Mark Humphrey / AP

Matt Kenseth celebrates in victory lane after winning the Sharpie 500 on Saturday night.

updated 6:47 p.m. ET Aug. 28, 2006

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The perception in NASCAR is that Matt Kenseth is to blame for the Chase for the championship.

A dry and charisma-challenged driver, he spent too much time in 2003 worrying about on-track consistency and not enough about his image. He handily won a championship by finishing somewhere around seventh every week, never caring that he wasn’t in the spotlight or savoring any Victory Lane celebrations.

His title run was boring — as Kenseth is accused of being — and NASCAR wouldn’t going to stand for it (at least that’s what the fans think).

So the sanctioning body changed the rules and devised a “playoff” format that really isn’t even a playoff. But it’s designed to manufacture interest in the sport, maintain it through the summer, and then whip it into a frenzy during the fall when NASCAR goes head-to-head with the NFL.

It was an affront to Kenseth, who played by the rules and stayed true to himself while winning NASCAR’s highest honor.

But guess what? Three seasons later, Kenseth has pushed aside the initial sting of having the rules changed on him and is now a huge proponent of the Chase.

“The more you think about it, I think (the Chase) is more of a compliment than anything,” he said. “It does add more excitement to the season. I think it works and I think it’s good.”

It probably helps that Kenseth has emerged as the new favorite to win the title.

His win Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway was his second consecutive Cup victory and it pulled him within seven points of leader Jimmie Johnson. He was 124 points back before the victories, but now has momentum on his side as he heads into Sunday’s race at California Speedway, where he won in February.

Kenseth is quietly building another championship season, under a new system in a completely different manner. He won just one race during his 2003 title run; he’s already got four wins this year.

He also believes that his team is much stronger than it was in 2003.

“I think this is probably our best chance to ever win one,” he said. “I think our chance is much better as far as pure performance than what it was in 2003, so it’s a great opportunity for us and we’re going to do everything we can to capitalize on it.”

ALLEN BESTWICK ON NASCAR Burton's win stood out Looking at the highs and lows of '06 Cup season

The only difference is that under the Chase format, it will be much more difficult for him to win the title than it was in 2003. No one came close to catching him then, and he wrapped up the crown a week before the season finale. It would be next to impossible for any driver to do that in the current system, which is designed to go down to the wire.