LAS VEGAS — Matt Kenseth's bid to win the first three races of the season has ended just seven laps into today's race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Kenseth's engine began to sputter during the warm-up laps, and he began losing power as soon as the race began.

A caution two laps into the race allowed him to head to pit road, where his crew looked under the hood of his Ford to try to fix the problem. He returned to the track, but knew immediately the engine was about to blow.

He radioed his crew to start packing up its equipment as the motor let go minutes later.

Kenseth won the season-opening Daytona 500 and last week's race at California. No driver in NASCAR history has won the first three races of the year.