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Matt Kenseth News 1999
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Thursday December 16th 1999

  • Attention Matt Kenseth fans!!! Meet Matt Thursday, December 23 from 7 - 9pm at The Racer’s Edge Racing Collectibles - 300 N. Milwaukee (Rte. 83) Lake Villa, IL Phone (847) 356-2664. The Racer’s Edge will have a HUGE quantity of Matt’s Limited Edition Die-Cast Taurus from Team Caliber, Authentic Trackside apparel, and hard to find memorabilia available for purchase to be autographed. Call The Racer’s Edge at (847) 356-2664 for more details!!! 

  • The NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division banquet will be held on Friday, Jan. 7, at The Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA and televised on Sunday, Jan 16th, 2000 at 12noon/et on ESPN2.

Tuesday November 16th 1999  Homestead
  

  • DeWALT RACING NOTES
    MISFORTUNE IN MIAMI

    The last race of the year was a disappointment for the entire DEWALT Race Team. Finishing in 38th spot, Matt dropped to third in the Busch Series point standings.
    Kenseth qualified for the HotWheels.com 300 in 17th position. After the previous night’s final practice, Matt was confident he had a car that would run up front on Saturday. Kenseth took the green flag and crossed the start finish line just once before becoming involved in an accident in turn three. Matt was able to drive the DEWALT Monte Carlo back into the garage area for repairs, but the damage to the car was extensive. The crew fixed the car as best they could, taking just 23 laps, and sent Kenseth back into the race. 
    Matt resumed the race in 41st spot and was running a tick off the leader’s speed, but was never able to make up all the laps he was down. Kenseth finished the final race of 1999 in 38th position. Jeff Green, who was in third position in the points race prior to Miami, finished in 5th spot. Green moved into second spot in the championship points race and Kenseth fell to third, 40 points behind Green. 

    1999 Busch Series Point Standings
    1 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 4667
    2 Jeff Green 4367
    3 Matt Kenseth 4327
    4 Todd Bodine 4029
    5 Elton Sawyer 3891
    6 Jeff Purvis 3658
    7 Dave Blaney 3582
    8 Jason Keller 3537
    9 Mike McLaughlin 3478
    10 Randy Lajoie 3379

    LAST BUSCH RACE FOR DEWALT
    DEWALT Tools will be moving up into Winston Cup racing full time in 2000, competing at Miami for the final time in the Busch Series after seven years of involvement. Matt Kenseth and DEWALT will be moving up to WC with Roush Racing in 2000. The first race of 2000 will be at Daytona International Speedway in February. 

Tuesday November 9th 1999  Phoenix
  

  • DeWALT RACING NOTES
    KENSETH GRABS TOP TEN AT PIR
     Matt Kenseth qualified for the Outback Steakhouse 200 in 6th position, starting along side Dale Earnhardt Jr. in row three. Kenseth took the green flag at 1:15 PM on Saturday and moved up two positions in just 2 laps. Matt began falling back a few spots, battling a tight condition in the center of the corners. Kenseth made his first pit stop of the day on lap 101 under the green flag. The DEWALT crew pulled off a fast 17 second pit stop. After the entire field cycled through the green flag stops, Kenseth was running in 7th position. The first caution flag of the day flew on lap 151 and Kenseth ducted into the pits for his second and final pit stop of the day. The crew had another great stop, taking on four tires and making a track bar adjustment to loosen the car up. The team gained two positions in the pits, thanks to the fast work of the crew. Matt took the green flag in 5th spot but fell back to 8th before the checkered flag dropped on lap 200, battling a very loose car. Dale Jr. came home in second spot and claimed the 1999 Busch Series Championship, climbing ahead of Matt Kenseth by 189 points. (The most points’ Matt could gain at Miami is 185).
       

  • Matt’s Thoughts on Phoenix
    “I thought the car would be tighter at the end. I loosed the car up a little too much that last stop and got it way too loose. We’ve had a real good year. I’m real proud of the entire DEWALT race team. They did a great job and got us one more win than we had last year so far ,and we’ve led about twice as many laps. So we performed a little better as a whole but we made a lot more mistakes as a group. We had finishes back in the thirties, parts break, and things like that really hurt the point’s total. I’m still real proud of these guys. We have pretty fast race cars every week.”

  • 1999 Busch Series Point Standings
     1 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 4467
    2 Matt Kenseth 4278 (-189) 
    3 Jeff Green 4212
    4 Todd Bodine 3957
    5 Elton Sawyer 3767
    6 Jeff Purvis 3570
    7 Dave Blaney 3467
    8 Jason Keller 3452
    9 Mike McLaughlin 3375
    10 Randy Lajoie 3303

Wednesday November 3rd 1999
  

  • DeWALT RACING NOTES 
     Matt Kenseth surpassed the 2 million-dollar mark in career earnings with his $19,875 winnings from Memphis Motorsports Park. Kenseth has achieved this feat in just 83 career Busch Series starts.

    Matt will be signing autographs at the Payless Cashways in Chandler, AZ on Friday, November 5th from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. Payless is located at 1509 N. Arizona Ave.

    Matt and the DEWALT Racing Team did not test at Phoenix prior to race  weekend. Matt was at the Phoenix Winston Cup race last year as relief driver  for Roush teammate Kevin Lepage. Kenseth only made a few practice laps  around the track for Lepage and was not needed during the race.

    Kenseth will be driving the same Monte Carlo he races with at Memphis Motorsports Park last weekend.

  • 1999 DRIVERS POINTS STANDINGS
     1 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 4292
    2 Matt Kenseth 4136 (-156)
    3 Jeff Green 4082
    4 Todd Bodine 3819
    5 Elton Sawyer 3649
    6 Jeff Purvis 3446
    7 Jason Keller 3409
    8 Dave Blaney 3361
    9 Mike McLaughlin 3260
    10 Randy LaJoie 3191

Tuesday November 2nd 1999  Memphis

  • DeWALT RACING MEMPHIS RACE REPORT
    Matt Kenseth and the DeWALT Racing team qualified for the Sam’s Town 250 in 10th position, their 19th top ten qualifying effort of the season. The green flag dropped on Halloween day for the 250-lap event and Kenseth was on his way to the front. Kenseth had moved into 3rd position by lap 61. Caution flew on the track on lap 96, and Matt ducted into the pits for his first pit stop of the day, which didn’t go as planned. Kenseth came into the pits a little to fast and was unable to get the car facing out of the box, becoming blocked in. The service on the car went well except for a problem with a lug nut on the left rear tire. Matt had to put the car in reverse to get out of the pit stall, all which cost valuable time. Kenseth resumed the race in 11th spot, losing eight positions on pit road. Matt didn’t get down and again began picking off positions. Kenseth was running in 9th spot on lap 159 when the motor started to let go. The caution flag waved on lap 184 and the team investigated the motor problem. After pitting several times, the problem was not determined and Kenseth resumed racing in 26th spot running on just seven cylinders. Kenseth managed to stay on the lead lap until the very end of the race and finished in 21st position. The teams’ bad luck had a big impact on the point’s race; losing 75 points to Dale Earnhardt Jr. Matt now sits 156 points away from Dale with just two races remaining in the season.

    “The DeWALT guys did a real good job preparing this car. I thought with a couple of adjustments and a good pit stop there at the end we could be a contender to win this thing. It’s a tough one to take, we just go to Phoenix and do the best job we can and not worry about the points.”

Wednesday October 27th 1999
Rockingham Busch and Cup  

  • BUSCH SERIES REVIEW
    MATT GRABS ANOTHER TOP FIVE AT THE ‘ROCK’
     Matt Kenseth qualified for the Kmart 200 in 7th position, his 18th top ten qualifying effort of the season. Kenseth took the green flag but began experiencing a tight handling condition and fell back to 9th. Caution flew on the speedway on lap 59, and Matt ducted into the pits for fresh rubber and a track bar adjustment. The DEWALT Crew had an awesome pit stop, gaining 4 spots in the pits, getting Kenseth back out in 5th position. The adjustment to the car seemed to help the handling of the car and Matt began cruising up the field. Kenseth took the lead away from Mark Martin and lap 123 and led for 9 laps before Martin took the top spot back. Kenseth ducted into the pits on lap 140 for his second pit stop of the day, but the caution flag waved as the crew was changing tires. Fast thinking by Matt had the crew only change the right side tires and Kenseth was able to get out of the pits in front the leader, keeping himself on the lead lap. Matt came in under the caution for fresh left side tires, and resumed the race in 7th spot. Kenseth was able to pick off three positions before the checkered flag dropped, finishing in 4th spot, his 14th top five finish of the season. Matt made a big jump in the point’s race, gaining 36 points on Dale Jr. who finished in 13th position. Kenseth now sits 81 points away from Dale Earnhardt Jr. with three races remaining in the season. 
      
    “We just beat the leader out of the pits on that second stop, so taking only two tires ended up being a good decision that saved us a lap. We ended up getting a top five out of it. We gained a few points today. We just never had the DEWALT Chevy I needed to be a threat today. The 60 car had us covered the entire day. I’m just happy to be leaving here with a top five finish.”

  • 1999 Busch Series Point Standings:
     1 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 4117
    2 Matt Kenseth 4036 (-81) 
    3 Jeff Green 3902
    4 Todd Bodine 3649
    5 Elton Sawyer 3484
    6 Jeff Purvis 3364
    7 Jason Keller 3328
    8 Dave Blaney 3231
    9 Mike McLaughlin 3114
    10 Randy Lajoie 3106

  • WINSTON CUP RACE REVIEW
    ROUGH WINSTON CUP RACE AT THE ROCK
     Despite qualifying the #17 DeWALT Ford Taurus in 17th spot for the Popsecret 400 at North Carolina Speedway, Kenseth had a long and frustrating day behind the wheel. Matt began to steadily drop positions from the onset of the race, battling an extremely tight race car. A pit stop on lap 78, seemed to help the handling problem but only temporarily. Kenseth fell a lap down to the leaders on lap 93 continuing to fight the very tight handling condition. Although the team made several adjustments throughout the race, the tight condition persisted until the very end of the race. With just a few laps to go, a problem with the motor put Kenseth behind the wall. Matt finished in 35th spot at the Rock, his final Winston Cup race of 1999.

  • 1999 Winston Cup Results
     Track          Start    Finish
    Michigan     25      14
    Darlington   31      37
    Dover          13      4
    Charlotte      27     40
    Rockingham 17     35

  • WOOD MAGAZINE ON WINSTON CUP CAR AT ROCKINGHAM
     Wood Magazine was featured on the #17 DEWALT Ford Taurus on the lower rear quarter panel for the Popsecret 400.Winston Cup race. Wood Magazine is part of the Better Homes and Gardens family of magazines and is the largest woodworking publication in the world.

Friday October 15th 1999  Charlotte Busch and Cup  

  • DeWALT RACING NOTES
    BUSCH SERIES REPORT
    MATT GRABS 7TH AT CHARLOTTE
    Matt started the Charlotte weekend out with a bang, grabbing his second Bud Pole Award of the season at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Kenseth captured the number one starting position with an average speed of 177.328 mph, setting a new track record. 

    Matt took the green flag and led the first two laps before relinquishing the lead to friend and mentor Mark Martin. Kenseth snatched the lead back on lap 9 and led for the next 24 laps. Matt ducted into the pits on lap 35 for his first stop of the day. The DEWALT crew kicked off an awesome stop, 16:53, and sent Matt back out onto to the track in 4th position behind Jeff Gordon, with two cars ahead of then who did not choose to pit. Matt jumped into 2nd position just three laps after taking the green flag. Kenseth retook the  lead on lap 53, but began experiencing a loose handling condition. Matt led for just 5 laps before Jeff Gordon took the top spot. The handling of the car began to deteriorate, with Kenseth battling a very loose racecar. The next pit stop came on lap 84 and the crew made major adjustments to the car to correct the loose condition. Matt left the pits in second position, thanks to the fast pit work of the crew and reclaimed the lead on lap 89, leading for the next 35 laps. But the loose condition returned and Matt struggled to stay with the leaders. A green flag pit stop was made on lap 157 and Matt fell to 30th spot. After the pit stops were cycled through, Kenseth was up to 12th position. By the time the checkered flag dropped Matt was able to move into 7th spot, capturing his 18th top ten of the season. 

  • MATT’S THOUGHTS 
    “You go as fast as you can all day in these things, and if you don’t have the fastest car you don’t win. That’s just how it turned out for us today. We were good on the short runs and bad on the long runs. It was a little bit frustrating. Whenever the races go like that-fuel mileage and stuff like that-it can be frustrating unless you’re the one winning. It’s frustrating when no matter what you do; you can’t get a car to run good all around. 
    That’s the best we could do today.”

  • 1999 BUSCH SERIES PT. STDS.
     1 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 3988
    2 Matt Kenseth 3871 (-117) 
    3 Jeff Green 3732
    4 Todd Bodine 3489
    5 Elton Sawyer 3363
    6 Jeff Purvis 3321
    7 Jason Keller 3186
    8 Dave Blaney 3066
    9 Randy Lajoie 3021
    10 Mike McLaughlin 2999

  • WINSTON CUP RACE REPORT
    FRUSTRATING DAY AT CHARLOTTE FOR THE DEWALT RACING TEAM
     Matt Kenseth made his fourth Winston Cup start of 1999 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, qualifying for the UAW-GM Quality 500 in 27th position.

    A rainstorm on Sunday canceled the on track activities and the race was rescheduled for 11:00 AM on Monday. The same handling problem Matt was dealing with in the Busch race returned on Monday. Kenseth had his hands full with a very loose car. Matt was able to move up a few positions before he was tapped from behind and sent spinning. The caution flag came out and Matt ducted into he pits for repairs. The damage was mostly cosmetic, with the crew making adjustments to correct the handling problem. Kenseth resumed racing in 41st spot. Matt moved his way up the pack into 21st position 

    before green flag pit stops began. Kenseth pitted on lap 66 under the green and came back out onto the raceway in 31st position, one lap down to the leaders. Matt began picking off spots and got his lap back on lap 99. But just as he was making some headway, the loose condition returned. Kenseth struggled the next 100 laps, making another green flag stop and going two laps down to the leaders. Matt was running in 23rd spot when he was pushed into the outside wall by another competitor. Kenseth was forced into the pits for repairs. The damage was extensive with the nose of the car off  quite a bit. Matt returned to the raceway but wasn’t able to get the car up to speed. The team quickly decided to have Matt report to the garage and call it a day. Kenseth finished in 40th spot.

  • MATT’S THOUGHTS
    “I made a mistake there at the beginning, I was too loose and trying to go too fast and got in a place I shouldn’t have been and the DEWALT Ford got turned around. After that we had a crush panel knocked out and all the exhaust was coming in the car. I still wasn’t too bad and then we got loose on one run. We sort of got it back and then I was racing with the 40 and he got tight in the middle of the corner and got high and I clipped the wall.”

  • SKILLS USA ON THE CHARLOTTE WINSTON CUP CAR
    Skills USA and DEWALT Power Tools joined forces for the UAW-GM Quality 500 on  October 10, 1999 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The Skills USA decal was placed on the lower quarter panels and hood of the #17 DEWALT Ford Taurus for the Charlotte race to create awareness of Skills USA’s Building Skills for America Signature Campaign. Skills USA’s goal is to collect one million signatures from business and industry employers, employees and union members stating a skilled work force is essential for America’s future and to prepare that work force, America must support vocational-technical education. Signatures were collected at DEWALT’s Rolling Thunder display vehicle throughout the Charlotte race weekend.

Friday October 8th 1999 

  • Visine will be the new sponsor of the #17 Chevrolet Busch car to be driven by Matt Kenseth and Jason Schuler in the year 2000. Welcome aboard Pfizer, you have chosen an awesome team to represent you!! (Nascar.com article)

  • For the second race in row, the #17 DeWALT Busch car is sitting on the pole. Matt pulled off a blistering lap at 177.328 MPH (30.452 sec) setting a new track record.

  • Matt barely missed the top 25 in Cup qualifying, posting the 26th fastest lap. Matt stood on his time for 2nd round qualifying and only moved down one position, getting beaten out of the 26th spot by Joe Nemechek. Matt starts Sundays race in 27th position.

Tuesday October 5th 1999
  • DeWALT RACING NOTES
     The last three starts at LMS; Matt Kenseth has averaged a 5.33 starting position, a 3.33 finishing position, led 108 laps, and completed 100% of the laps.

    Matt Kenseth is carrying a new decal on his Winston Cup Ford Taurus at Charlotte. Skills USA, a national organization offering training programs in technical, skilled at service occupations, is featured on the hood and lower quarter panel of the #17 Ford. DEWALT is supporting Skills USA’s signature-collecting drive during race weekend to help the youth organization reach its goal of compiling one million signatures to present to Congress in September of 2000 during the Washington Leadership Training Institute.

    DeWALT is hosting over 50 guests from Scandinavia this weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The Scandinavians are employees of Black & Decker are learning how DEWALT markets its product in the USA. DEWALT is currently launching their product line in Scandinavia.

    Matt will be signing autographs at several places in the Charlotte area race week. Kenseth will be at Interstate Bolt & Supply in Statesville on Wed. Oct. 6 from 7-9 AM and at Blockbuster Pavilion on Friday night for the NASCAR Racing Reunion.
      
  • The BUSCH SERIES car
    Matt is running the same car he won with at California Speedway on May 1.
      
  • The WINSTON CUP car
    Kenseth is running the same car he ran with at Michigan and Darlington. This Ford was previously part of Mark Martin’s fleet.
      
  • MATT’S THOUGHTS ON LMS
    “I am looking forward to racing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, it’s one of my favorite tracks and its great to sleep in your own bed. We’ve done pretty well there the last few times in a Busch car, I hope we can do the same this weekend. It will be challenging running the cup race, it’s always a big weekend for the competitors. I just want to make the race and bring the DEWALT Ford home on the lead lap.”
      
Monday September 27th 1999  Dover - Busch and Cup  
  • DeWALT Racing Notes
    DISAPPOINTMENT AT DOVER
    After dominating the MBNA 200 for the first half of the NASCAR Busch Series race at Dover Downs International Raceway, it looked as though Matt Kenseth was going to walk away with his fifth win of the year. Unfortunately fate had a different ending to the story.
    Matt Kenseth grabbed his first pole of the 1999 season for the MBNA 200, his second career Busch Series pole award, with an average speed of 155.293 mph.

    Kenseth took control from the beginning, leading the first 76 laps before, trading spots with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Matt resumed the top position a few laps later and led until lap 96 when he ducted into the pits under the caution flag for his first pit stop of the day. Jeff Green took the lead off of pit road but Kenseth reclaimed it on lap 106. Matt was leading the race when Dale Earnhardt Jr. attempted to make a run for the lead on lap 119.

    Dale got under Matt in turn 2 and got loose, bumping into the #17 car. Matt hit the wall, causing severe damage to the car. Kenseth reported to the garage area for repairs. The damage was too extensive to fix before the end of the race, relegating Matt to finish in 38th spot. Kenseth led the most laps, grabbing 10 bonus points in the championship points race, but lost ground on Dale Jr., who finished in 30th position.
      
  • 1999 BUSCH SERIES POINT STANDINGS
    1 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 3828
    2 Matt Kenseth 3715 (-113)
    3 Jeff Green 3614
    4 Todd Bodine 3346
    5 Elton Sawyer 3257
    6 Jeff Purvis 3197
    7 Jason Keller 3110
    8 Randy Lajoie 2972
    9 Dave Blaney 2963
    10 Mike McLaughlin 2829
      
  • KENSETH GRABS TOP FIVE AT DOVER IN WINSTON CUP RACE
    Matt Kenseth grabbed a 4th place finish at Dover Downs International Raceway in the MBNA Gold 400 on Sunday, September 26, his first top five finish of 1999 in just his third start. Kenseth qualified for the 400-mile race in 13th spot, his best Winsotn Cup qualifying effort this year.

    Matt took the green flag and fell back slightly due to a loose handling problem. After a pit stop on lap 65 and an air pressure adjustment, Kenseth resumed racing. The handling of the car improved and Kenseth broke into the top ten on lap 151. The #17 DeWALT Busch team pitted the Winston Cup car all day and had incredible stops, staying with the lead cars all day long. At the halfway point of the race, Matt had climbed up to 4th spot and was eyeing teammate Jeff Burton for 3rd position. Jeff and Matt traded spots several times during the back half of the race, with Matt eventually taking the position for good. But Matt couldn’t hold of Tony Stewart before the checkered flag dropped. Kenseth finished the MBNA 400 in 4th position, his career best Winsotn Cup finish.

    “I’m happy. The DEWALT Ford ran really well all day. It was too loose in the beginning of the runs to keep up with those guys. They’d eat my lunch pretty good for 20-30 laps, but after that I could run real consistent and the car was real good. Our Busch guys went over the wall today and they did a really good job. I’m extremely happy with our performance today and little surprised how good we’ve run the last couple of races.”
      
  • SKILLS USA TO BE ON CHARLOTTE WINSTON CUP CAR
    Skills USA and DEWALT Power Tools will join forces for the UAW-GM Quality 500 on October 10, 1999 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The Skills USA decal will be placed on the lower quarter panels and hood of the #17 DEWALT Ford Taurus for the Charlotte race to create awareness of Skills USA’s Building Skills for America Signature Campaign. Skills USA’s goal is to collect one million signatures from business and industry employers, employees and union members stating a skilled work force is essential for America’s future and to prepare that work force, America must support vocational-technical education.

    Signatures will be collected at DEWALT’s Rolling Thunder display vehicle throughout the Charlotte race weekend.
Friday September 24th 1999
  • Matt’s weekend at Dover is starting out fairly well so far. Matt will be starting on the Pole in the Busch race and 13th in the Cup race. Dover is Matt’s favorite track and considering qualifying is not his strong point, his competition could be seeing a lot of the #17’s rear bumper, from a distance.
      
  • DeWALT RACING NOTES
    Matt Kenseth will make his 80th start in the Busch Series at Dover Downs this weekend. Kenseth has earned $1,918,040 in his Busch Series career.

    Matt will be making his 3rd Winston Cup start of 1999 with Roush Racing and DEWALT Tools on Sunday. Matt’s first career Winston Cup start came at Dover Downs in September of last year when Kenseth substituted for Bill Elliott in the #94 Ford Taurus and went on to finish in 6th place. Matt will be running in two additional Winston Cup races in 1999 for Roush and DEWALT, including Charlotte and Rockingham.

    Kenseth is the defending winner of the MBNA 200 at Dover Downs. Matt captured his third and final win of the 1998 season at Dover last fall. Kenseth went on to finish second in the Busch Series 1998 championship hunt.

    The DEWALT Ford Taurus will be running a new decal for the Dover and Rockingham Winston Cup races this season. Wood Magazine will be featured on the #17 DEWALT Ford on the lower rear quarter panel for both races. Wood Magazine is part of the Better Homes and Gardens family of magazines and is the largest woodworking publication in the world.

    A press conference will be held Sunday morning, September 26, prior to the Winston Cup race at Dover Downs. DEWALT Tools will announce a decal change for Matt Kenseth’s Winston Cup car at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on October 10. The unveiling of the new decal on the #17 Ford will promote an awareness campaign for an educational affiliation of DEWALT’s.
Thursday September 16th 1999
  • Chat with Matt Tonight at 9pm Eastern (pushed back one hour from previous time)
Monday September 13th 1999  Richmond VA
  • Chat Live with Matt Kenseth Tonite on CBS Sportsline. 7:30 pm Eastern.
      
  • DeWALT Racing Notes
    ROUGH RACE AT RICHMOND
     Matt Kenseth and the DEWALT Racing Team had a disappointing race at Richmond International Raceway, struggling the entire weekend with an ill handling racecar.
    Kenseth qualified for the 250-lap race in 30th spot, tying his worst starting position of the season. Although Matt started the race towards the rear of the field, it didn’t take him long to begin picking off positions. Kenseth cruised the first half of the race in the top twenty, climbing to as high as 11th spot by lap 144. Despite two awesome pit stops by the crew, Kenseth continued to struggle on the track with a tight handling condition. On lap 173, Kenseth hit the outside wall, breaking the front sway bar. The handling, which was bad before, deteriorated. Matt managed to make it to the checkered flag, finishing in 20th position, one lap down to the leaders.
      
  • MATT’S THOUGHTS ON RIR
     “We’ve been off since we got here. We really struggled with the car and never quite got it right. We struggled during the race as well, never could get it how it needed to be to run upfront. The team had some real good pit  stops and worked real hard to get us in a good position. On the restart I got boxed in behind some slower cars and older tires and couldn’t get back out of line. I hit the wall and broke the sway bar. It went down hill from there.”
Wednesday September 8th 1999  
  • Chat With Matt!! 
     Thursday, September 16th
    8PM ET/5PM PT
    Matt Kenseth, NASCAR Driver

    Ladies and Gentleman, start your engines! Come chat with Matt Kenseth, a world class race car driver for NASCAR. Matt has been racing cars his whole life. Early in his career, he won the prestigious Miller Genuine Draft National championships, becoming the youngest driver to win the title. From Monte Carlo to all the most famous race tracks on the circuit, Matt has raced them all. Come chat with Matt as he pushes the pedal to the metal and hear all about life in NASCAR.
  • DeWALT RACE REPORT (Robyn A. Leibold)
    MATT KENSETH’S RICHMOND RECORD
    Date        Start   Finish  Laps         $ Won    Status
    9/5/97     32       22         248/250    6,800      Running
    6/5/98     14       3           250/250    24,965    Running
    9/11/98   23       4           250/250    21,525    Running
    5/14/99   18       3           250/250    28,865    Running
  • RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY BREAKDOWN
     Laps Led: 2 (5/14/99)   Laps Completed: 998/1000 = 99.8%
    Average Start: 21.75     Top 5’s: 3
    Average Finish: 8          Top 10’s: 3
  • NOTES
    • With just seven races remaining in 1999, the Busch Series Championship battle between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth has heated up. After his third place finish at Darlington, Kenseth sits behind Dale Jr. by just 26 points.
    •  Matt will be running the same car at Richmond he raced with at IRP on August 6 where he grabbed a fourth place finish.
    • The last three races at RIR Matt has captured top five finishes. His average finish in 1998 & 1999 is 3.33.
    •  Kenseth competed in his second Winston Cup race of the season at Darlington last Sunday. Matt was racing most of the event in the top ten before becoming tangled in an accident in turn three. Matt finished in 38th spot.
    • Kenseth will be competing in three more Winston Cup races in 1999 including Dover on Sept. 26, Charlotte on Oct. 10 and Rockingham on Oct. 24.
  • MATT’S THOUGHTS ON THE BUSCH SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP RACE
    “Whoever wins the championship is going to be the guy who performs the best the next seven races and doesn’t make any mistakes. If either one of us makes a mistake or has a mechanical failure or something like that we won’t win the championship. But if we can both make it through and not make any mistakes these last seven races, I feel like our whole race team is up to the task of running toe to toe with those guys. I think it will come right down to the wire if nothing happens to either one of our cars.”
Monday September 6th 1999
Double Duty at Darlington  
  • DeWALT RACE REPORT
    Busch Series Report
     Matt Kenseth had an awesome race on Saturday at Darlington, with Kenseth grabbing his 13th top five finish of the season.

    Matt qualified for the 147-lap event in 6th spot, improving upon his 9th place starting position in the Darlington spring race. It didn’t take long for Kenseth to work his way into the top spot, taking the lead from Mark Martin on lap 27. Matt lead four laps before Martin made the move back around Kenseth. But Matt wasn’t discouraged and reclaimed the lead on lap 39. Kenseth led for the next 12 laps before Mark took over the lead once again. Kenseth cruised the remainder of the race in 3rd spot, following closely behind Mark Martin and Dave Blaney. With Matt’s 3rd place finish at Darlington, and only seven races remaining in the season, Kenseth now trails Dale Earnhardt Jr. by only 26 points in the Busch Series championship battle.

    “In the beginning it looked like we might have something, but we got looser all day. No matter what adjustments we would have made, I know we wouldn’t have been able to run with the 93 and 60 cars. But I’m happy, it’s a real good day for us to run third at Darlington.”
  • 1999 DRIVERS POINT STANDINGS
     1 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 3579
    2 Matt Kenseth 3553 (-26)
    3 Jeff Green 3363
    4 Todd Bodine 3230
    5 Elton Sawyer 3057
    6 Jeff Purvis 2967
    7 Jason Keller 2892
    8 Dave Blaney 2826
    9 Randy Lajoie 2733
    10 Mike McLaughlin 2657
  • Winston Cup Report
     Matt Kenseth qualified for the Winston Cup event in 31st spot, a disappointing position after practicing much faster. Matt’s qualifying spot relegated the team to pit on the backstretch, a huge competitive disadvantage. Despite starting the race towards the back, Matt quickly learned how to make the moves to the front. The DEWALT Ford Taurus started the race very tight, but by lap 30 the car began feeling more neutral and Kenseth was running lap times as quick as the leader. Matt jumped into 10th spot on lap 93 and was as high as 6th position on lap 117. After a yellow flag pit stop on lap 132, Kenseth resumed the race in 19th position but was rapidly picking off positions. While running again in the top ten and still early in the race, Matt was caught up in a wreck in turn three ending his day prematurely. Matt finished his second Winston Cup race of 1999 in 37th position.

    “The DEWALT Ford was running really good today. I did a bad job qualifying and got us on the backstretch. We were all the way up to 6th before that last pit stop. I saw the wreck but couldn’t get slowed down or stopped for it. I think we definitely had a top five car. We ran almost the same times as the leader all day. Hopefully it’s a sign of things yet to come.”
Monday August 30th 1999
Victory at Bristol
  • MATT KENSETH TAKES THE WIN AT BRISTOL
    Moves to within 69 points of Jr.-
    After a three month winless streak, Matt Kenseth and the DEWALT Racing Team grabbed the checkered flag for their fourth time in 1999, capturing the Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Matt qualified for the 250-lap race in third position, his career best starting position at BMS.

    Kenseth didn’t waste any time moving towards the top spot once the green flag waved. Matt was up to second position on lap 62, when a caution flag fell for fluid on the racetrack. Matt ducted into pits for his first of two pit stops. Thanks to the quick work of the crew, Matt left the pits as the leader of the race. Kenseth cruised in the top spot the next 76 laps before just missing a wreck on lap 142 that brought out another caution flag. Matt dived into the pits for his final stop of the night. Kenseth fell to fourth after the stop, two cars choosing not to pit, and barely getting beat by Michael Waltrip out of the pits. The green flag resumed on lap 151 and Matt retook the lead in just 7 laps. Kenseth dominated the remainder of the race, taking the checkered flag for the fourth time in 1999, his seventh career Busch Series win. Matt led the most laps (169), capturing 10 bonus points and moving to within 69 points of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in the championship race.
      
  • MATT’S THOUGHTS ON BRISTOL
    “I just thank the Lord for a good safe race. We haven’t had the best of times lately. I was wondering if we would get back to victory lane and we did.” (YOU TIGHTENED UP THE POINTS RACE AGAIN) “Yeah a little bit. Not much. The main thing is to be back in victory lane. I’m so happy it’s unbelievable.”  
Tuesday August 24th 1999
Michigan - Busch and Cup  
  • DeWALT  RACING NOTES
    BUSCH REVIEW
    Matt Kenseth ran in both races this past weekend at Michigan Speedway, running in the Busch Series and making his Winston Cup debut with DEWALT Tools and Roush Racing.
    Kenseth struggled to qualify his Busch car for Saturday’s race, putting the DEWALT Monte Carlo in 30th spot in the field, his worst starting position of the year. The Monte Carlo didn’t seem to want to go fast for one lap, but it definitely could keep the pace on long runs. Kenseth took the green flag Saturday afternoon and quickly moved the DEWALT Chevy up the field.

    Twenty-five laps into the race, Matt had moved into tenth position. Kenseth began to battle lapped traffic mid way through the race, and pitted under the green flag on lap 56. The team performed flawlessly on the stop, changing  four tires, adding fuel and making a wedge adjustment in 16:50 seconds the team’s fastest pit stop of the year. Matt returned to the racetrack in 12th spot. After the green flag pit stops had all been completed, Kenseth was in 7th spot with just 30 laps to the checkered flag. Matt picked off 6th position from Jeff Burton on lap 77, and was chasing down the leaders when trouble struck. Kenseth felt the motor let go on lap 80 and nursed the car the remaining 20 laps of the race. Matt lost positions rapidly, but managed to finish the race running, grabbing 22nd spot. With Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s win, the DEWALT team took a hit in the championship race, moving behind Jr. by 89 points.

    “We had a real fast race car it handled great all day. I kind of got us in a hole qualifying so badly and that got us behind. If we could have gotten to the front I know we could have stayed there and been a contender. I don’t know if we could have won but we were definitely a top three or four car. We did the best we could. A part just broke in the motor. This is the first time in the three years I been driving in the Series’ we’ve had a failure like this in a race. These things are going to happen.”
  • 1999 DRIVERS POINT STANDINGS
     1 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 3287
    2 Matt Kenseth 3198 (-89)
    3 Jeff Green 3119
    4 Todd Bodine 2936
    5 Elton Sawyer 2790
    6 Jeff Purvis 2699
    7 Jason Keller 2693
    8 Mike McLaughlin 2562
    9 Dave Blaney 2513
    10 Randy Lajoie 2488
  • WINSTON CUP REVIEW
    Matt’s Winston Cup debut with Roush was filled with excitement. Kenseth qualified for the race in first round qualifying on Friday, putting the DEWALT Ford Taurus in 25th spot. The race on Sunday was a learning experience for the team as well as Matt. The radios did not work correctly the entire race, leaving Matt and the team guessing as to what each were saying. Kenseth was forced to race without the guidance of his spotter, making things very challenging on the track. Despite the set backs, Matt was able to run strongly. The team had quick pit stops the entire race, giving Matt good track position. Kenseth got as high as 7th position after a gas only pit stop on lap 150. With just 50 laps remaining in the race, Matt was able to run with the leaders holding his own to the checkered flag, finishing in 14th position.

    “We didn’t have any radios from the first lap, they would just bleed in and out so I couldn’t tell what was going on. We had a great car; the team did an awesome job preparing it. The last restart was a little hairy without a spotter but overall it was an awesome race to finish in fourteenth spot our first time out this year. I learned a lot today and that what it’s all about.”
Wednesday August 18th 1999  
  • The much anticipated weekend is almost upon us as Matt Kenseth prepares to make his Winston Cup debut with his DeWALT Tools, Roush Racing Ford Taurus. Many of his long time fans have dreamed of the day that he would make this step. A step many of us knew he could do but weren’t sure if he could get that needed exposure and chance at the top. Lets hope this is just one of many steps as Matt continues his climb to the ultimate goal, a Winston Cup Championship.
      
  • DeWALT RACING MICHIGAN NOTES
     Matt Kenseth will be making his Winston Cup debut with DEWALT Tools and Roush Racing this weekend at Michigan Speedway. Matt tested his Winston Cup car at Michigan on August 9 & 10 in preparation for the Pepsi 400. Matt Kenseth’s Busch Series Team will pit the DEWALT car for both races at Michigan.

    The DEWALT Racing Team will have a special guest this weekend at Michigan. Pete Reckell, who plays Bo Brady in Days of Our Lives, will be attending the Winston Cup race on August 22 to hang out with Matt Kenseth and the team.

    Matt will be signing autographs at the Home Depot in Lansing, MI on Friday August 20, 1999 from 7:00 - 8:00 PM.

    About the DEWALT Cup car:
    Matt’s #17 Ford Taurus is out of Mark Martin’s stable, claiming the title of #002 among the first of Matt Kenseth’s Winston Cup cars.
    About the DEWALT Busch Car:
    Kenseth’s #17 Monte Carlo is the same car he won with at California Speedway on May 1, 1999.
Monday August 9th 1999  Indianapolis Raceway Park
  • DeWALT RACING NOTES
    KENSETH GRABS TOP FIVE AT IRP
    MOVES TO WITHIN 1 POINT OF JR.
     Matt Kenseth came away from Indianapolis Raceway Park with a fourth place finish, his eleventh top five of the season, and chipped away at his distance from points leader Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Matt currently sits just one point away from Dale Jr. in the championship race.

    Kenseth qualified for the 200-lap event in ninth spot and quickly began moving up the field. Although Matt battled a tight racecar most of the evening, Kenseth was able to work his way to the front, taking over the lead on lap 128. Caution flew on the raceway on lap 129 and the team made their first and only pit stop. The DeWALT Race team had a stellar performance, putting on four tires, filling up with fuel and making a wedge adjustment in just 18:53 seconds. Matt maintained the lead, thanks to the quick work of the team, and continued green flag racing in the top spot. Kenseth held onto the lead for several laps before getting rear ended and falling to the high side of the track, getting freight trained to fifth position with just 25 laps to go. Despite multiple caution flags during the final stages of the race, Kenseth was able to move into 4th position before the checkered flag dropped. Thanks to leading a lap for five bonus points, Matt continues to sit in second position in the championship points race, and is only one point away from Dale Jr.
  • KENSETH/DeWALT TO MAKE WC DEBUT AT MICHIGAN
     Matt Kenseth and the DeWALT Racing Team will make their Winston Cup debut at Michigan Speedway on Aug. 22. Matt will run five WC races in 1999 for DeWALT in preparation for the their move into Winston Cup racing full time next season. The four remaining WC races in 1999 Matt will be running are Darlington, Dover, Charlotte, and Rockingham.  
Monday August 2nd 1999  Gateway
  • DeWALT RACING NOTES
    KENSETH CAPTURES 6TH PLACE AT ST. LOUIS
    Despite being involved in a wreck early in the race, Matt Kenseth and the DeWALT Racing team were able to rally back and finish the CARQUEST Auto Parts 200 in 6th position.

    Matt took the green flag in 21st position and almost immediately got tangled in an accident. On lap 6 Kenseth was tagged from behind causing extensive damage to the rear end. Matt pitted on lap 8 allowing the team to repair the rear end. Green flag racing resumed and Matt fell back to 40th position. The damage affected the handling of the car but Kenseth was able to fight his way back up the field. By lap 50, Matt was running in 20th spot and clocking the same lap times as the leaders. Matt pitted on lap 65 under the caution flag, for tires and fuel, making a track bar adjustment for the loose handling condition. The crew had an awesome pit stop, gaining five spots in the pits, returning Matt to the race in 9th spot. Despite battling a loose race car Matt managed to move into fifth position by lap 120, but then gradually fell back to 10th. Kenseth pitted again on lap 136 and the team made a major adjustment to tighten the car up. The adjustment helped but didn’t solve the problem with Matt continuing to fight a loose car till the very end of the race. Kenseth was able to climb into 6th position before the checkered flag dropped, grabbing his 14th top ten of the season.
  • MATT’S THOUGHTS ON GATEWAY
    “I got hit in the back and it bent the quarter panel way out. I don’t know if that had much to do with it but we were super loose all the time after that. No matter what we did we couldn’t make the car competitive. We were lucky and didn’t get the car wrecked and salvaged a top ten finish, but the incident definitely hurt our day.”
      
  • Matt drops back to 2nd in the points standings, 11 behind race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Monday July 26th 1999  Pikes Peak
  • DeWALT RACING NOTES
    MATT KENSETH GRABS 7TH AT PIKES PEAK
    RETAKES THE POINT LEAD
    Matt Kenseth came away from Pikes Peak with not only a 7th place finish, his 13th top ten of the season, Kenseth recaptured the points lead, jumping 24 points ahead of Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

    Matt qualified for the 250-lap race in 7th spot, and experienced a slight handling condition off the corners at the beginning of the race. The DeWALT Monte Carlo’s handling improved after 30 laps, with Kenseth moving into 4th position by lap 38. Caution flew on the speedway on lap 62 and Matt ducted into the pits for his first stop of the day. The DeWALT Race Team completed an incredible four-tire stop, beating every team on pit row. Several cars didn’t pit and Kenseth resumed the race in 9th spot. It didn’t take long for Matt to work his way back up the field, cruising in the top five for the next 90 laps, grabbing second position by lap 153. Matt made his second and final stop of the day on lap 161 taking on four tires and resumed the race in 12th spot. Matt worked his way back up to the front, picking off several spots before the end of the race, taking the checkered flag in 7th position.

    With Kenseth’s top ten finish and Dale Jr.’s 36th place finish, Matt reclaimed the points lead, moving ahead of Dale by 24 points.
  • MATT THOUGHT’S ON PPIR
    “We were pretty good most of the race, we hung around second and third. At the end there we adjusted the car to make it better and it got ten times worse. We needed to be good at the end and we weren’t.”
      
  • Little, Kenseth to share space in new Roush shop (Nascar Online article)
Monday July 19th 1999 - Myrtle Beach
  • DeWALT Racing Notes
    KENSETH TAKES 3rd AT THE BEACH
    MAKES BIG DENT IN JR’S POINT LEAD
    Matt Kenseth came away from the Myrtle Beach Speedway with his tenth top five of the season and moved to within 62 points of championship points leader Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

    Matt qualified for the 250-lap event in ninth position, inside the fifth row. Once the green flag dropped, it didn’t take Kenseth long to make his way to the front. Matt assumed the top spot on lap 65 and held the lead until lap 100, relinquishing the position to Randy the entire race, falling back to fifth after his second pit stop, but rallied back to third before the checkered flag dropped. Kenseth grabbed 170 points thanks to the third place finish and his leading a few laps, and gained 77 points on Dale Jr. in the championship points race.
  • MATT’S THOUGHTS ON MYRTLE BEACH
    “I’m really proud of the entire DeWALT Race Team. We’ve really struggled at these small racetracks. We had a good run tonight. The team gave me a car that I thought would maybe have a chance to win with that first set of tires. But we could just never get the car back to the way the car performed on that first run. I don’t’ know why. We led some laps tonight and we haven’t been able to do that at a short track lately. I’m just real happy to finish third.”
      
  • Kenseth analytical about Pepsi 400 (Nascar.com story)
Wednesday July 7th 1999
  • Matt was planning on having a weekend off, looks like plans have changed a bit...

    This just in from Roush Racing:
    HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Mark Martin underwent surgery this afernoon to repair a broken tibia plateau in his left knee which he suffered during an accident at Daytona International Speedway last Friday during practice.

    The fracture was identified today after Martin underwent an MRI yesterday. Dr. Chuck Kollmer performed the arthroscopic surgery in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., to insert a screw to hold the tibia in place. Martin will continue to wear a leg brace following the surgery which will allow him to drive this weekend.

    “Dr. Kollmer assured me that I will be able to drive this weekend in New Hampshire,” Martin said. “I’ll be back to see him Monday after the race to evaluate how long I should wear the brace. Once I get this taken care of I should be much better since my wrist and ribs are already feeling better.”

    Martin intends to drive the entire race this weekend, but Matt Kenseth will be standing by in case Martin cannot complete the race.
Monday July 5th 1999  Milwaukee WI
  
  • A record crowd was on hand for Sundays race at the Milwaukee Mile, and I don’t think it was because of the record heat. A hot and humid airmass was in place over Wisconsin, bringing the heat indices into the mid 100’s. Despite the weather, there was some great racing to be seen as Casey Atwood grabbed his first Busch series win by giving Jeff Green a tap on the rear bumper, taking the checkered flag seconds later. Dale Jr. survived the pain in his chipped shoulder to come home in 3rd place after starting from the rear of the field. Dale slammed the turn 1 wall during practice on Saturday and went to the hospital for a checkup. Dale soon returned to the track but Ron Hornaday was chosen to qualify the backup car, forcing Jr. to start Sundays race from the rear.

    It was great to see the thousands of Matt Kenseth fans at the track this weekend, DeWALT Racing shirts could be seen everywhere. Matt tried to put on a good show for his fans but he had to overcome several problems during the race. Starting from the 8th position, Matt quickly moved up to 4th then dropped back a couple spots where he would ride until the first pit stop. The next sequence is where all the problems arose. The car was very loose, a vibration developed in the car and the clutch became welded together. To top off the mechanical problems, the rear view mirror broke and Matt had to rely on his spotter to let him know where the traffic was as he slipped back through the field. The final pit sequence put Matt at the tail end of the lead lap after make-shift repairs to the mirror were made with duct tape. Robbie came on the radio to tell Matt that the tread from the right front tire was half gone, probably from a bad set of tires. They escaped a catastrophe there... Matt was able to pick up some speed after the last pit stop, passing several cars but he lacked the track position and time to catch the leaders. Despite all the problems, Matt brought the #17 DeWALT Tools Chevrolet home in 5th position, a great team effort.

    Matt loses 10 more points to Dale Jr, now 139 off pace.
      
  • Krogh maintaining condition in Milwaukee hospital
     NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division driver Jeff Krogh, remained in critical but stable condition Monday at Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital after suffering injuries in an accident in practice on Saturday at The Milwaukee Mile. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Krogh family...
      
  • #17 Busch driver for next year
    Robbie Reiser stated Sunday at the Milwaukee Mile that Matt would be in 20 Busch races in 2000 with Jason Schuler filling in for the remaining 12. Jason is a good friend and classmate of Matt’s from Cambridge WI and has competed against Matt at many tracks in Wisconsin. Jason is currently a top competitor in the Nascar Re/Max Challenge series (ARTGO) Besides being a great driver, Jason also builds his own race cars and helps other drivers with their cars.
Tuesday June 29th 1999  Watkins Glen
  • DeWALT RACING NOTES
    BUMPY ROAD AT THE GLEN
     It looked as though it was going to be a great race at the Watkins Glen road course for the DeWALT Racing team until a late race mishap took Matt Kenseth out of contention for the win.

    Matt qualified for the 200-mile race in 5th position, Kenseth’s best Watkins Glen starting spot. Matt took the green flag and immediately began picking off positions, working his way to the front. Kenseth was cruising in 2nd spot behind road course veteran Ron Fellows, when caution flew on the speedway. The lead pack, including Matt, came into the pits for fresh tires.

    The DeWALT team had an awesome pit stop until the car slipped off the jack as the jackman was letting the car down. Matt lost only a few positions to the leaders due to the lengthy stop and began to work his way up the field.

    Matt was back up to 4th position by lap 38 and soon after passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. for second place. Kenseth pitted for a second time on lap 46 under the green flag along with Dale Jr. The DeWALT team had a great pit stop getting Matt back out onto the racetrack in 16th spot. Caution flew on the track and the leaders ducting into the pits, moving Matt back into 4th spot. Kenseth picked off the next two positions quickly and was chasing down the leader, Ron Fellows. Unfortunately on lap 72, Matt came off of turn 10 too high and got into the marbles. Kenseth was stuck on the outside groove going into turn one and tried to jump back into the low line when he was tapped from behind. Matt went spinning, bringing out the caution flag. The damage was minor but it may have cost Kenseth the win. Matt went on to finish in 16th position.
  • MATT’S THOUGHTS ON THE GLEN
    “I felt like we were in an excellent position to win the race. I got into ten a little bit too hard and got off the track. Everyone got a good run on me. I just went down into one and my spotter said I was clear behind the three car. I pulled in behind the three car and I guess I wasn’t clear. It’s hard to win these races. You can’t give them away when you’re in position to win.”
  • Dale Jr’s win at the Glen is his 3rd of the year and 3rd win in a row, quite a streak. Last year at The Milwaukee Mile, Jr. almost lapped the entire field on his way to victory lane. Matt now trails Jr. by 129 points just past the half-way point.
  • Matt @ The Milwaukee Mile this weekend!!
    For the most part, the DeWALT Race team is returning home this weekend.
    Matt Kenseth and Robbie Reiser are both Wisconsin natives as well as several crew members. Matt was born and raised in Cambridge, WI while Robbie was raised in Allenton, WI.

    Matt Kenseth has a busy week scheduled prior to the running of the Diehard 250. On Wednesday, June 30 Kenseth will be signing autographs at the Franklin, WI Home Depot from 6-8 PM. Matt will be the Grand Marshall for the West Allis 4th of July parade on Friday, July 2 at 7 PM and on Saturday night, July 3, Matt will be at the Jefferson Speedway near Madison, WI, sighing autographs from 7-9 PM. *NOTE* Drivers WILL NOT be doing appearances at the Solid Gold McDonalds like years past.
      
Friday June 25th 1999
  • The Busch series will be at Watkins Glen this weekend, the series only stop at a road course. All cars must be equipped with a windshield wiper, defroster and taillight. Nascar announced earlier this year that rain tires could be used. The forecast does have a hint of rain for Sunday.... Racing starts at Noon on ESPN (eastern)
      
  • DeWALT Racing Notes
     Matt Kenseth and the DeWALT Racing Team tested at Watkins Glen International on June 15 & 16 in preparation for the Lysol 200.

    Matt will be making his 70th Busch Series start at Watkins Glen this weekend.

    Kenseth has the most top five’s of any Busch Series competitor in 1999. Matt has grabbed 8 top five finishes in just the first 16 races of the season.

    Kenseth tested at Daytona International Speedway for Roush Racing on June 22 & 23, helping the teams to prepare for the Winston Cup race on July 3rd.
  • MATT’S THOUGHTS ON WATKINS GLEN
    “I’ve always struggled on road courses but I’ve always really enjoyed competing on them. We tested for two days hoping to improve our performance on the road course. The test session went well and I feel a bit more comfortable making those right hand turns. I just hope I can run competitively this weekend and maybe gain a few points on Dale Jr.”
      
  • NASCAR Busch Series season hits midway
    This is a Nascar.com article summing up the 99 Busch season to the half-way point. A must read!
Tuesday June 15th 1999  South Boston
  • DeWALT Racing Notes
    KENSETH GRABS A TOP TEN FINISH AT SOUTH BOSTON SPEEDWAY
    Matt Kenseth came home with a 6th place finish at South Boston Speedway, grabbing his tenth top ten finish of the season. Kenseth took the green flag in 21st position and began his battle towards the front. Right from the beginning Matt was experiencing a tight handling condition coming off the corners and a very hot running motor. Kenseth steadily made his way up the field and was in 14th position when the mandatory break came on lap 100. Matt pitted for fresh tires and fuel and the crew made several adjustments on the car to correct the handling problem  and cut the grill open to get more air into the motor and lower the temperature. Kenseth resumed racing and jumped into the top ten after barely missing a wreck on lap 146. Matt was cruising in 6th spot when the mandatory

    caution flew again on lap 200. Kenseth took on four tires and a full load of fuel. The green flag dropped once again and Matt jumped into 5th spot on lap 202 and then took over the 4th position on lap 279 from the #36 car. Just a few laps later, Matt was hit from behind by the #36 car, knocking him into the wall while coming out of turn four. Kenseth dropped back to 7th spot with just 14 laps remaining in the race. Kenseth was able to grab one spot before the checkered flag dropped, finishing the race in 6th position.
  • MATT’S THOUGHTS ON SOUTH BOSTON
    “Everybody on the DeWALT Racing Team did a great job today. Just some of these people you can’t race with out here. All night I tried passing him (Tim Fedewa) and he never gave me a lane. I waited and waited. He cut me off and I barely nudged him and then he just plain took me out at the end of the race. It’s very disgusting to me. I drive as courteous as I can. If someone is faster than I am I give him the lane and let him go. The car was good but we weren’t any better than a fourth place today. It’s just too bad we finished 6th.”
      
  • Matt loses 30 points to race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. who gets his second win of the season. Matt now trails Jr. by 64 points.
Friday June 11th 1999  Dover
  • Its back to the short tracks this weekend as the Busch series stops at South Boston Speedway in Virginia for the Textilease Medique 300. Matt tested at South Boston on June 1st and will be running the same car he raced at in Nashville. Qualifying is Saturday at 2:30 with racing set to go at 5:30, televised live on TNN. (Eastern Time) The Busch cars must race on the same shocks and springs that they qualify on at South Boston.
  • DeWALT Racing drops to second in the points after a DNF at Dover last Saturday. Matt now trails Dale Jr. by 34 points.
      
  • The #17 Chevrolet blew an engine during Happy Hour on Friday so they were not able to get a good race setup on the car. Matt was fighting a badly handling race car for most of the race but was still able to run in the top-ten. A late yellow flag pit stop dropped Matt to the back of the lead pack from a long pit stop caused by a stubborn right rear spring rubber. Matt got caught up in a wreck with Joe Bessey and Ernie Irvan shortly after the re-start and found Dover’s un-forgiving concrete walls. They tried to get Matt back out on the track with a damaged car but the right front broke and Matt hit the wall again, making his second trip to the in-field care center. Matt would end up in 32nd place after starting from the 14th position.
      
  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. gets his 1st victory of the year at Dover.
  • Testing at the Glen: Twenty-two Cup and BGN teams will be testing the newly paved surface at The Glen including: Rusty Wallace, Michael Waltrip, Terry Labonte, Bobby Labonte, David Green and from the BGN: Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Matt Kenseth, Randy Lajoie, Elton Sawyer and Jeff Green. When: Tuesday, June 15, 1999 from 10:00am - 4:00pm/et(Watkins Glen PR)(6-10-1999)
Tuesday June 1st 1999 Charlotte NC
  • DeWALT INDUSTRIAL POWER TOOLS AND MATT KENSETH JOIN FORCES WITH ROUSH RACING FOR WINSTON CUP IN 2000
     Charlotte, NC (May 30, 1999) -- DeWALT High Performance Industrial Tools will make the jump into Winston Cup in 2000, signing a multi year sponsorship agreement with Roush Racing, continuing their relationship with Matt Kenseth as he moves up into the top level of NASCAR. DeWALT Tools and Matt Kenseth will compete in 5 Winston Cup races this season in preparation for their jump into Winston Cup next year.

    DeWALT Tools and Matt Kenseth will make their Winston Cup debut at the Michigan Speedway on August 22, 1999. Kenseth is planning on competing in four more Winston Cup races this year including, Darlington (9/5) Dover (9/26), Charlotte (10/10) and Rockingham (10/24) with DeWALT’s backing, but will still retain his eligibility for the pursuit of the Rookie of the Year title in 2000.

    DeWALT will make the move into Winston Cup sponsorship after seven years of primary sponsorship in the NASCAR Busch Series. With 1999 being DeWALT’s first year with Matt Kenseth, the partnership has proved to be a successful combination. Matt has already grabbed three wins and nine top five finishes in the first fourteen races of the season and is currently leading the championship points battle.

    “We think Matt Kenseth is an excellent driver and a great spokesperson for our high performance power tools,” states Rory Leyden, Director of Event Marketing DeWALT. “DeWALT Industrial Tools is a high quality product and is number one in the marketplace. We are extremely proud the DeWALT Race Team strives for this same goal each week on the racetrack. DeWALT likes what they’ve seen in Matt Kenseth both on and off the track and we want to continue this relationship for many years. We are very excited to be part of the Roush Racing family”

    Matt Kenseth is just as excited about driving the #17 DeWALT Ford Taurus in the Winston Cup Series.

    “DeWALT has been a great sponsor to work with this year,” commented Matt Kenseth. “I am honored they have made a commitment to Roush Racing to back up our new Winston Cup team for the next three years. I’m anxious to make our debut at Michigan, but I still really want to focus on winning the Busch Series Championship for them in 1999. That would be a great way to conclude our last year in the Series and our new start in Winston Cup.”

    The Hampstead, Maryland based DeWALT Industrial Tool Company manufacturers and markets High Performance Tools and Accessories for building construction, professional remodeling and wood working applications. For more information on the full line of DeWALT High Performance Power Tool and Accessories, phone 1-800-4-DEWALT. DeWALT will be the primary sponsor on the #17 Winston Cup entry and is open to inquiries about associate sponsorship on Matt Kenseth’s Ford.
      
  • Another great run for the #17 Busch Team this weekend at Charlotte as Matt brings the DeWALT Tools Chevrolet across the line in 3rd place. Starting from the 9th position, Matt moved quickly into the top-five and went on to lead laps 20-48. Matt battled a loose car for most of the race but hung out in the top-ten all day. A late race caution found Matt running in 5th place with only 8 cars on the lead lap. They decided to pit the car and see what they could do with fresh tires for the final 9 laps of the race. Matt had the fastest car on the track for the 9 lap shootout but ran out of time settling for third behind race winner Mark Martin and 2nd place Dale Earnhardt Jr.
      
  • Dale Jr. gains 5 points on Matt in the Championship hunt. Matt now leads Dale Jr. by 84 points.
Monday May 24th 1999 Nazareth
  • DeWALT Racing and Matt Kenseth get their 3rd victory of the year this weekend at Nazareth Speedway in a race that was delayed by rain for nearly 5 hours. The race was eventually shortened to 168 laps after it was decided there was chance of darkness. :) Matt started from the 7th position and was quickly into the top-five when the race was stopped for 35 minutes at lap 23 for a rain delay. Matt ran a fairly conservative race up to lap 109 when the leaders pitted under yellow. Jeff Green made a costly mistake by missing the pit entrance after leading most of the race, putting him at the back of the lead lap after pitting on lap 110. Matt restarted in 10th, right behind Earnhardt Jr, racing with cars that had about 30 laps on their tires. Matt and Dale quickly closed on race leader Tim Fedewa and Jr. would take the top spot from Fedewa on lap 137. In a controversial move, Fedewa passed Jr. on lap 140 after the yellow flag came out for a bad wreck involving Lyndon Amick and Brad Loney. Jr. passed Fedewa after the re-start but Fedewa came right back on the inside and washed up into Jr. a little, giving Matt room to make a daring 3 wide pass. Matt shot into 1st place, followed by Todd Bodine and Dale Jr. The final caution on lap 154 found Jr. racing Bodine back to the line, which upset Bodine enough to give Jr. a big old tap with the rear end of his car. This would cost Bodine any chance for the win, getting black flagged by NASCAR for having a piece of metal sticking out of the back of his car from contact with Jr. Matt easily walked away from Jr. on the re-start, beating him by 1.5 seconds in the 9 lap sprint to the finish line. (Results)
      
  • MATT KENSETH No. 17 DeWalt Tools Chevrolet
    (On the pass for the lead.) “Tim (Fedewa) was racing (Dale Earnhardt) Junior real hard off (Turn) 2 and they hit together side by side. They got real loose and I had a real good run so I said ’man, you gotta take advantage of it.’ If it would’ve been earlier in the race, I never would have stuck my nose in there, but with 10 or 15 (laps) to go we had to take a chance. It turned out that I had the best view of the turn. I was lucky that the tires stuck right on the line and I was able to get by them. This car didn’t turn very well when I was behind somebody -- it had a bad aero push. When I was in clean air I could hang on and run pretty fast but behind people it wasn’t good. At the end, clean air on the nose helped us a lot and during the caution we really got the tires cooled down and we had enough to do it.”
      
  • Matt gains 5 more points on Dale Jr., extending his point lead by 89 in the Championship Battle.
  • Roush Racing will have a formal announcement this Sunday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway of Matt’s Winston Cup plans. For a sneak preview of the details, check out this article from Speedvision Online.
      
  • In case anybody missed it, Nascar.com had an excellent article about Matt and Roush Racing last week. Here is the article.
Sunday May 16th 1999  Richmond
  • Matt is back on top in the point standings after a great 3rd place finish at Richmond on Friday night. The race ended early Saturday morning because of a long rain delay and many cautions. The Busch cars did not get any practice in since qualifying which helped set the stage for a wreckfest. Matt started from the 18th position and moved into the top-ten before Nascar threw a mandatory yellow flag to check tire wear. The Reiser Raiders had a great pit stop, putting the DeWALT Tools Chevrolet in the top five for the restart. Matt would remain near the front for the entire race, grabbing the top spot from race winner Mark Martin for one lap to get his 5 bonus points. The big story of the night was Earnhardt Jr’s wreck which put him behind the wall with a broken rear end for many laps. Jr. went on to finish in 32nd place, putting him 84 points behind Matt in the Championship battle. Elton Sawyer also had problems, finishing 34th after contact with the wall.
      
  • MATT KENSETH No. 17 DeWalt Chevrolet
    “It’s great to race against Mark and Jeff Burton. It’s not too bad to finish third to the two greatest drivers there are. The guys put together a brand new car for here and we had next to no practice at all. Like I said these guys gave me awesome pit stops and track position when I needed it.”
      
  • MARK MARTIN No. 60 Winn-Dixie Ford
    “Matt (Kenseth) ran good tonight. I was really surprised how well he ran. Jeff Burton really didn’t surprise me. He was testing a different kind of car when we were here and he wasn’t happy with it. So he brought a regular car with the same stuff under it we had. So I knew if we ran good he probably would, too. Jeff Burton is the master here. To beat him tonight is something.”
  • Look for an announcement of Matt’s Winston Cup plans the last week of May at Lowe’s (Charlotte) Motor Speedway.
Wednesday May 12th 1999  Loudon
  • DeWALT Race Report
    KENSETH GRABS TOP TEN AT LOUDON
    Matt Kenseth captured his sixth top ten of the season last weekend at the New Hampshire International Speedway, bringing the DeWALT Monte Carlo home in eighth spot.

    Matt qualified for the 200-lap race in 16th position, despite practicing among the top ten fastest. Once the green flag waved, Kenseth began steadily working his was towards the front. During the first few laps the car in front of Matt checked up on the breaks and he nudged the car ever so slightly. There appeared to be no damage to the car but the motor immediately began overheating. Kenseth nursed the car to the first caution flag, maintaining his 13th position and came into the pit for fresh tires on lap 98. The team removed all of the tape from the front grill, changed tires and made several adjustments to the car. The DeWALT team had an awesome stop and got Matt back out onto the racetrack in 8th position. The overheating problem was now eliminated and Kenseth began working his way up the field.

    Matt was in 5th spot when caution waved on the speedway on lap 171. Kenseth ducted into the pits for fresh tires and went back out in 9th place. Matt fell back right after the pit stop, battling a loose car and heavy traffic.

    The restart proved to be too congested and the caution flag waved twice before the checkered flag dropped. Matt was involved in last caution flag, tangling with the #66 car. Despite the severe damage, Kenseth crossed the finish line in eighth position.
  • MAJOR GROUND MADE UP IN POINTS BATTLE
    With Matt Kenseth’s eighth place finish and Dale Earnhardt Jr. 34th place finish at Loudon, Matt was able to make a significant dent in Dale Jr.’s lead in the championship points race. Kenseth is now just 19 points out of the point’s lead. 
  • 1999 DRIVERS POINTS STANDINGS
     1 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 1482
    2 Matt Kenseth 1463 (-19)
    3 Elton Sawyer 1453
    4 Jeff Green 1330
    5 Jason Keller 1309
    6 Casey Atwood 1218
    7 Jeff Purvis 1197
    8 Mike McLaughlin 1197
    9 Todd Bodine 1195
    10 Randy LaJoie 1067
  • MATT THOUGHT’S ON LOUDON
     “We had a car that should have finished fourth or fifth. That’s just the way it goes sometimes. The guys worked real hard all day to make the car better. I just hate they have to spend this week fixing a wrecked race car.”