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Wednesday
February 28th 2001
Matt
Kenseth’s Performance Summary at Las Vegas
Date: 3/05/00
Start: 21
Finish: 14
Laps: 148/148
Money: $76,785
Status: Running
Kenseth
on racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:
“I really like to race on tracks like Vegas and Atlanta.
We’ve run pretty good at those places and would hope to keep
that momentum going. This year has been off to a shaky start
both on and off the track for myself and the entire NASCAR
family, but with Rockingham behind us, we can focus on moving
forward. Vegas is always an exciting race because of the
location, and the track is one of the nicest we race at.”
Kenseth on the NASCAR Family:
“This is a great sport
to be in, it’s my job. There are only about 45 other guys like
me and we all travel from place to place with each other. It’s
just like a traveling family. All of the drivers and crew
members are supportive of each other and are there for each
other when it counts. Of course we all want to be better than
everyone else on Sundays, but it’s still a big family.”
Kenseth on safety:
Safety is and always has been an
ongoing concern of NASCAR and Roush Racing. This is a very
dangerous sport — we all know, accept and love it. Everyone is
working hard to figure out a way to prevent tragedy from
happening again, but it is a reality of this sport as in all
sports.”
Notes of Interest:
In proud recognition of Matt Kenseth capturing the Raybestos
Rookie of the Year title, DEWALT Power Tools will run the
special “Rookie” paint scheme for the final week. The
all-yellow car features the Raybestos Rookie of the Year logo on
the hood. The paint scheme has been on the car since Daytona.
DEWALT will feature special paint schemes throughout the year to
commemorate their year 2001 tool launch.
Qualifying is set for the Winston Cup Series at 5:15 p.m. ET on
Friday, March 3rd. The green flag will drop for the UAW-Daimler
Chrysler 400 at 2:30 p.m. ET. FOX and MRN Radio will broadcast
the event live.
Tuesday
February 27th 2001
Dura Lube 400, North Carolina Motor Speedway
DeWALT Race Report (
DeWalt
Racing )
Date : 2/25/01
Start : 38th
Finish : 28th
Laps : 389/393
Point Standings: 28th
Race Recap:
Kenseth and the DEWALT Power Tools team qualified for the Dura Lube 400 in the 38th position. Rainfall on the North Carolina Motor Speedway caused the race to begin over an hour late on Sunday, February 25. Track drying efforts were successful, until a downpour at lap 51 drenched the track postponing the race until the following day. Kenseth and the team had moved up to the 29th position when the rain halted the event.
The race restarted on lap 51 Monday, February 26. Kenseth worked his way through the field, gaining positions until a large piece of debris got caught in his grill. The water temperature in the car became very hot forcing Kenseth to bring his DEWALT Ford into the pits. Crew chief Robbie Reiser made the call to change four tires, clean the grill, fill the No. 17 with fuel, and cool the water temperature down. The DEWALT team lost laps and track position due to the green flag pit stop.
The DEWALT Racing team pulled off fast pit stops throughout the day, many of which were in the 14-second range.
After problems early on, Kenseth impressively began to run lap times faster than the leaders of the race. He bounced back to a 28th position finish, four laps behind the winner.
Quoting Matt Kenseth:
“I’m pretty disappointed about today. We had a competitive top-10 car coming into this race, but early in the day we got a piece of debris from another
car on the grill and that just hurt our chances for a good finish. The car got hot so fast we had to pit and lost a few laps. Then I was running as fast as the leaders but we could not get those laps back. Our goal then became to finish this race. I was tight at the beginning of some runs and
loose at the end of them. The rain delay puts the preparation for Vegas on rush, so the guys have to go back to the shop and work.
We’ll just be ready to win next week in
Vegas.”
The DEWALT Power Tools team will head west to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Qualifying is set for the Winston Cup Series at 5:15 p.m. ET on Friday, March 3rd. The green flag will drop on the UAW Daimler Chrysler 400 at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Matt Kenseth / Visine Racing Track Notes for Las Vegas Motor Speedway
EVENT INFORMATION:
Event: NASCAR Busch Series
Sam’s Town 300
Time and Date: 3:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, March 3
Site: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nev.
Live Coverage: FX (television) and MRN (radio)
Qualifying: 3:15 p.m. ET, Friday, March 2
Happy Hour: Friday, March 2, at approximately 7:15 p.m. ET
KENSETH BACK BEHIND THE WHEEL:
Matt Kenseth will get behind the wheel of the No. 17 Visine Chevrolet in Las Vegas after taking a one-race break from his NASCAR Busch Series duties last week in Rockingham, N.C. Teammate Clay Rogers took the wheel at
“The Rock” and finished 18th. Kenseth finished third a week earlier in the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway in Florida.
KENSETH TO DRIVE NEXT FIVE RACES:
Matt Kenseth is scheduled to drive the next five NASCAR Busch Series races in Las Vegas, Atlanta, Darlington, Bristol and Texas.
Kenseth’s 2001 NASCAR Busch Series schedule includes a total of 20 events this season.
SIXTH IN OWNER POINTS:
With Kenseth’s third-place finish at Daytona International Speedway in Florida on Feb. 17 and
Rogers’ 18th-place finish at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, N.C., on Feb. 24, the Reiser Enterprises-owned No. 17 Visine Chevrolet has earned the sixth spot in the
owners’ points standings.
LAST
YEAR’S SAM’S TOWN 300 (March 4, 2000):
Matt Kenseth and the Visine Racing Team chalked up their first top-five finish in three attempts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kenseth finished fifth in the
Sam’s Town 300. While the Visine Racing Team calculated fuel mileage from its pit stall, Kenseth charged the field, finally cracking the top-10 at lap 82 after starting 29th. During the first caution of the event, the Visine Chevrolet needed four fresh tires and fuel. To maintain valuable track position before the restart at lap 121 after the caution, Kenseth opted not to top off on fuel. Fortunately, the next caution fell just a lap later and Kenseth was able to refuel his Visine Chevrolet to go the duration.
With 50 laps remaining, Kenseth picked off sixth place. Then, on a hard charge at lap 195, he overtook fifth position. The final caution flag fell at lap 197, ending the 300-mile event under yellow.
LAST RACE:
Clay Rogers made his NASCAR Busch Series debut at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, N.C. The 20-year-old rookie driver set a goal to keep all four fenders on the car and to stay out of trouble. He did just that and finished the Alltel 200 in the 18th position. After qualifying 34th, Rogers patiently picked his way through the field at
“The Rock.” He was in the 20th position on lap 81 after putting Chad Little, Blaise Alexander and Tony Raines in his rearview mirror. During the Visine Racing
Team’s final pit stop on lap 185, Rogers pulled into the pit stall with the front wheels not straight. That made it difficult to change the front tires of the No. 17 machine and Rogers lost some track position. He battled back to 18th at the end of the race.
MATT
KENSETH’S COMMENTS:
“I’m looking forward to driving the Busch car at Las Vegas. With the new engine configuration in the Busch car, it should be interesting. We did well in Vegas last year and
we’ve just been getting better there with experience. We’re looking to run real well with the setup from last year and tune it from there as we go. No matter how many Busch cars show up in Vegas,
you’re still going to have to beat the best guys like Jeff Green and Kevin Harvick. It should be a good test for this
team.” CREW CHIEF RUSS
STRUPP’S COMMENTS:
“We finished fifth in Vegas last year after having a couple of tough runs there in the previous seasons. So,
we’d like to keep improving and win the race Saturday.
We’d like to win every time we leave the shop. That’s the kind of focus we take to the track every week.
Everybody’s trying to gun us down when Matt’s in the car, so
we’ll be real happy with a top-three finish, but with our good race package, a win is what
we’re looking for. Matt tested in Kentucky earlier this year in his Cup car and came home pretty happy. There are a lot of similarities in Kentucky and Vegas, so maybe we can start the weekend off by qualifying near the
front.”
SPONSOR NOTES:
Partners on the Visine Chevrolet for the Alltel 200 are BenGay and
Cortizone, products produced by Pfizer Consumer Health Care.
Wednesday
February 21st 2001
Matt Kenseth: Ready to
Roll at ‘The Rock’ ( DeWALT
Racing )
Quoting
Matt Kenseth
Kenseth on racing at
‘The
Rock’:
“This is the track where we
finally turned some heads in the Busch Series. In fact, the 1998 win
here in the Busch car is one of my most memorable moments. I was
driving for Reiser Enterprises and we came into the race without a
sponsor. When I passed Tony Stewart on the last lap for the win, we
finally landed a sponsor for the year. That was also the year DEWALT
signed on with our team.”
Kenseth’s reaction to the passing of Dale
Earnhardt: “I
only knew him a little bit, mostly because of racing against Dale,
Jr. He came to the Busch banquet the year Junior won, so I got to
spend a little time with him, but what I knew of him was mostly
about, you know ‘DALE,’ in capital letters, the legendary,
hard-driving champion. It’s overwhelming; all of these losses, and
it’s hard to get over them.”
Notes of Interest:
In proud recognition of Matt Kenseth capturing the Raybestos Rookie
of the Year title, DEWALT Industrial Tools will continue to run the
special Rookie paint scheme. The all-yellow car will feature the
Raybestos Rookie of the Year logo on the hood. The paint scheme is
the first of as many as four different paint schemes for the 2001
season commemorating DEWALT’s launch of new tools.
Matt Kenseth was one of the drivers who wore the HANS Device at
Daytona. “Many drivers feel the HANS is uncomfortable,” stated
Kenseth at a preseason press conference. “It takes some getting
used to but it increases your chances of safety in a wreck.”
Mike Calinoff (
Matt’s spotter ) on Daytona:
After struggling for most of the week, Matt ran well in the
125’s. Robbie and the team learned a few things for Sunday.
The car was the best it had been in the final practice on Saturday and that gave us a good feeling going into
Sunday’s race.
Matt was very competitive from the green flag. He, like many others, just chose to ride around and let the race unfold. At about the halfway point, we broke a shock pin and had to pit; putting us a few laps down.
It was tough to catch the draft and we were pretty much by ourselves.
Everything happens for a reason and if we had not broken that shock pin we would have been right in the middle of that big wreck on the backstretch.
We ended the day finishing 21st, which was not all that bad considering all that transpired during the race.
IN THE BUSCH SERIES:
Matt started 18th and began to work his way to the front. Just before halfway, the number one ignition box failed and we dropped back several spots while Matt switched boxes under green.
Again, we came back to the front and were contenders for the win. On the final lap, Joe Nemechek
— in an attempt to block for his teammate Randy LaJoie
— came across the nose of our car and went spinning.
We came to the line finishing third.
The Visine team is on an all-out mission to win the championship this year, so a third place finish to start the season was exciting.
Saturday
February 17th 2001
Kenseth Drives to Exciting Third-Place Finish at Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 17) - Matt Kenseth drove the No. 17 Visine Chevrolet to a strong third-place finish in an exciting NAPA Auto Parts 300 at Daytona International Speedway in Florida. Kenseth flexed his racing muscles by sprinting from 18th at the start of the race up to the lead pack in the final laps.
With just two laps to go, running third and fourth respectively, Kenseth and Kevin Harvick worked together to take a shot at the lead. Kenseth had a good run down low on pole-sitter Joe Nemechek for second place. With a full head of steam, Kenseth tried to blow by
Nemechek. Nemechek responded by moving down the track to block Kenseth from making the pass.
“I drove right down under him and I
couldn’t get by,” Kenseth said. “I was just racing hard and clearly had a good run on
him.”
When Nemechek blocked the No. 17 Visine Chevrolet, he consequently spun around and fell out of contention.
Nemechek’s spin led to the race finishing under caution. As a result, Kenseth never had a chance to run down eventual race-winner Randy
LaJoie.
“I
didn’t want that wreck to happen,” Kenseth said. “I hate when I get involved with a wreck, but I was just trying to win the race.
“I thought we had a shot at it at the end. I had a lot of help from Harvick and he stuck with me down the stretch and never left me hanging. Kevin gave me a big push at the end of the race to help me have a chance to win.
That’s where you want to be every race
— with a chance to win.”
The Visine Racing Team heads to North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, N.C., next week with rookie driver Clay Rogers behind the wheel. The 20-year-old driver will make his NASCAR Busch Series debut in the Alltel 200 on Feb. 24.
Thursday
February 15th 2001
Kenseth Qualifies in the Middle of the Pack
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 14) - After the Wednesday morning practice session for the NASCAR Busch Series was cancelled due to fog, Matt Kenseth and the Visine Racing Team qualified 18th Wednesday afternoon.
Pontiacs showed the way in qualifying by claiming 10 of the top 11 positions for
Saturday’s NAPA Auto Parts 300 at Daytona International Speedway in Florida. Joe Nemechek will start from the pole position.
Kenseth qualified Wednesday in the same car he guided to Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway after the NAPA Auto Parts 300 last year. The car was wrecked later in the year at Talladega. Crew chief Russ Strupp said the car seems to be handling differently after the team had to rebuild it in the off-season.
“The front end of the car just
isn’t right,” Strupp said. “This is the car we wrecked at Talladega and
it’s not responding on the track by itself. It should be all right in the draft,
though.”
Kenseth qualified eighth for this race last year, but he said 18th is close to what he expected.
“The car is just about where I thought it to be for
qualifying,” Kenseth said. “We’ll be fine for the race. This car will run well in the draft. I just want to be in a position to win at the end of the
race.”
NASCAR Busch Series teams will have their final practice for the NAPA Auto Parts 300 Friday afternoon following the IROC race.
The NAPA Auto Parts 300 can be seen on Fox at 12:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. The Motor Racing Network
(MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.
Tuesday
February 13th 2001
Busch Race Still Important to Kenseth
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 13) - Matt Kenseth will attempt to make a repeat trip to Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway in Florida, when he gets behind the wheel of the No. 17 Visine Chevrolet on Feb. 17 for the NASCAR Busch Series season-opening race. Kenseth, the defending champion of the NAPA Auto Parts 300, drove to victory lane last February in just his third NASCAR Busch Series race at the 2.5-mile oval.
“Winning Daytona last year was a great way to get things started for the Visine team in
2000,” Kenseth said. “We’re going to try and do it again this year and just take that winning approach to every race we compete in. We need to put our car in a position to win every time we get on the
track.”
Crew Chief Russ Strupp knows it is not going to be easy to repeat at Daytona.
“It’s gonna be hard to win back-to-back at
Daytona,” Strupp said. “It’s especially tough when
you’re at a speedway like Daytona. You’re always depending on where you are the last lap because you have to be near the front at the end. It all depends on how the car handles because
Daytona’s a handling track.”
The Visine Racing Team tested at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama to prepare for the NAPA Auto Parts 300. The team took that same approach last season before winning at Daytona. Rookie driver Clay Rogers tested two cars from the Reiser Enterprises stable, one of which Kenseth will pilot in the NAPA Auto Parts 300.
“After wrecking the car we won Daytona with at Talladega last year, we had to put two new cars together for
testing,” Kenseth said. “I was impressed with Clay’s numbers testing at Talladega and
we’re going to run the car that put up the faster times there.
“A lot of preparation has been put into the motor work with the Kippley Engines. The guys have been working real hard to get back to victory lane.
I’m real interested to see how the car runs when we unload at Daytona.
We’ll try and do the same things we did a year ago as a team to put the No. 17 Visine Chevrolet back in victory lane at
Daytona.”
Fox will televise the NAPA Auto Parts 300 at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 17. The Motor Racing Network
(MRN) will produce the live radio broadcast.
Tuesday
February 5th 2001
Matt Kenseth: Rookie No More
Matt
Kenseth’s Performance Summary at Daytona:
Date Start
Finish Laps
Money Status
2/20/00 24th 10th
200/200 $198,196
Running
7/1/00 22nd
20th 160/160 $55,480
Running
Quoting Matt Kenseth:
Kenseth on the off-season:
“This DEWALT Racing team did some fine-tuning
during the off-season. We placed a lot of focus on the engine department in
order to find more horsepower; practicing pit stops to be more efficient; and
the body shop to improve overall aerodynamics.”
Kenseth on 2001:
“This year we are going to focus on our qualifying
package. I’ve never been a great qualifier, so hopefully we can improve on
that this year.
Kenseth on the
“Sophomore Jinx”:
“I’m not a superstitious person. I don’t
believe in the jinx. Tony Stewart won 6 races in his sophomore year. That was
the most races won overall so I’m not worried about that.”
Notes of Interest:
In proud recognition of Matt Kenseth capturing the Raybestos Rookie of
the Year title, DEWALT Industrial Tools has designed a special paint scheme
for Speedweeks and the Daytona 500. The all-yellow car will feature the
Raybesos Rookie of the Year logo on the hood. The paint scheme is the first
of as many as four different paint schemes for the 2001 season commemorating
DEWALT’s launch of new tools.
During off-season testing at Daytona International Speedway, Kenseth
posted the fastest stand-alone time for the total off-season test. Kenseth
posted an average lap speed of 182.217 mph/49.377 seconds on the 2.5-mile
tri-oval.
Matt Kenseth will be using the newly developed Head and Neck Support ®
device for Daytona. The device is utilized to decrease the chance for head
and neck injuries in the event of an accident. Kenseth stated, “It takes a
while to get used to wearing, but the advantage of wearing the HANS ® is you
have a much better chance of survival in a wreck. There is nothing that
compares to that when something can increase your chances of walking away
from an accident. I guess if there has to be a disadvantage, it would be that
no one wants to be the first to wear it. Roush Racing is very
committed to
driver safety, so I’ll be wearing the HANS ®.”
Jon Howland has recently been named Motorsports Manager of DEWALT Racing. Howland formerly headed up
DEWALT’s marketing efforts as he managed the Lowes
account for DEWALT. Howland’s goal is to utilize the sponsorship of the No.
17 team to accelerate the growth of DEWALT Power Tools and Accessories. The
racing sponsorship is an integral part of DEWALT’s product launch strategy for 2001.
Monday
January 29th 2001
CONCORD, N.C. (January 29, 2001) - Racing a stock car at Daytona
International Speedway is the dream of many in motorsports. With the crowds
and hype surrounding the Super Bowl of racing, one can’t help but get caught
up in the adventure. Robbie Reiser, crew chief for the No. 17 DEWALT Racing
team, is no stranger to adventures in Daytona. His story illustrates the
seemingly insurmountable risks and sacrifices many in racing take to make it
to the big time.
To understand
Reiser’s story, you must first take a trip down memory lane.
As the son of late model champion John Reiser, Robbie was exposed to racing
at a very young age. He started racing while still in high school in the
4-cylinder division at Milwaukee area tracks. Reiser racked up three track
championships and one area championship over two and a half years before
making a switch to late models. Reiser then grabbed 14 different track, area,
regional and state championships from 1990-1993.
In an attempt to move up in the ranks, Robbie purchased a NASCAR Busch Series
car to run the inaugural race at the Milwaukee Mile in July of 1993. Things went well, so Reiser packed his bags heading south for North Carolina to set
up shop.
Reiser ran a limited Busch Series schedule in 1994, and in 1995 Reiser ran
the entire season with only three race cars. At the end of that season,
Robbie made the first of many sacrifices when he put his team aside and went
to work for Hut Stricklin’s Busch team.
“That was a tough
decision,” Reiser recalled. “I came to North Carolina to
drive. Racing is an expensive sport. I bought everything I needed to start up
a team and drive. It worked for a while, but needless to say, I was
substantially in debt. I knew when it came down to basics, I
couldn’t do it
without a sponsor, so I had to let it go.”
Opportunity to run his own team knocked again in late 1996. Reiser was
approached by Kraft Foods who wished to sponsor driver, Tim Bender. When
Bender was injured at the Bristol race of that year, Reiser did not suggest
he become the replacement driver, so he called upon an old competitor from
Wisconsin, Matt Kenseth, to do the job.
“Matt and I were pretty big competitors back in
Wisconsin,” described Reiser. “When I was winning championships, Matt was always in the top five. I knew he would be really competitive in our Busch
car.”
Together the pair proved successful when Kenseth took the reigns of
Reiser’s
ride. The team posted two top five’s and finished 15th in the point
standings. The sponsor, however, was contingent on Bender as the driver, and
at the end of the year Reiser again found himself scrambling for dollars to continue the pursuit of his dream.
“I had a greater level of confidence at this
point,” Reiser stated. “I knew
we had a team that could win races. So, I decided to go for it and make
Daytona a ’make or break’ situation. Right before heading down to Florida,
I went to the bank and told them how big this race could be for us. It was a
scary feeling for a while there. It was pretty hard going home at night to my
family not knowing what the next day would bring.”
Reiser, Kenseth and Co. unloaded at Daytona, with no sponsor decals to be
found. The anxiety heightened when the only competitive engine they had was
out of commission for three days. After the engine builder worked feverishly
to make repairs, the team qualified seventh for the race.
The tide started to turn when only two days before the race, Lycos expressed
an interest in sponsoring Reiser’s car for the inaugural event. Unbelievably, there was one more hurdle to face. Lycos had one condition for
sponsorship — the car had to be painted black. Reiser pleaded with the
NASCAR officials to allow him to take the car out of the garage and have it
painted at a local body shop.
“I talked them into letting me take the car outside of the track for four
hours,” Reiser described. “We loaded the car, and brought two NASCAR
officials with us to a local body shop, painted the car black, and were back
to the track by 12 p.m. By 2:30 p.m. that day we were in the inspection line
and ran the race for Lycos the next day.
“We finished the race sixth and made enough money to go to Rockingham. Even though Lycos was only for one race, we decaled the car to thank them for
coming aboard in Daytona and helping us out. Then we ended up passing Tony
Stewart on the last lap to win the race, and Lycos decided to come aboard for
the season.”
Reiser’s earlier confidence in the team was not unfounded, and at the end of
the season, he had the stats to prove it. The team collected three victories
in 1998, and a second place in the overall point standings. Yet, racing
would throw Reiser another curveball. The Lycos sponsorship was only for one
year so Reiser was faced with uncertainty once again.
Enter DEWALT Industrial Tool Company.
DEWALT, Kenseth and Reiser joined forces in the Busch Grand National Series
in 1999, and then with Roush Racing advancing to the Winston Cup Series in
2000. Success was found again, as Kenseth and Reiser won the Coca Cola 600 in
Charlotte, and coveted the Raybestos Rookie of the Year title.
Robbie Reiser has graduated from the school of hard knocks and made it to the big time. He still has not lost sight of himself, or where he came from.
“This has been a pipe dream for
me,” reflected Reiser. “When people ask if
I would do it all again the answer would probably be ‘no’. I
don’t think I
could do that again to myself or to my family. It was too hard. Thankfully,
it all worked out. With the help of DEWALT, we’ve found some stability and
I’m able to keep my dream alive and do what I do best —
racing.”
Wednesday
January 24th 2001
Kenseth’s Partners in Visine Chevrolet Announced Today
DENVER, N.C. (Jan. 24) – Co-owner and team manager John Reiser of Reiser
Enterprises announced today that 20-year-old rookie Clay Rogers would share driving
responsibilities in the Visine Chevrolet with veteran Matt
Kenseth. Rogers, a native of
Mooresville, N.C., is slated to compete in 12 events in the NASCAR Busch Series. In
addition, Reiser obtained services from road course specialist Boris Said to pilot the Visine Chevrolet in the
NASCAR Busch Series event at Watkins Glen International in New York on July 8.
“There were nine team members along with Robb (Reiser) and Matt
(Kenseth), that were involved in the decision-making process for our new
driver,” Reiser said.
“We reviewed season records from various series, including RE/MAX, ASA
(American Speed Association), and Hooters ProCup. We wanted someone
with larger track experience, travel experience, pitting experience and
knowledge of cars, shocks and springs. We tested several candidates
and Rogers was the driver we were looking for.”
Rogers’ competitive racing career began at age 10 driving go-karts in
the World Karting Association. In five years Rogers accumulated one
track championship title, two national championship titles and two state
championship titles. He tallied an impressive list of 87 wins in those
five seasons. Rogers’ success and maturity in go-karts led to a new
challenge, driving mini-stock cars in the Allison Legacy Race Series at
state and national levels.
The next step in Rogers’ budding career came in 1998 at the age of 17.
Rogers cut his teeth in the former NASCAR Winston Racing Series,
earning eight wins, three pole awards and 14 top-five finishes en route to
earning the 1998 Rookie of the Year award for the Atlantic Seaboard
Region. In 1999 Rogers was ready to test the waters of the USAR
(United Speed Alliance Racing) Hooters ProCup Series. He competed
in four events, but continued to race a partial schedule in the NASCAR
Winston Racing Series. He became a full-time driver in the USAR
Hooters ProCup Series in 2000. Rogers finished seventh in the points
standings and finished second for rookie-of-the-year honors. His
season ledger noted one win, four pole awards, nine top-five and 11
top-10 finishes in 20 races.
Making plans for the 2001 season proved difficult. Rogers hoped to
make the step to the NASCAR Busch Series, yet he needed a team to
back his talent.
“I had a friend at Roush Racing that gave Robb (Reiser) my phone
number,” Rogers said. “A few days later John (Reiser) called about
testing. I was floored when they called. This is a nationally recognized
team that has good cars and wins races. To get to drive for a team like
that, well, an opportunity like this usually doesn’t come along.
“I will definitely look to Matt for guidance this year, not many people
have achieved his success and knowledge in the sport. I’ve talked to
him and we seem to be on the same wavelength, but we’ve yet to see if
our driving styles are similar.”
Rogers debuts in the Visine Chevrolet at the second race on the circuit
at North Carolina Speedway on February 24.
“We will test at Rockingham in early February, hopefully with Matt,”
Reiser said. “Clay’s in the car early, as compared to our schedule last
season. But now that Nashville is over a mile, we had to give him
some seat time before we got to that point.”
Following his first appearance at North Carolina Speedway, Rogers’
events include: Nashville Superspeedway, April 14; New Hampshire
International Speedway, May 12; Nazareth Speedway, May 20; Kentucky Speedway, June 16; Gateway International Raceway, July 21;
Pikes Peak International Raceway, July 28; Indianapolis Raceway Park,
Aug. 4; Bristol Motor Speedway, Aug. 24; Richmond International Raceway, Sept. 7; Memphis Motorsports Park, Oct. 13; and
Homestead-Miami Speedway, Nov. 10.
In the Visine Chevrolet during 2000, Kenseth compiled four wins, two
pole awards, 10 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes in only 20 starts. He will
drive the same number of races in 2001, but will change some venues.
Kenseth’s complete list of races features:
Daytona International Speedway, Feb. 17
Las Vegas Motor Speedway, March 3
Atlanta Motor Speedway, March 10
Darlington Raceway, March 17
Bristol Motor Speedway, March 24
Texas Motor Speedway, March 31
Talladega Superspeedway, April 21
California Speedway, April 28
Richmond International Raceway, May 5
Lowe’s Motor Speedway at Charlotte, May 26
Dover Downs International Speedway, June 2
The Milwaukee Mile, July 1
Chicagoland Speedway, July 14
Michigan Speedway, Aug. 18
Darlington Raceway, Sept. 1
Dover Downs International Speedway, Sept. 22
Kansas Speedway, Sept. 29
Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Oct. 6
Phoenix International Raceway, Oct. 27
North Carolina Speedway, Nov. 3
The Reiser Enterprises operation finished fifth in 2000 Busch Series
team owners’ points standings. With the addition of Said to the
program the team is poised to make a challenge in 2001 for the series
title.
Said, a native of Carlsbad, Calif., has filled his NASCAR resume with
events at Watkins Glen International in New York and Sears Point
Raceway in Sonoma, California. His road course experience includes
five career Bud Pole Awards between the NASCAR Winston Cup, Busch Series, and Craftsman Truck Series. He also recorded a 1998
win at Sears Point Raceway in the Truck Series. “We want a good points finish at every race and we understand that
Clay (Rogers) needs to learn the ovals,” Reiser said. “Said was available
so we jumped on the opportunity to score a good finish at Watkins
Glen. Our goal is to win the team owners championship and we’ve found
quite a combination to get that done.”
Thursday
January 18th 2001
Paint Schemes
TOWSON, Md. (January
18, 2001) - With a year of Winston Cup experience and the 2000
Raybestos Rookie of the Year crown under their belts, the only
thing “rookie” about Matt Kenseth and the DEWALT Racing team
in the year 2001 will be the paint scheme of the No. 17 Ford
Taurus.
In honor of last
season’s well-deserved title, the No. 17 car
will feature yellow paint with the Raybestos Rookie of the Year
logo on the hood. The paint scheme will be featured at Daytona,
Rockingham and Las Vegas.
“This paint scheme is a way for DEWALT to demonstrate how
proud we are of Matt winning Rookie of the Year honors,”
stated Jon Howland, Motorsports Manager for DEWALT Industrial Tools.
“The all yellow car is
similar to the paint scheme we had when we first came to NASCAR.
It recognizes how far we’ve progressed since entering the sport years ago. We are excited
about our sophomore season and confident Matt, Robbie and the
entire DEWALT team are guaranteed tough, just like our tools.”
In addition to the Rookie of the Year paint scheme, DEWALT
Industrial Tools is launching a new product line for 2001 which
is expected to be larger than their original launch in 1992. To
market the new tools, DEWALT has decided to use the No. 17 car
to help create excitement about the launch. Kenseth will have
four new paint schemes throughout the season to compliment
DEWALT’s new power tools. Make sure to log on to www.DEWALT.com
for a complete schedule of racing related events and product
launch dates.
“I’m very excited about the new paint schemes,”
commented Kenseth. “I’m looking forward to driving that
Rookie car at Daytona. I saw it the other day at the shop, and
its pretty neat. So far we have worked hard making improvements
over the off-season in the body shop on aerodynamics, in the
engine shop on horsepower, and on making faster pit stops. Now
that this team has been together for a year, it’s all starting
to come together.”
Its evident the DEWALT team is geared up for the start of their
sophomore season, as it all came together for Kenseth and Co.
earlier this month during off-season testing in Daytona. Kenseth
posted the fastest time overall at the Daytona test, recording
an average lap speed of 182.217 mph/49.377 seconds on the 2.5
mile tri-oval. If the stellar performance at the test session is
any indication of things to come — DEWALT Racing will be no
stranger to victory lane in 2001.
The other half of the winning combination lies in the man behind
the scenes, crew chief Robbie Reiser. Reiser is focused on the
task at hand — winning races. “We are going to work on our
qualifying package this year and focus on winning races. When we
go to the 38 races this year, we are going to focus on winning
38 races. We want to lead laps and finish consistently in the
top 5 or top 10. Consistency is what it takes to be successful
in racing,” said Reiser.
Kenseth and the DEWALT team will head to Daytona in early
February for Speedweeks. The pinnacle of events will take place
on February 18, 2001 at 1:00 p.m. EST when the green flag drops
for the Daytona 500 indicating the start of another season.
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