OXFORD – Matt Kenseth says he tends to be a better racer than a qualifier.

For much of Sunday, qualifying proved to be quite a chore for the defending Nextel Cup champion, but he made the racing part look pretty easy.

After working all day just to secure his spot in the Banknorth 250, Kenseth roared back from dead last to finish third in Sunday’s race behind Ben Rowe and Ricky Rolfe.

“If we’d have had a normal kind of qualifying, I think we would have qualified pretty good because we had a fast car,” said Kenseth. “We just drew last. It’s funny. When we do qualify, we don’t qualify very good, but we were in a bad position.”

Kenseth arrived at Oxford Plains Speedway with a full plate on his schedule. He not only had to get accustomed to a different car and a new track but also had to qualify and then race. He had his work cut out for him and that was even before he drew the short end of the draw, which putting him in the back of the pack for the fifth qualifying heat.

“My reaction? I thought it sucked,” said Kenseth. “That’s not fun to start back that far.”

Kenseth not only struggled in his qualifying heat but had to leave his consolation heat with a flat tire. He would up fifth in the last chance qualifier and earned the 41st spot in Sunday evening’s race thanks to a provisional.

“It is discouraging, but I’ve never been here before and it’s a little bit different,” said Kenseth.

Things were not too much easier for Kurt Busch, Kenseth’s fellow Nextel driver and Roush teammate. Busch drew the fourth spot in the fourth heat and finished sixth. He then earned the 35th spot in the race by eking out a fourth-place finish in the consolation heat. Busch finished 13th overall, three laps behind the leader.

“It’s very congested to say the least,” said Busch. “We had a guy changing a few lanes on us in our heat race, and that made us drop back to sixth. That forced us into the (consolation heat). We were able to finish good enough in that to make the main event. That was the first objective obviously.”

In the 250’s history, only four drivers had won the race after starting from the 20th spot or beyond. Mike Rowe in 1997 and Tommy Ellis in 1983 came from the 26th position. Ralph Nason was 24th in 2000 while Dave Dion was 20th in 1992. Ben Rowe became the fifth Sunday coming from the 25th spot.

It was long odds for both Busch and Kenseth from the start, and it was foreign territory for both.

“I’ve never been in a short track race that started this many cars,” said Kenseth. “So it’s my first experience with that.”

On a small track with little room to pass, it had both racing teams scrambling to come up with a race strategy.

“It’s always tough to wait and hold your time,” said Busch. “You’re going to have the leaders on you pretty quick. You have to be patiently aggressive. When there’s an opportunity to pass, you take it and when you need to ride, you ride.”

Busch and Kenseth made a move right from the start and worked together to erase their deficit. By the 82nd lap, Kenseth was 14th and Busch was 15th. Soon after, they were closing in on the top 10.

Kenseth continued to work his way forward. Busch fell off the pace and was already down a lap when he spun out and recovered on lap 138.

By lap 167, Kenseth slipped into second place, but Rowe passed him on lap 197, and Kenseth never got any closer to the lead.

“I had a good handle on the car,” said Kenseth. “I was able to get around the track pretty good. We pitted at the right time in the race. We maybe could have pitted one more time and might have had a shot at winning, but we pitted at the right time to have the proper track position. They did a good job picking that out.”

Kenseth’s third-place finished seemed improbable after his afternoon of qualifying. Getting much movement proved difficult during the qualifying heats.

“I didn’t think it would be so hard to pass on the outside,” said Kenseth. “I knew it would be hard, but I thought I’d be able to do it. It was really tough to pass.”

Busch had the first qualifying heat and quickly ran into trouble. He got bumped on the second lap, putting a nice scuff mark on the left side door panel. He managed to keep from skidding off the track but fell further back and finished sixth.

In the consolation race, Busch quickly dropped back from fourth to fifth but moved back up to fourth after a yellow caution flag to avoid the last chance qualifier.

“The draw was actually favorable to us,” said Busch. “There are some guys that are so fast that got bad draws that are not even able to get into the race.”

Had it not been for his provisional, Kenseth might have been one of those. He started well behind the pack in his qualifier and couldn’t make any headway, finishing 10th.

In the consolation race, he got bumped and nearly spun out in the third lap. He eventually left the track on the 14th lap with a flat tire. He rallied from the back to take fifth in the last chance qualifier.

“We got boxed in that first one and my inexperience came in,” said Kenseth. “The second race, we got backed up. Then we got a flat tire. It’s difficult. I think we had a good enough car, but you need to get a good draw. We could have finished in the top four in the heat races.”