CONCORD, N.C. -- Matt Kenseth didn't dwell on his struggles from last week at Kansas Speedway.
In his first race of 2018 after being brought out of semi-retirement by Roush Fenway Racing to try to improve its program, Kenseth's night ended in a wreck after falling laps down. He took over the No. 6 car typically driven by Trevor Bayne.
Kenseth, who will split time with Bayne the rest of the year and is in his second week of a five-week stretch in the car, won the pole on Friday for the NASCAR All-Star Race set for Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Having won the 2003 Cup title at Roush Fenway, Kenseth said he didn't let the poor race ruin his week.
"I was fine Sunday," Kenseth said. "I wasn't so good Saturday, and Tuesday [at the competition meeting] wasn't great. ... Kansas was just a mess from start to finish, honestly; there wasn't really much that came out of that weekend for a positive.
"That being said, it's nice to come here and everybody be on their game."
Kenseth said he is trying to learn from the Kansas race but that he also has put last weekend behind him.
"There is a lot of it I realize that's going to be a work in progress," Kenseth said. "Some things are going to take some time and some patience and all that."
His teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will join him on the front row Saturday night.
The cars are equipped with an aero package that is totally different (and with restrictor plates) than what the drivers have for the regular season. So the success in qualifying Friday won't mean much other than confidence.
Stenhouse said Kenseth's feedback was similar to his.
"He's pretty direct with how he feels about the race cars, and it's nice that his directness is exactly like mine," Stenhouse said. "Hopefully, we can get some movement in the right direction with our cars.
"For me, it's reassuring that he feels the exact same way I do."
Here's the breakdown of the starting lineup for the All-Star Race, as well as for the Monster Energy Open. The three stage winners from the Open and the fan voting's winner will start in the rear of the main race:
1. Matt Kenseth (Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 Ford): Kansas was a miserable first week for Kenseth. He has to hope it gets better, and this pole is a step in the right direction. He has one victory in the NASCAR All-Star Race, in 2004.
2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Roush Fenway Racing No. 17 Ford): Stenhouse has averaged a 15th-place finish in his two All-Star starts.
3. Clint Bowyer (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Ford): He is in the main event for the ninth time in the past 11 years.
4. Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford): Harvick probably isn't disappointed that NASCAR is experimenting with a new aero package this weekend; that means teams won't learn anything on how to catch him for the Coca-Cola 600 next week. Harvick won the All-Star Race in 2007.
5. Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota): He has just one top-5 finish in seven All-Star main event starts.
6. Ryan Blaney (Team Penske No. 12 Ford): He was 11th in this race last year (when drivers were eliminated during the race and there were just 10 drivers for the final 10 laps).
7. Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota): He is looking to defend his 2017 All-Star victory with an aerodynamic package of which he's not a huge fan.
8. Brad Keselowski (Team Penske No. 2 Ford): He has led 108 laps in All-Star competition but has not yet won.
9. Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet): He's making his first main event appearance this weekend.
10. Joey Logano (Team Penske No. 22 Ford): It might seem like long ago, but Logano won this race in 2016.
11. Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet): He has four All-Star wins. No other driver in the field has more than one.
12. Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing No. 1 Chevrolet): McMurray is the only automatic qualifier who has not won a points race in 2017-18. He's in thanks to his 2014 All-Star triumph.
13. Ryan Newman (Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet): Newman won the All-Star Race in his first start (2002). He's still looking for his second one.
14. Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota): He won the All-Star Race in 2015, but he has finishes of ninth and 10th since then.
15. Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Ford): He has top-5 finishes in four of his past five All-Star Races. He won it in 2010.
16. Kyle Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet): Larson led 40 laps last year but finished second to Kyle Busch.
17. Kasey Kahne (Leavine Family Racing No. 95 Chevrolet): Kahne has a paint scheme commemorating his 2008 victory; he won the fan vote and the race that year. He's the only driver who has used the fan vote to win the main event.
Monster Energy Open lineup breakdown
1. Aric Almirola (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 Ford): Almirola's solid season put him on the pole for this race, as qualifying was rained out. He last competed in the All-Star Race in 2015, finishing 14th.
2. Erik Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota): Hard to believe there are two Joe Gibbs Racing cars in the Open.
3. Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet): Hard to believe there are three Hendrick Motorsports cars in the Open.
4. Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet): Elliott has made the main event through the fan vote over the past two years.
5. Paul Menard (Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford): Menard has not made the main event since 2012. He has a chance this year.
6. William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet): He's one of the few drivers in the Open to have experience racing this package, which the Xfinity Series used last year at Indianapolis.
7. Daniel Suarez (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota): Suarez won the Open last year to advance to the main event.
8. Darrell Wallace Jr. (Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Ford): A year ago, Wallace was in Charlotte wondering about his future with his Xfinity ride about to end and no word on whether he would get a shot in the No. 43 car.
9. AJ Allmendinger (JTG Daugherty Racing No. 47 Chevrolet): Allmendinger has raced his way into the All-Star main event three times.
10. David Ragan (Front Row Motorsports No. 38 Ford): He's a great restrictor-plate racer, and drivers are using restrictor plates this weekend, so don't count him out.
11. Chris Buescher (JTG Daugherty Racing No. 37 Chevrolet): Buescher has finished 17th in the one Open race and the one All-Star main event he has competed in.
12. Michael McDowell (Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford): McDowell is among those looking to make his first main event start.
13. Matt DiBenedetto (Go Fas Racing No. 32 Ford): He has a passionate fan base, so don't rule him out for the fan vote -- depending on who wins the Open stages.
14. Ty Dillon (Germain Racing No. 13 Chevrolet): He has worked hard on his social media outreach and videos; it will be interesting to see if he has chance in the fan vote.
15. Corey LaJoie (TriStar Motorsports No. 72 Chevrolet): This team is racing in part because the charter agreement requires it to compete in this event.
16. Ross Chastain (Premium Motorsports No. 15 Chevrolet): This will be his first All-Star experience of any kind.
17. Landon Cassill (StarCom Racing No. 00 Chevrolet): He is coming off a promising 25th-place finish at Kansas.
18. Gray Gaulding (BK Racing No. 23 Toyota): Gaulding's is of three unsponsored cars in the Open, including those of LaJoie and Reed Sorenson.
19. B.J. McLeod (Rick Ware Racing No. 51 Chevrolet): He was running at the finish in 35th in his first race with the team last week at Kansas.
20. Reed Sorenson (Premium Motorsports No. 55 Chevrolet): Would say they are gathering info for next week, but with a different aero package, this non-charter team doesn't even get that benefit of a glorified test.
21. Timmy Hill (Carl Long Motorsports No. 66 Toyota): If Sorenson and Hill can work their way toward the front, NASCAR will have accomplished what it wanted to with this aero package.