ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- To some extent, Matt Kenseth will always wonder when his next victory will come. But, in truth, that curiosity is a little less intense now, fresh off his victory at North Carolina Speedway, than it was in the 60 winless races before.

"I always wonder," Kenseth said. "I'll wonder that tomorrow if there ever will be a next one because you never know. But (the 60 winless races before) felt like 160 races. It felt like forever."

	Matt Kenseth was relieved to finally drive his car to Victory Lane for a second time.

That forever-ago victory came fast in Kenseth's career. It was his rookie season, in fact, when he took the checkered flag in NASCAR Winston Cup's longest race -- the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte, N.C.

After that win, the spotlight fell on Kenseth as a young up-and-comer with the potential to one day rule the Roush Racing stable that for so long has been led by veteran Mark Martin.

But the spotlight grew bright and hot each race that Kenseth failed to win.

"When we won Charlotte so early, that's a pretty difficult race to win and it was such a great team effort to win that race. And we ran really well the next few weeks.

"Then, our performance just started dropping off. It continued throughout (last) year until felt like with eight or 10 weeks to go we started climbing the hill. I felt like we had bottomed out and were starting to climb the hill again."

Despite the drop in success in 2001, Kenseth managed to garner rookie-of- the-year honors in 2000, beating out Dale Earnhardt Jr. and finishing 14th in the points standings. But 2001, like he said, was hardly any better. There were five races he did not even manage to finish and 22 more that he finished outside the top 10.

Meanwhile, Kenseth watched while Earnhardt Jr.'s luck turned. Junior's team was getting better the more it raced and he squeezed out an eighth-place finish in the points last year. Kenseth finished 13th.

Kenseth's team owner, Jack Roush, noticed his driver's concern and said he didn't know what to tell the Wisconsin native, who will turn 30 on Sunday.

"We kept telling ourselves all last year when one bad thing would happen after another that we were a better race team than that," said Roush, whose entire stable of cars was performing below expectations. "We certainly got less for our effort last year than we've gotten in the past for the same effort."

But then came this past Sunday. From the start Kenseth's No. 17 Ford was fast. And throughout, those unfortunate problems that plagued them in the past bit other drivers and vaulted Kenseth right into Victory Lane.

Kenseth first found the front of the pack on lap 147 and would lead twice more for a total of 145 laps before lap 387. On lap 387, with the mashing of his gas pedal, Kenseth exorcised the ghosts of all those demons past.

His pit crew had gotten him out of the pits first five times in a row. Still, somehow, he managed to get shuffled back to fourth with 27 laps remaining in the race. Ricky Craven was his first target. Craven's Ford had old tires and was really a sitting duck. Sterling Marlin in a Dodge and Bobby Labonte in a Pontiac were all that were left ahead of Kenseth on lap 387. There was a wreck on lap 384 and oil had spilled in Turns 3 and 4. Labonte's car slipped in Turn 3 and Kenseth blasted passed him. Rounding Turn 4, Marlin slipped in some oil and Kenseth ducked under him, too.

With that, he had the lead. A caution three laps later would never be lifted and Kenseth simply paraded around North Carolina Speedway's 1.017-mile oval for the race's final five laps, exulting as the pressure that had built up over his 60-race winless streak evaporated.

"I didn't feel too good about it at all," Kenseth said of being stuck in fourth late in the race. "I got myself too far behind and there wasn't a lot of laps left. It was a miracle. I mean, everything went our way. The cars on the outside hit that oil and slowed down and just opened the thing right up for me."

His fortunes had shifted and he was, once again, a winner.

"I just told him we had (several) laps to go," Kenseth's crew chief, Robbie Reiser, said. "I said there's still time to bring it home. And what do you know, that Matt Kenseth is a heck of a driver."

Rupen Fofaria is a beat writer for the Raleigh News & Observer.