Full Throttle

Matt Kenseth took over the lead in the final laps of the Sharpie 500 at BMS to win his second race in as many nights at the half-mile, high-banked track.

Kenseth, who also won Friday night’s NASCAR Busch Series race, held off the #5 of Kyle Busch to capture his fourth victory of the year matching that of Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne as series leaders in wins.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., was third while Scott Riggs put on a slightly contested inside move on Jeff Gordon with two laps remaining to finish fourth, with four-time champion Gordon finishing fifth.

Points leader Jimmie Johnson, who wound up 10^th after yet another “playing out the string” run and clinched his spot in the Chase.

Jeff Burton turned in another dominating performance early but again faded as the checkers got closer and had to settle for a 9^th place finish.

Mark Martin suffered through a poor handling car finishing in 28^th and dropped six spots to tenth in the standings only 90 ahead of Kasey Kahne.

One final note on the “Le Affair Montoya.” McLaran boss Ron Dennis says he will agree to release Juan Pablo Montoya to debut in NASCAR this year but only if the departed Colombian foregoes his pay. ‘‘We are absolutely comfortable with either releasing him and stopping paying him or he stays in the position of earning.”

The question now is who will pony up the cash. Mercedes and Dodge parent company DaimlerChrysler have taken an active role in prying Montoya loose from his contractual obligations. They may be the most likely candidate to float a check.

Matt Kenseth, NASCAR, NEXTEL Cup, Sports, Bristol Motor Speedway, Auto Racing, Motorsports, Full Throttle