BROOKLYN, Mich. (June 14, 2009) – Matt Kenseth was forced to pit late under green to change a loose wheel in Sunday's Lifelock 400 at Michigan International Speedway and he was never quite able to recover; settling for a 20th-place finish in the race.

"We never were quite able to get a handle on the car today," said Kenseth. "Then we had to pit under green with a vibration and that put us back in the field. We were able to get our lap back, but the car's handling got worse and we just had to hang on, save fuel and bring home what we had."

On a beautiful day for motor car racing in the Irish Hills of Michigan, Kenseth started the race 16th in his No. 17 Carhartt Ford Fusion and needed only 35 laps to move into the field's top 10. He would advance as far as sixth by lap 78, before the car's handling took a turn for the worse.

Kenseth restarted in 12th position after the team's fourth pit stop on lap 122, and moved back to ninth before feeling a ‘bad' vibration in his No. 17 Ford Fusion. He would ultimately have to pit under green to change a loose left rear tire, returning in 22nd place; one lap down.

Although the team was able to battle back on the lead lap – earning the lucky dog and finishing the race on the lead lap – the team was never able to fully recover, ultimately setting for the 20th-place finish. The team did gamble on fuel with the gamble paying off, as several cars ran short on the last lap.

With the finish, Kenseth dropped to 11th in the Sprint Cup point standings, 341 points out of first and 86 points outside of fifth.

The team will return to action next weekend at Infineon Speedway in Sonoma, Calif. for the series first of two road course races of the season.