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Matt
Kenseth News 1997
2004 •
2003 • 2002 • 2001
• 2000 • 1999
• 1998 • 1997
Friday December 26th 1997
Sunday December 21st 1997
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Matt was just on TNN’s “Raceday”
and he announced that the Busch team has secured sponsorship for
the 98 season. They are also planning on five Winston Cup races for
1998. The sponsor should be revealed in the next couple of
weeks.
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Matt tested with Roush racing at
Talladega last week, driving the new Ford Taurus.
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Sunday December 21st 1997
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Matt was just on TNN’s “Raceday”
and he announced that the Busch team has secured sponsorship for
the 98 season. They are also planning on 5 Winston Cup races for
1998. The sponsor should be revealed in the next couple of
weeks.
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Matt tested with Roush racing at
Talladega last week, driving the new Ford Taurus.
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Monday November 10th 1997
Sunday marked
the end of the season for the Busch drivers and the #17
team showed they were ready for next year by placing
6th. Starting back in 22nd, Matt was able to pick up a few
spots before the first pit stop where he came in 19th. A
lightning fast stop, only taking right side tires and
fuel, Matt found himself behind the previous leaders and
up in the top ten. He then followed Mark Martin up to
fourth place when a caution late in the race was thrown.
After the re-start, Matt got up into the marbles trying to
pass lapped traffic and lost several positions. He was
able to save the car from hitting the wall and another
caution was thrown because of a crash. Being on the tail
end of the lead lap, Matt pitted and got 4 new tires and a
splash of fuel. He re-started in 9th place and picked up 3
positions in the remaining 20 laps.
Friday November 7th 1997
Wednesday November 5th 1997
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I’ve had a few people
contact me to let me know that qualifying will actually be on Friday at
12:30 central. Positions 1-28 will be determined on Friday and a last
chance Hooligan race will be held on Saturday. (Thanks Roxanne and Mike)
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Sounds like Roush Racing will soon
be announcing the next driver to join the team...
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Tuesday November 4th 1997
The final race of the season for
the Busch Grand National division takes place this Sunday at the
Metro-Dade
Homestead Motorsports Complex in Florida. Qualifying for the
Jiffy
Lube Miami 300 begins Saturday at 12:30 pm Central and the
race is Sunday at 11 am Central, televised live on CBS.
Tuesday October 28th 1997
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Matt had some bad luck
Saturday at “the Rock”. He crashed on lap 177 when Tony Stewart got
together with Matt coming out of turn 2. He ended up finishing
32nd after a 23rd
place qualifying effort. He had some decent practice times
on Friday, 2nd, 13th and 11th fastest in the three sessions. Randy LaJoie
clinched the Busch series Championship and Mark Martin won his 32nd Busch
series race, a new record. Congrats guys!
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The
article from Nascar.com
about Matt at Rockingham.
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I was in the pits Friday and
Saturday, (Thanks Roy Kenseth for getting me pit passes) and
took a lot of pictures and video. I hope to have some good
images and a summary of my experience at the Rock. Stay tuned.
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Thursday October 21 1997
Sunday October 19th 1997
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MATT KENSETH No. 17 Kraft
Singles Chevrolet
“I’m not sure how the 36 car did it, but we had a good race car all
day and were just hoping that fuel strategy didn’t play into it, but we
ran out of gas near the end.”
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Matt matched his career best
finish today, placing
third at the California Speedway. Todd Bodine won the race
on fumes followed by Steve Park. Matt beat Michael Waltrip
across the line by diving down across the apron, taking 3rd. The
race was won by fuel mileage, Todd Bodine went 71 laps without
re-fueling while most of the leaders, including Matt had to pit
during green flag racing with less then 20 laps to go.
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Next weekend the Busch cars race
at Rockingham. Matt tested here a couple weeks ago and was quite
pleased with the results.
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Friday October 17th 1997
- Matt just had an awesome
qualifying run, he will be starting
fifth in Sundays race!! Congrats guys.
- First round Qualifying begins
today for this weekends running of the Kenwood
300 at California
Speedway. Practice opened yesterday for the 42 cars
attempting to make the field. Matt was 30th
fastest and ran 27 laps. There will be practice sessions
today and tomorrow, giving the teams plenty of time to find the
best setups on the Michigan-like 2 mile track.
- The race is Sunday at 3:00 Central
and will be televised live on ESPN
Monday October 6th 1997
- Despite starting back in 38th
position, Matt was able to fly thru the field and place
12th. He quickly moved thru the field and got as high as 2nd
when most of the leaders came in for a pit stop. Matt and crew
elected to not pit because his car was working so well. He had
some problems on his last pit stop, 1st gear gave up so precious
seconds were lost trying to leave the pits in 2nd. He re-started
the race in 17th and was able to improve to 12th.
- If you have Real
Audio, you can listen
to some nice comments during the race. 114 K
- An
article from Nascar.com
about Matt at Charlotte.
Friday October 3rd 1997
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Matt qualified
29th yesterday for the All
Pro Bumper to Bumper 300. This means he will be starting on
the pole for the 40 lap, last chance, “hooligan” race. 26 cars will
compete for the last 10 spots to make the race. This race will start at
1pm Central today.
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58 cars tried to make the field
yesterday. The top 5 is composed of Winston Cup drivers, and the
two points leaders, Randy LaJoie and Todd Bodine, took
provisionals to make the race.
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Matt placed
6th in the last chance race. I hear from Charlotte that he
ran away from the field for the first 3 laps but then thought a
tire was going down. He was quickly passed and dropped back to
9th. He was able to pick back up on the pace and get some
positions back. They are suspecting a rear end problem was
causing the low-tire feel.
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Monday September 30th 1997
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Here is the schedule for this
weekends running of the All
Pro Bumper to Bumper 300 at Charlotte
Motor Speedway.
- Thursday—
2pm Qualifying, positions 1-28
with only 1 lap.
- Friday—
2pm 2nd round qualifying.
- Saturday—
1:10pm Start of the race
which will be televised live
on TBS.
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This will be Matt’s 3rd time
at Charlotte, (he raced here last year in a rented BGN car) and he was
able to get some practice here last week. Earlier this year Matt placed
22nd after starting back in 31st position. |
Monday September 22nd 1997
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Matt posted his career best Busch
Grand National finish on Saturday with a third place at Dover
Downs. Go
to Results. Congratulations Matt, Robbie, and crew for an
excellent performance!!
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MATT KENSETH (No. 17 Kraft
Singles Chevrolet) -- “Yep, without a doubt, this is my best-ever run in
the Busch Series. It probably could have been a lot better, too, if I
would have had some more experience. We had a super fast car and you have
to respect this place a lot. We were loose all day, running faster than
the leaders, most of the time. We did something different with the track
bar and that killed us, the way we went with the change.”
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The Busch cars will be returning
to Charlotte Motor Speedway in two weeks, October 4th. Matt will
be testing with Roush Racing at Charlotte this week in a Winston
Cup car.
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Friday September 19th 1997
September
9, 1997
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Matt didn’t qualify
well enough to avoid the wrecks Friday night and ended up finishing
22nd. He was involved in the “accordian effect” on a
green flag restart and was turned sideways by Terry Labonte. He was able
to drive away from the incident but the left rear went down during green
flag racing, putting him two laps down. This
article from Nascar.com
is about Matt at Richmond.
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Finally Matt will be going to a
track that he has experience at! The Busch cars will be racing
in two weeks at Dover, Delaware, (this weekend they have off)
where Matt placed 11th earlier this year.
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September
1, 1997
August
28, 1997
- Darlington
is the next stop for the Busch Grand national cars. The
Dura -Lube 200 qualifying starts Friday at 1:10 PM Central,
2 laps. Racing gets underway at 12:00 noon on Saturday but
is tape delayed. It will be on ESPN at 4 PM Central,
Check your local listings.
- An article
from Nascar.com about Matt at Bristol.
August
25, 1997
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Matt qualified
20th and finished
20th for the Food
City 250 at Bristol
Motor Speedway on Friday. He ran in the top ten most of the
race and was running 8th with 4 laps to go when he blew a tire
and was forced to pit under green flag racing. This put him 2
laps down to finish 20th, it would have been his 5th top ten
finish and 3rd in a row. Oh well.
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Buckshot Jones made a bone
headed move during a caution and tried to ram his car into Randy LaJoies.
Haven’t heard what kind of penalty he will get yet, it will probably be
expensive. Not a smart move when you are live on National Television.
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Matt tested Jeff Burtons #99
Winston Cup car at Darlington last week. It was his first time
in a Cup car and he was within .2 seconds of Burtons fast time.
Mark Martin and Steve Hmiel were very impressed with his ability
to shake the car down and tell them how the car was driving.
Jack Roush was worried at first that they would be taking home a
destroyed car, but everything went well.
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August
19, 1997
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Article
from Nascar.com about Matt’s top ten at Michigan.
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Nascar will be racing this weekend
at the Bristol
Motor Speedway. The Busch cars will be qualifying on Friday
at 3:15 PM Central and racing gets underway Friday night at
6:30... And I have to go to a Packers game :)
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August
16, 1997
- Although he started back in the
27th position, Matt was able to get another top ten today by
finishing 8th. Go
to Results.
- Mark Martin pulled into the lead
on lap 12 and dominated the race until he had to stop for fuel
with less then 15 laps remaining. Several of the leaders,
including Matt gambled they could go the entire distance (66
laps since they pitted during the only caution) and finished the
race on fumes. Steve Park won the race, his first time at
Michigan also.
- Second round qualifying for the
Busch cars was rained out on Friday so the field was set from
Thursdays times. During afternoon practice, Matt was the 3rd
fastest car on the track. Mark Martin and Dick Trickle were 1st
and 2nd fastest.
August 12, 1997
August 9, 1997
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Here is an article
from the Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel, some interesting developments...
Two bosses
In
addition
to
racing
for
Robbie
Reiser
on the
Busch
Series,
Matt
Kenseth
has an
arrangement
with
Jack
Roush to
bring
his
career
along.
That
doesn’t
mean,
though,
that
Reiser
Enterprises
will be
a
satellite
team of
Roush
Racing,
Reiser
said
this
week.
“They
want to
keep him
in this
Busch
car for
quite a
while,”
Reiser
said.
“This
has got
a lot of
possibilities.”
Roush
has said
he would
“provide
counseling,
provide
help
with
sponsors
as need
be,
organizing
hardware,
engines,
chassis
if there
proves
to be a
lacking
there.
“Reiser
plans to
continue
with
Katech
engines,
Hopkins
chassis
and
Chevrolet
sheet
metal.
He may,
however,
find a
sponsor
steered
his way
from
Roush
after
Kraft
leaves
at the
end of
this
season.
Kenseth
joined
Reiser
in a
pairing
of
former
Wisconsin
rivals
10 races
into the
season,
and he
has
already
racked
four
top-10
starts
and
three
top-10
finishes
in 12
races.
Kenseth
is
targeted
by Roush
for a
full
Winston
Cup
effort
in 2000.
“Matt
is a
very
talented
and very
able
young
driver
that
could
and will
find his
place in
stock
car
racing,”
Roush
said.
“We’ve
identified
him as
somebody
we’d
like to
go down
the road
with.”
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August 7, 1997
- Check out what Matt
had to say on the Nascar.com Chat session.
- No Busch race this weekend, they
will be at the Michigan Super Speedway next weekend.
August
5, 1997
- An article
about Matt at IRP
- (From Nascar.com)
Wednesday Our regular NASCAR
Busch Series Grand National Division and NASCAR Craftsman Truck
Series chats will feature Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17
Kraft Singles Chevrolet, and Terry Cook, pilot of the No. 88 PBA
Chevrolet. Newcomers to each series, they are nevertheless in
the midst of standout campaigns. Have your questions ready,
beginning with Kenseth
at 1:30 p.m. EDT and Cook at 3 p.m. EDT. (Thanks to Jim
Warren for the heads up on this.)
August
2, 1997
- It was a wreck fest last night at
IRP as 11 cautions were displayed, Matt did a great job avoiding
some wrecks and got his third top ten finish, placing 6th. Results.
- Randy LaJoie dominated the race
and won, Elliott Sadler barley hung on for second with a badly
cut tire.
July 31, 1997
- Another great qualifying effort
has put Matt in the 11th starting position for Friday nights
race on the flat .686 mile oval. Go
to starting Lineup.
- Matt was 8th fastest in morning
practice, lets hope nothing goes wrong and the pit
stops are fast, a top 5 would be nice!
July
30, 1997
- The Busch Grand National cars will
be racing in the Kroger
200 Friday night at the Indianapolis
Raceway Park. First round qualifying starts Thursday at 5:45
Central (positions 1-25) and second round is Friday at 2 PM.
Racing gets underway at 8 PM Central and will be televised
live on ESPN.
July
28, 1997
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Quote from Gateway 300
MATT
KENSETH
No.
17
Kraft
Singles
Chevrolet:
“The
car
was
running
awesome.
We
had
some
problems
in
the
pits
when
a
jack
went
bad
on
our
first
pit
stop,
but
they
helped
me
make
up
some
track
position.
We
had
a
top-five
race
car
for
sure,
but
that’s
the
breaks.”
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July
27, 1997
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Matt was running in the top ten
all day but lost oil pressure on lap 164 and had to retire for
the day. He was keeping pace with the leaders and just
concentrating on staying out of the marbles and saving the
tires. He would have likely came in with the top five finishers
had the motor not failed.
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High heat conditions claimed
many drivers by breaking up the track into marbles, causing many wrecks
and taking out most of the leaders. The 99 degree temperatures were felt
by all, several crew team members and spectators needed medical attention
due to heat exhaustion. The high temperature in St. Louis was 99 degrees
with heat index’s in the 110 degree range. Glen Allen was replaced in
the #99 by Dale Earnhardt Jr, suffering from heat exhaustion.
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Mike Garvey won the 40 lap ARTGO
feature, held right after the Busch race. Jason Schuler, of
Cambridge WI, led most of the race and finished 2nd behind
Garvey.
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July
25, 1997
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Matt had another great qualifying
effort today, he will start the race in 11th position. Go
to starting Lineup.
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Matt’s
practice times on Thursday were 10th fastest, this
morning he was 18th fastest but stayed out on the
track longer then anybody, they were probably working
on a race setup.
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It
is going to be a hot one at Gateway, temperatures will
be in the mid to upper 90’s with lots of sunshine, I
hope the grandstands are covered!
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For
those Cheddarheads watching the race tomorrow, I hope
you have picture in picture, The Packers
kick off at noon.
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July
23, 1997
- The Busch cars will be at Madison
IL for the Inaugural
Gateway 300. I will be there!
- Qualifying starts Friday at 2 PM Central
and the Race is Saturday at Noon Central, live on CBS
- The ARTGO cars will race
afterwards, Jason
Schuler from Cambridge WI will be there to race on the flat
1-1/4 mile track.
July
17, 1997
July
15, 1997
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Quote from Myrtle Beach
Matt Kenseth, driver, No. 17 Kraft Singles Chevrolet:
“We
really had a good race car all night. At the beginning we were riding
around saving it. We came in for a pit stop and broke the jack. Then we
had to start so far in the back... The car got to pushing the longer we
ran in the back, as I was trying to work through traffic. It’s awful
tough to pass out there. Then they (leaders) kind of surprised us when
they pitted. We decided to stay out. In hindsight we probably should’ve
come in and got a couple tires for track position, but we stayed out
because it was so hard to pass.
“Usually on a new surface new tires don’t make that much difference
but they made a bigger difference tonight than I thought they would. We
were just out of tires there at the end. By inches we’re creeping up on
it but it was awful disappointing tonight. We had a great car in practice.
We weren’t gonna win after we stayed out but I thought we might get a
top-5 out of it. The two leaders got by and the third place car got by. He
ran me way up in the marbles...I moved up and gave him plenty of room and
he ran me so far in the marbles, that it took me about five laps to get
’em (rubber fragments) off my tires and that pretty much wrecked my
race. We’ll just to have to come back and get ’em next time.”
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July
13, 1997
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A faulty jack caused the delay
and prevented a probable top five finish in Matt’s race last night.
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July
12, 1997
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Matt was having a career best
race tonight, he started 9th and had moved his way up to 3rd when all the
leaders came in for a scheduled yellow flag stop. Unfortunately Matt came
out in 25th place, I don’t know what happened yet. He was able to move
up to 13th place when the leaders pitted again for tires and fuel, The
team elected to stay out for track position and Matt took the green flag
in the lead. He was able to hold the lead for 20 laps or so but his tires
quickly gave out to the pressure of racing with cars having fresh rubber
and he dropped back through the field. A sure top five finish ended with a
disappointing 17th. Go
to Results.
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July
11, 1997
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How about a 9th place qualifying
effort? This should help him get a top 5. (or better?) Official
starting grid
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Matt’s practice times today
were 5th fastest.
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I hear that the racing surface
at Myrtle Beach Speedway is new this year and has been showing signs of
breaking up into marbles. Hope this doesn’t cause a one groove track,
could be a long day.
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July
10, 1997
- Matt will be racing this Saturday
night at the Myrtle Beach S.C. Speedway for the Advance
Auto Parts 250.
- Matt has experience at this 1/2
mile track from The All Pro and Hooters series. He should have a
good qualifying run to start up front.
- Qualifying starts Friday at 4 PM
Central, all positions, 2 laps. The race is Saturday night at 7
Central and will be televised live on TNN.
July
9, 1997
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The
article
from
Nascar.com about Matt’s homecoming in Milwaukee.
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Matt placed 3rd last night at
round 2 of the Slinger Nationals after starting from the rear of
the field twice.
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The race went 77 laps without a
caution and Matt got up to 7th place within this time. After the
restart, Matt discovered he had a cut tire and lost his track
position. He was able to get the tire changed tire under a
caution and started at the back of the field again. He quickly
moved through the field to finish 3rd after 250 laps.
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July
7, 1997
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Matt had a great race Sunday in
the backup car, placing a respectable 12th. Go
to results.
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Although the car was slightly off
pace from the leaders, Matt still ran a good, smart race and
kept out of trouble. They pitted the car a couple of times early
in the race during cautions, trying to loosen the car up but it
remained tight all day.
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This was Steve Parks race to win,
but a speeding penalty in the pits handed the victory to Randy
Lajoie.
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MATT KENSETH
No. 17 Kraft Singles Chevrolet
“We
had a terrible race car but we finished 12th, so the
crew pretty much deserves all the credit. I don’t
think the car (back-up that was pressed into
service when Kenseth crashed his primary car in the
first practice on Saturday) wanted to race here. It
wasn’t really designed to come here and it didn’t
run like it wanted to be here. They did a real good
pit stop at the end.
We got two tires and gained a bunch of track position
there. The crew made me finish 12th with a 25th place
car.”
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Matt will be racing at the Slinger
Speedway this Tuesday night for Round 2 of the Miller
Nationals. Qualifying is tonight.
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July
5, 1997
|
Matt has qualified 27th for
tomorrows race. Go
to starting lineup.
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Matt’s
morning practice session ended in a fiery crash in
turn 1. The throttle stuck wide open in the front
straight sending Matt hard into the turn 1 wall and
destroying the car. They went to the backup car and
were only able to get a few laps in before qualifying.
Matt did not make the top 25 in first round qualifying
but they were able to set the car set up well in the
second practice session. Matt’s very 1st lap in 2nd
round qualifying put him just 6 thousands of a second
from the track record. He went too hard into turn 3 on
his second lap and drifted high but still turned a lap
that would have put him on the pole earlier.
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July
2, 1997
- The
Milwaukee Mile
is the next stop for the Busch cars and I
will be there!!
- The
Sears Auto Center 250
qualifying starts Saturday July 5th at
Noon and racing gets underway Sunday at Noon Central. The race
will be televised live on CBS.
- Matt has raced here a few times in
the ARTGO and ASA series, he should have a great run here and
will have the support of many fans from Wisconsin.
July
1, 1997
|
An
article about Matt’s transmission
problems at Watkins Glen.
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June
29, 1997
- Matt had some mechanical problems
today and finished 36th after going to the garage on lap 51 with
clutch problems. Results.
- He also experienced rear end
problems around lap 26 and was black flagged by Nascar for a
possible differential leak.
- Otherwise he ran a great race and
picked up some valuable experience in road course racing.
June
28, 1997
|
Matt’s first time on a road
course has netted him an 18th place starting position for tomorrows race. Starting
Lineup.
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June
26, 1997
|
Matt will be featured on “Inside
Nascar” July 5th and 6th on TNN.
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June
25, 1997
|
The next race is the Lysol
200 at Watkins
Glen International Speedway.
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Qualifying begins Saturday June
28th at 1:45 Central and the race is Sunday at Noon, live on
TNN.
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This is Matt’s very first
road course race and he is looking forward to it after getting some advice
from Mark Martin.
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June
20, 1997
|
Matt practiced at Michigan
International Speedway with his backup super speedway car. He
was the fastest in a field including, Todd Bodine, Steve Park,
Randy LaJoie, Tim Fedewa and others. Matt will be racing at
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