BRISTOL, Tenn. - Much like the final 100 laps of Saturday night's Sharpie 500, Matt Kenseth has been saving his best for the stretch drive.

As the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series draws closer to the Chase for the Championship, Kenseth is kicking his season into overdrive. He led 99 of the final 100 laps Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway to earn his second consecutive win - and his fourth top-two finish in his past four races - to clinch a spot in the championship playoffs.

But Kenseth wants more. He wants to hit the Chase, which starts Sept. 17 at New Hampshire, at full speed.

"I feel like we're definitely a contender, but in this business you've got to prove your worth each and every week," Kenseth said after pocketing $336,516. "What you did the first 26 races is important, but it's not as important as what you're going to do the last 10 (during the Chase). I feel right now like my team is operating at a championship level."

A year ago Kenseth used up a lot of his emotional and mechanical momentum just to get into the Chase. He jumped from 17th place in the points to eighth in the seven races before the Chase. But once he got there, he ran out of gas. He had three finishes of 26th or worse in the Chase and wound up seventh.

This year, the focus is building momentum heading into the playoffs and keeping it.

"We have been taking it one race at a time and putting forth 100 percent effort each and every race, and we're going to continue to do that the next two weeks and continue to try to do that throughout the Chase," Kenseth said. "But, like I say, we've got to do it. We've got to do the work. We've got to do it each and every week and not make mistakes and put together good runs like that."

Kenseth now is just seven points behind series leader Jimmie Johnson, who has been the leader in the point standings for all but two weeks this year. In fact, Johnson has been the regular season points leader in 57 of the past 76 non-Chase weeks, but he's never been able to carry that momentum into the playoffs.

Kenseth was a top-five driver all night at the half-mile short track, but he waited until the final 100 laps to pour on the pressure.

Once he got out front, he drove away from second-place Kyle Busch and third-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. Scott Riggs finished fourth, while Jeff Gordon was fifth, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman and Jeff Burton rounded out the top 10.

Not only did Johnson and Kenseth clinch a spot in the playoffs, but Kurt Busch (finished 37th) and Newman were eliminated from the Chase.

Reach Don Coble at don.coble@morris.com