The Associated Press

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. - Matt Kenseth picked the best way possible to silence his critics: Dominating a race and using a thrilling finish to get back to Victory Lane.

Considered boring in both personality and the way he relied on consistency over wins to earn NASCAR's season title last season, Kenseth shed the image Sunday by nipping rookie Kasey Kahne at the finish line of North Carolina Speedway to win the Subway 400.

"It feels great to come here and be able to win and lead all the laps right out of the box - that doesn't look like us," he said. "Some people have said we can't lead laps and we can't win races, we just go finish seventh every week. So it was awesome to go out and do it."

It was Kenseth's first victory in nearly a year. Although he led the point standings for a record 33 straight weeks, he had just one victory and led only 354 laps all season.

His method of collecting a series-best 25 top 10s was considered so drama-free, NASCAR changed the points system this year to prevent a repeat.

No matter to Kenseth, who led a race-high 259 laps and fought off a furious charge from Kahne before edging him at the line by .010 seconds - the nose of the No. 17 Ford - in the fourth-closest finish in series history.

"To come out of the box and win right away is great," Kenseth said. "There wasn't much bad you could say about our year last season (and not winning) was one of the things. This just proved people wrong."

It was yet another thrilling finish at what could be the final race at "The Rock." The tiny track has already lost one of its races under NASCAR's realignment plan, and poor attendance could ultimately cost it its remaining date.

There were only about 50,000 fans in attendance at a track that seats 60,113.

Kenseth used aggressive moves to dominate the middle of the race, then hung on tightly to win it.

"I wasn't sure who won," said Kahne, who replaced Bill Elliott this year. "It was too close and went by too fast. It was fun to run second."

Kenseth then drove off to Victory Lane, his first trip there since March 2 of last season at Las Vegas. By winning the race and leading the most laps, he picked up 10 bonus points and pulled into second in the standings. He trails Daytona 500 winner Earnhardt Jr., who finished a career-best fifth, by seven points in the standings.