 28, $144,166.

17. (5) Greg Biffle, Ford, 267, 76.6, 27, $120,230.

18. (7) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 267, 83.5, 27, $151,066.

19. (25) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 267, 69.8, 25, $131,244.

20. (24) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 266, 68.2, 24, $129,275.

21. (27) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 266, 66.9, 0, $129,188.

22. (19) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 266, 61.2, 22, $127,944.

23. (36) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 266, 63.4, 0, $99,630.

24. (33) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 266, 55.1, 20, $114,663.

25. (10) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 266, 70.7, 19, $141,141.

26. (20) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 266, 62.4, 18, $104,955.

27. (2) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 265, 52.9, 17, $134,838.

28. (31) David Gilliland, Ford, 265, 54.7, 16, $108,463.

29. (30) Casey Mears, Ford, 265, 52.6, 15, $113,638.

30. (26) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 263, 49.2, 14, $111,752.

31. (29) David Ragan, Ford, 263, 44.1, 13, $102,005.

32. (38) David Stremme, Toyota, 261, 43.3, 12, $90,305.

33. (37) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 261, 40.5, 11, $90,105.

34. (32) David Reutimann, Toyota, 261, 35.1, 10, $89,905.

35. (43) Josh Wise, Ford, 260, 34.5, 0, $89,680.

36. (35) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, 259, 36.9, 8, $89,480.

37. (34) Ken Schrader, Ford, 258, 29.4, 7, $89,252.

38. (14) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, engine, 234, 59.8, 6, $118,143.

39. (28) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, engine, 217, 37.2, 5, $87,985.

40. (42) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 216, 26.4, 0, $75,985.

41. (40) Scott Speed, Ford, transmission, 143, 36.9, 3, $71,985.

42. (41) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, vibration, 66, 27, 2, $67,985.

43. (39) Michael McDowell, Ford, vibration, 21, 27.8, 1, $64,485.

Top 12 in Points: 1. J.Johnson, 129; 2. Bra.Keselowski, 124; 3. D.Earnhardt Jr., 119; 4. D.Hamlin, 102; 5. C.Edwards, 98; 6. M.Martin, 95; 7. M.Kenseth, 93; 8. G.Biffle, 93; 9. C.Bowyer, 89; 10. A.Almirola, 88; 11. R.Stenhouse Jr., 87; 12. P.Menard, 82.