DARLINGTON, SC (August 31, 2003) - For only the sixth time in the last 25 races, Matt Kenseth finished out of the top-10, capturing 14th place in the 53rd and final Southern 500 to be run on Labor Day Weekend at Darlington Raceway. However, Kenseth did gain even more ground on his closest pursuers in the championship hunt, as both Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon had troubles of their own.

Rolling off the starting grid from the sixth position, the No. 17 Smirnoff Ice Triple Black Ford quickly dropped into fifth on the first lap. The first of 10 caution periods would occur as early as lap six as several cars were involved in a melee touched off while entering turn three at the tricky 1.33 mile track. Once pit lane was open, Kenseth and all of the leaders ducked in for four tires, which the crew completed in 14.23 seconds. A few cars stayed out on the track and Kenseth restarted the event from the eighth position. Though he reported that the car was too loose on the exits of the corners, he was making some serious progress on the racetrack.

Kenseth bulled his way into the top-five on lap 24 and finally took the point on lap 66. Just five laps later, the second caution flag waved for debris. Because the track surface at Darlington is so rough, team routinely will change all four tires on every single stop. The No. 17 Smirnoff Ice Triple Black team had 21 sets ready to go in the pits. After changing four tires in 13.68 seconds, the team showed why they are two-time world pit crew champions, as they got Kenseth off pit road first once again.

By lap 90, Kenseth continued to lead and made it look easy as he was followed by teammate Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon. When the caution flew once again on lap 98, Kenseth asked for no changes on the car. After pitting, Kenseth was beat off of pit road by Jeff Burton and he restarted in second on lap 103. One lap later, however, Kenseth dove low on Burton heading into turn three and quickly reclaimed his lead. However, the duel between the teammates lead to trouble for the No. 17 Smirnoff Ice Triple Black Ford four laps later as Kenseth went high in turn one-too high as it turned out. Kenseth bounced the car off the wall twice before regaining control. “I got into it pretty good,” he radioed to the crew. All eyes were on the car as it came back around the track. “No tires rubbing,” reported spotter Mike Calinoff. The car was still up to speed with no major suspension damage either.

Kenseth began to fall back in the field as the laps ticked by. However, a saving grace caution arrived on lap 146 for debris on the backstretch. Two laps later, Kenseth was finally able to bring the car down pit road for a close look at the damage to the right side of the car. Front tire carrier Chris Brook pulled the fender back out and Kenseth was on his way after a four tire change. Kenseth restarted in 11th on lap 153 of the event. Thirteen laps later, a major accident occurred heading into turn three taking out championship contender Jeff Gordon. Kenseth used the opportunity to once again pit for tires and fender damage control.

By the halfway point of the race, Kenseth was continuing to report that the car was too loose on exit. “I’m just burning the right rear off the car,” he said in frustration. Unable to pass any cars, he was sitting tight in the top-10. After a caution flag pit stop on lap 227, the team tried an adjustment to the track bar as well as air pressure in the tires. It didn’t help. Under the next caution period, Kenseth reported, “I can’t stand on the gas like I need to.” Under caution on lap 240, the team reversed the changes and sent Kenseth back out onto the track in 16th for a restart on lap 247.

With the sunny skies giving way to increasing cloudiness, the No. 17 Smirnoff Ice Triple Black Ford seemed to stall out in competition. “I just can’t make up any ground out here,” Kenseth reported under caution on lap 273. With the laps winding down, crew chief Robbie Reiser continued to throw changes at the car, hoping to make it come alive again as it had at the beginning of the event. Again and again, Kenseth reported that the car just wouldn’t tighten up for him. “I don’t even know what to tell you,” Kenseth said with exasperation on lap 309.

On his second to last pit stop of the day on lap 311, Kenseth barely overshot his pits and had to back the car up, damaging the clutch. “It’s just been one of those days,” said Reiser, trying to comfort Kenseth for the final charge to the finish. Kenseth restarted the event in 17th place on lap 315 of the 367-lap event. Kenseth worked his way back to 13th place in just 15 laps and the team looked like it was about to pull off another improbable top-10 finish, but the loose condition of the car refused to cooperate. On the team’s final pit stop on lap 334, the team pulled a rubber out of the right rear spring in hopes of tightening the car for the final run. Unfortunately, it didn’t help and the team lost two positions en route to the finish.

Afterward, Kenseth shouldered the blame for damaging a front-running race car.

“We had a great car today and I hit the wall early. I think I bent the truck arm bracket and it was never right from that point on. I just made a mistake that I usually don’t make today. That was really stupid. I get so much crap (laughing). People think I’m riding around all the time. I was trying to lead the most laps and it was dumb. I should have let (Jeff) Burton go and race the race track like you’re supposed to do here and wait until the end, but I just drove it too hard and I got in the wall. It could have been worse, but we had a shot to win so it kind of hurts.”

But, when the point sheet was tallied at the end of the day, it showed just how charmed the Roush Racing team of Matt Kenseth really is. Even on bad days this year, they’ve somehow continued to increase their 2003 point lead over and over again. Sunday was no different as Kenseth made up yet another 38 points over second place Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the run for the championship title. Kenseth now leads the series by 389 points with 11 races to go.

When it isn’t quite your day … well, sometimes it is anyway.

Mountain Dew Southern 500 • Sunday, August 31
Darlington Raceway, Darlington, S.C. • 1.366 miles

Matt Kenseth’s History at Darlington Raceway:

DATE	START	FINISH	LAPS	WINNINGS	STATUS
09/05/99	31	37	145/270	$25,531	Accident
03/19/00	16	6	293/293	$47,575	Running
09/03/00	24	33	286/328	$41,675	Running
03/18/01	30	17	292/293	$43,640	Running
09/02/01	28	23	365/367	$50,025	Accident
03/17/02	34	8	293/293	$70,365	Running
09/01/02	9	37	325/367	$61,000	Running
03/16/03	12	8	293/293	$69,440	Running

Kenseth on racing at Darlington:

“We used up a test here at Darlington to make sure we don’t stumble going forward from here on out. This is a tough place to race and since you’re really up against the track, the information you get during a test is very helpful compared to some other places. It’s always tough to find a good handle on things here, but I think we’re comfortable where we’re at going into this race.”

Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at Darlington:

“I think when it’s all said and done this weekend, we’ll be glad we came down here to the test. I thought we gained some valuable tools to use during the event as far as how much adjustability we can build into the car on race day.”

Notes

• The team will be using Chassis Number MMR-29, which ran at The Winston

• Matt Kenseth now has 19 top-10 finishes in 24 starts, a league-leading statistic. He also has ten top-five finishes; tied with Bobby Labonte’s 10 top-five finishes.

• Kenseth’s 2003 Winston Cup point lead is now 351 points over second place Dale Earnhardt, Jr. It is the widest margin of the entire year for Kenseth.

• If Matt wins the Mountain Dew Southern 500 event, his Winston-leader bonus payout would be a record $250,000.

• Kenseth has completed all but two laps of competition in the 2003 season.

CONCORD, NC (August 26, 2003) — Matt Kenseth has been leading the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup points race since the fourth week of the season. Through 24 races, he has amassed 3,592 points and currently holds a 351-point advantage over second place Dale Earnhardt Jr.

It’s been recently suggested by detractors of the current points system that this year is a runaway rout by the No. 17 DEWALT Tools team. However, mathematics may prove otherwise when compared to the past four NASCAR Winston Cup Champions.

Taking the amount of points each champion received by the end of the year and dividing by the total number of races, you get an average of points gained on a per race basis. Keeping in mind that the maximum total of points that can be accrued in a single event is 180, for not only winning the race, but also leading a lap (presumably at least the last one). Another scenario that will also give you the maximum 180 points per event is to finish in second place but lead the most laps for an additional five bonus points.

Examining this example, in 1999 Dale Jarrett finished the year as the Winston Cup Champion with 5,262 total points. Divide this by the 36 points-paying races and you get an average of 146 points per race.

In 2000, Bobby Labonte used a consistency strategy to score 5,130 points in 36 races. The average? 142 points per race.

In 2001, Jeff Gordon captured his fourth Winston Cup Championship with a grand total of 5,112 points in 36 events. This also comes to an average of 142 points per race.

Last year, Tony Stewart pulled off the championship with the worst average points finish per race in the last five years. He scored 4,800 points, which divided by 36 events gives you an average of 133 points per race.

How does 2003 current point leader Matt Kenseth stack up to these numbers through 24 races so far this year? He has currently scored 3,592 total points (633 more than last year at this time). Using the division, Kenseth comes in with an average points-per-race score of … 149 — higher than any other previous champion, but certainly no runaway average.

BRISTOL, TN (August 23, 2003) — Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 DEWALT Tools Racing team finished fourth in the running of the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The finish marked Kenseth’s 10th top-five finish and his 19th top-10 finish in 24 starts in 2003. The evening turned out to be a great points night for the 17 team, as well, as Kenseth bested both of his closest championship pursuers once again.

Yet, perhaps what stood out the most during the wild night race was Kenseth’s charge to the front after his final pit stop on lap 445 of the 500-lap event. Following the restart with less than 50 laps to go, Matt Kenseth stormed to the front, going from 18th place to 4th place in just 36 laps. Kenseth felt afterwards that had he pitted for the fresh tires on the stop just previous to the final caution flag, he might have had a chance to compete for the win.

“I probably should have stopped one stop earlier and we might have had a chance at the win, but it really came through on new tires. I’m proud of my DEWALT guys.”

Rolling off the starting grid in 10th place, Kenseth did a masterful job during the first 100 laps of the event, never falling out of the top-10 running order. By lap 46, he radioed to crew chief Robbie Reiser that the car was loose into the corners and loose off. After a track bar adjustment during a lap 65 pit stop, Kenseth reported that the car was much better gaining traction on the exits-a vital component of a great Bristol setup.

It was a typical Bristol night race-a night in which the number of cautions would tie the all-time record of 20-and would affect 31 of the 43 drivers before the night was over. It was almost Kenseth’s turn on lap 159, as teammate Kurt Busch and rookie Casey Mears got together just behind Matt going into turn one. Sliding forward, they flattened Kenseth’s left rear tire down to the rim. Fortunately, the caution flew and Kenseth did not lose any track position.

As the laps wore on in the event, Kenseth continued to complain that the car was too loose. Reiser kept the air pressure and wedge adjustments on par, but a dropped lug nut on the lap 224 pit stop cost the team track position and Kenseth was forced to restart all the way back in 19th position.

With the car still loose on the ensuing run, Kenseth voted to come down pit road again during a caution on lap 256. “I’d rather fix the car now and get it right than ride back here,” he stated. “I’m not going to go forward with it like this,” he added. After restarting 15th on lap 261, Kenseth charged up through the field. “It’s got great forward bite now,” he radioed to Reiser on lap 275. He re-entered the top-10 running order under caution on lap 301 of the 500-lap event and took over seventh place following another caution just five laps later. “This car is about right,” he reported on lap 326, while running sixth.

Over the next 100 laps, Kenseth bided his time and ran in the top-10. But, an incident involving Kenseth and Jeff Gordon on lap 443 left Kenseth in quite an apologetic state. Trying to pass the 49 car of Ken Schrader, Gordon tapped him from behind, checked up-then Kenseth ran into the back of the 24 car. Kenseth was on the radio immediately telling his spotter Mike Calinoff to relay his remorse to the 24 crew. After the race, Kenseth stated that the incident left him with a tainted feeling about the night.

“I pulled down to actually get out of his way because he was on new tires and he got by me and then there was car coming on the outside. He was on the gas and he was coming in front of me real good and I don’t think he was sure I was out of there, so I got out of the gas. He got out of the gas at the same time and I just ran him over. I feel bad for the whole day because of the incident with the 24. That was an accident, but it makes me feel horrible. That kind of ruins the whole day for us…”

Following his pit stop on lap 445, the No. 17 DEWALT Tools Ford came alive on new tires. Kenseth shredded his way up front, diving low on the competition time and time again entering the corners. He restarted 18th on lap 449, but by lap 468, he cracked the top-10. With just 19 laps to go, he moved into the top-five running order. Kenseth was able to pick up one more position to fourth place by the end of the event. Afterward, he stated he was pretty sure he could have gotten third, had he used his front bumper.

“I could have passed the 42 that last lap, but I would have had to hit him pretty hard to pass him and I didn’t want to do that. I probably could have run second or third. We might have had a shot to win if we would have pitted one time earlier, but there’s just so much traffic. If more people would have pitted with us, we would have restarted farther up, but for starting that far back with 50 to go, that was a great run.”

Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 DEWALT Tools team now own a 351-point advantage over Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the race for the 2003 Winston Cup Championship. It is Kenseth’s biggest lead of the season to date and it comes as the circuit is heading down the home stretch. Kenseth addressed the subject from pit road following the race.

“Yeah, any week you can leave the race track and gain points on the guys you’re racing it’s a good feeling. It was a good day for Roush. The 97 won the race and we finished well. Greg ran good and Mark ran good, so it was a good day for all of us.”

Sharpie 500 • Saturday, August 23
Bristol Motor Speedway • .53 miles

Matt Kenseth at Bristol Motor Speedway:

“There’s no doubt that we’d really like to win this event. It’s such a hard fought contest to the very end. I think this is the fan favorite of the year. We had a shot at winning here earlier this year. If we can stay out of trouble — and that’s a big if — then we’re going to give it everything we’ve got.”

Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at Bristol:

“Survivability is the key to finishing this event with fenders and Matt’s a smooth driver, even at Bristol. I thought we had a great shot at a victory here last time but some left-front fender damage held us back. This crew is due — this team is due — and I’d love to get one at Bristol.”

Notes

• Matt Kenseth now has 18 top-10 finishes in 23 starts, a league-leading statistic. He also has nine top-five finishes; second only to Bobby Labonte’s 10 top-five finishes.

• Kenseth’s 2003 Winston Cup point lead is now 329 points over second place Dale Earnhardt Jr. It is the widest margin of the entire year for Kenseth.

• If Kenseth wins the Sharpie 500 event, his Winston-leader bonus payout would be a record $240,000.

• Kenseth has completed all but two laps of competition in the 2003 season.

• Hanging tough: Points leader proves winning not everything
• Try as they may, No one can diminish Kenseth's season
• Kenseth raising Roush's hopes of first Winston Cup title
• By any system, Kenseth is the points leader
• New mindset helping Kenseth keep points lead
• Kenseth’s crew-sing toward title
• Kenseth works on and off track to keep points lead
• Kenseth not thinking too far ahead
• Kenseth hangs on, finishes eighth
• Kenseth barrelling toward NASCAR championship
• Kenseth: the quiet leader of the pack
• Points leader has reasons for optimism as race nears
• Twist and Shout by Matt Kenseth

BROOKLYN, MI (August 17, 2003) — Matt Kenseth scored his 18th top-10 finish of 2003 with a ninth place run in the GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan International Speedway. As if things couldn’t get any better for the No. 17 DEWALT Tools team, both of their closest pursuers fell victim to poor finishes, leaving Kenseth with a whopping 329-point advantage in the chase for the 2003 Winston Cup Championship.

Rolling off the starting grid from the 33rd spot, the team clearly had their work cut out for them if they intended to keep their top-10 streak alive. And it didn’t start off very well. From the outset of the race, Kenseth radioed that the car was tight. The first caution flag of the day gave the crew a chance to dial the car in a little closer. Crew chief Robbie Reiser elected to take two tires and Kenseth left the pits after a 7.63-second stop. He entered the pits in 29th position and restarted the race in 18th position.

Six laps after the restart and after Kenseth had a chance to negotiate traffic, he radioed some bad news. “It’s even worse than before,” he stated. Five laps later, he reiterated the point by adding, “this car is so tight, it’s unbelievable…if we don’t get a caution soon, we’re going to be in big trouble.” Kenseth fell steadily back to 34th position, but the caution flag did wave again just over 20 laps later for debris. Kenseth pitted on lap 55 for four tires and a track bar adjustment. Back out onto the track after a 16.26-second stop, Kenseth was ready to see if his fortunes would change.

On lap 57, Kenseth restarted in 30th position, but didn’t stay there for long. He reported that the car was a little free on exit, but not too loose. In other words, the car was now a huge improvement. A few laps later on lap 63, the caution flag waved for a very frightening accident involving Todd Bodine and Kenny Wallace. Bodine’s car climbed the catch fence and settled back down in the path and on top of Wallace’s car. Both cars burst into flame, but both drivers escaped unhurt. After a five-lap caution period, Kenseth pitted again on lap 68 in an attempt to stay ahead on fuel calculations at the end of the race. On lap 71, Kenseth restarted the race in 25th position.

Four laps later, the DEWALT team’s fortunes took a dramatic turn for the better.

Following yet another caution period for an accident involving Ricky Craven, many of the teams running in front of Kenseth on the track had to come in for a pit stop while the 17 team stayed out. They gained thirteen spots all the way up to seventh place. A pit road mishap on the same lap also damaged the car of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kenseth’s closest points pursuer. Two laps after the ensuing restart, Kenseth cracked the top-five running order on lap 84.

Kenseth radioed that the car was much better than at the start of the race—just a little loose in the corner and tight off the corner. Kenseth pitted twice more at each of the next two cautions on laps 94 and 109, respectively. Crew chief Robbie Reiser was still avidly covering the fuel mileage game in case of a future long green flag run — which Michigan International Speedway is famous for. Kenseth and the team had to give up track position to accomplish this and he restarted the race in 24th position on lap 113, just past the halfway point. By lap 132, he had worked his way up to 17th in the running order.

Following two more caution periods, Kenseth came down pit road for four tires and to top off the fuel tank. The final stop for the No. 17 DEWALT team occurred on lap 146. The team was now assured of completing all the laps without another stop. But, soon after the restart on lap 149, Kenseth fell from 13th position all the way back to 19th with what he deemed “…a very loose race car.” Soon thereafter, the car stabilized and Kenseth went to work back up through the field, picking off one car at a time. With 20 laps to go in the event, Kenseth was running 17th. The DEWALT crew, watching from pit road, were silently waiting for the teams ahead of them to return to pit road for a “gas and go” stop to make it the rest of the way on fuel. Slowly but surely, they began to trickle in and Kenseth continued to claim track position.

With 10 laps to go, Kenseth was running just outside the top-10 in eleventh. Over the final five laps, the pit strategy of Robbie Reiser paid its final dividend as Kenseth crossed the line in ninth place.

In his post-race comments, Matt was a little less than flattering about himself and the way that the team has performed in the last two races, however, his burgeoning point lead continues to grow unabated.

“Yeah, it’s good getting that finish but we just ran so bad today. We had a 15th or 20th place car and got lucky and finished ninth with it. I’m really disappointed the last couple of weeks. We haven’t run as well, but my DEWALT guys did a good job of keeping me in there. We were slow and steady today, which isn’t really what we’re after, but we just missed it. We thought we were really good in happy hour and all day I just couldn’t get the front end to work like it needed to and because of that we had to crutch it with the back end. We just couldn’t get either end gripped into the racetrack and just struggled with it all day. Every week that gets by and you gain points, you feel better about it. I’m not pleased with the way we ran. Some other people had trouble, so we had a good day in the points, obviously, and I feel good about where we are. That’s one more race down, but we have to get back to a winning level. We’ve slipped a little bit in the last couple of weeks and I’m not sure why. We need to get back on track and get that thing up front and winning some races.”

GFS Marketplace 400 • Sunday, August 17
Michigan International Speedway • 2.0 miles

Matt Kenseth performance at Michigan:

DATE	START	FINISH	LAPS	WINNINGS	STATUS
08/22/99	25	14	200/200	$25,040	Running
06/11/00	23	17	193/194	$37,650	Running
08/20/00	28	8	200/200	$42,490	Running
06/10/01	31	15	200/200	$54,040	Running
08/19/01	33	4	162/162	$70,050	Running
06/16/02	20	1	200/200	$154,100	Running
08/18/02	21	11	200/200	$65,340	Running
06/15/03	21	4	200/200	$93,275	Running

Matt Kenseth on racing at Michigan:

“I think there’s a sigh of relief for returning to a track like Michigan this weekend. It produces such great side-by-side racing and several grooves, which open up the passing lanes. It’s a real driver’s track. I think all of us at Roush Racing always want to do well because this is Jack’s [Roush] home track. We’re going to be running the Busch race also this weekend and those laps are bound to help us out come Sunday.”

“It’s going to be interesting since Michigan has always been known as a fuel mileage race. I’m probably one to agree that the last 10 races have been a fuel mileage event so we’ll have to be on top of our calculations and ready for anything. We’re bringing back a top-five car so no worries there.”

• The team will bring chassis number MMR-15, which ran at Michigan in June.

• Matt Kenseth now has 17 top-10 finishes in 22 starts, a league-leading statistic. He also has nine top-five finishes; second only to Bobby Labonte’s 10 top-five finishes.

• Kenseth’s 2003 Winston Cup point lead is now 258 points over second place Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

• If Kenseth wins the Michigan 400 event, his Winston-leader bonus payout would be a record $230,000.

• Kenseth has completed all but two laps of competition in the 2003 season.

CONCORD, NC (August 12, 2003) - For Robbie Reiser, crew chief of the No. 17 DEWALT Tools Ford, the steady march to a possible Winston Cup Championship is only business. From week to week, it can be difficult to dodge the increasing hype of a runaway points season for he and driver Matt Kenseth. But to look into Reiser’s eyes, it belies the fact that he’s at the center of the storm.

“One week at a time,” is his most familiar refrain.

Robbie Reiser grew up in Wisconsin, just like his superstar driver, Matt Kenseth. Together, they bring a business-like approach to the racetrack. Reiser’s father, John Reiser, drove a racecar as far back as 1957, and now heads the Reiser Enterprises Busch Series entry. This sparked Robbie’s interest in the sport and he himself got behind the wheel while still in high school. After capturing several track championships in the 4-cylinder classes, he moved up to the ultra competitive late model ranks and found a worthy adversary - Kenseth. Admittedly, they weren’t exactly friends.

However, their fierce competitiveness gave way to a famous call up from the minors for Kenseth. In 1997, Reiser picked up the phone and called Matt, desperate for a driver to get behind the wheel of his Busch entry after his regular driver, Tim Bender, was injured in an accident at Bristol Motor Speedway. The rest is history.

Now in 2003 both Matt Kenseth and Robbie Reiser are on the threshold of accomplishing what no other Roush Racing Winston Cup team has ever achieved. Yet you would never know it from talking to Reiser. Each week he soldiers on from practice session to qualifying session and from qualifying to race setup sessions.

His work ethic is legendary, with even the most hardened team members impressed with his organizational skills. Perhaps the DEWALT Team truck driver Brent Swim put it best when he once remarked, “…all I know is that my boss is in the shop every day by 6:00 a.m.” Preparation such as that earns the respect of the crew, which serves under him.

Just don’t expect Robbie Reiser to get excited about it all, 258-point lead or not.

“One week at a time.”

WATKINS GLEN, NY (August 10, 2003) - Two weeks ago at Pocono Raceway, the fuel mileage strategy reached out and snatched a sure-fire top-10 finish from the No. 17 DEWALT Tools Ford. Today at Watkins Glen, they got it back. Matt Kenseth rallied to finish 8th overall at the Sirius Satellite Radio at the Glen event for his 17th top-10 finish in 22 starts this season.

Rolling off the starting grid in 7th place after a solid qualifying effort, Kenseth crossed the line for the first time in 10th after avoiding two separate incidents; one for a turn one Jeff Gordon spin and another involving Kyle Petty. After the restart on lap seven, Kenseth stayed on the cautious side, especially through the treacherous inner loop turn and several competitors got by him by lap 20.

On lap 21, a full course caution flag waved for a frightening incident on pit road as the pit box of Kevin Harvick erupted in flames after gasoline spilled during their stop. Kenseth pitted two laps later complaining that the car was loose on the right hand turns and tight on the left hand turns. The crew performed a four-tire stop in 15.44 seconds.

Kenseth restarted in 14th on lap 24, but fell back three more positions over the next 10 laps. Kenseth radioed to crew chief Robbie Reiser that the car just wouldn’t turn in the corners. The front end of the car was refusing to cooperate. On lap 33, another caution flag flew for a single car accident, but Reiser left Kenseth on the track while awaiting their proper fuel window in order to make it to the end of the race with just one more stop.

After the restart on lap 36, Kenseth restarted in 18th, but made a breathtaking pass of two cars in the inner loop to take 16th on lap 42. Kenseth remained out on the track for another caution flag, this time for an incident involving Tony Raines. The No. 17 DEWALT Tools Ford was still not in the proper window of laps to finish the race on one stop. The magic lap seemed to be 55 of the 90-lap event, but circumstances would dictate that Kenseth come in five laps sooner than he planned.

On lap 49, the car of Kevin Harvick made strong contact with the left front fender of Kenseth’s car as he tried to pass to the inside. Kenseth immediately radioed that he could probably keep the car out for a lap or two, but nothing more before the damaged fender shredded the tire. Reiser called Kenseth to pit road on lap 50 to play it safe. The team fixed the fender, changed four tires and topped off the fuel tank before sending Kenseth out onto the track.

One lap later on lap 51, Rusty Wallace went off course and stalled his car bringing out a full course caution flag. Kenseth was shown in 34th place, but jumped to 14th after twenty cars pitted in front of him for their final fuel stops of the day. At this point, crew chief Robbie Reiser knew the team was going to be close on fuel and warned Kenseth to conserve as much fuel as he could under caution laps. At this point, if the race went green the rest of the way, they might not make it at all. Reiser figured the team needed at least five caution laps. They got four before another restart on lap 55.

Kenseth picked up two positions in the next two laps. By lap 60, he was back in the top-10, but the team was left wondering if they could make it the rest of the way without another stop. Kenseth caught a huge break on lap 75 as the final caution flag waved for an incident involving Todd Bodine. The team was able to get three more laps under caution to conserve fuel, which should have put them two over what they needed to conserve, but one never does fully know.

The event restarted with just 12 laps to go and Kenseth hanging on in 10th place. He picked up two spots in the final ten laps as two separate cars missed the inner loop turn in front of them and were forced to make stop and go penalty visits to the pits. The laps ticked off and there was silence on the 17-team radios.

As the white flag flew, Kenseth radioed, “…this is the white, right?” “Yes, bring it home,” replied Reiser. That’s just what Kenseth did, reeling off an eighth-place finish as Jeff Gordon wrecked on the final lap just yards from the finish line while running third.

Through his post-race comments, it was obvious Matt wasn’t happy with how he ran, but was mighty pleased with the finish the team came away with.

“We ran terrible today, really. We just didn’t run good. We got lucky on the track. I bashed a fender in and we pitted just at the right time and that got us on our fuel cycle. I’m not really proud of the way we ran, but I’m really proud of the way we finished. We just hung in there all day and survived.”

“Today definitely went our way. We had a caution when we needed it and all the things happened the right way for us to finish decent. I feel good for that because we didn’t really run an eighth-place race, but we finished there. It’s always good to finish better than you ran, I guess, and hopefully we’ll go run better next week.”

“I think the fuel was pretty low. I slowed down the last three or four laps and just held my position instead of trying to pass so I could save gas. It was probably pretty low, but we had enough.”

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. sliced into Matt Kenseth’s point lead on the day-but it wasn’t much. Kenseth continues to lead the field by 258 points over second place. After wrecking on the last lap, third place Jeff Gordon sank to 396 back.

• Kenseth team appears bulletproof
• Kenseth has lock on title
• Kenseth making his points
• Reiser keeps Kenseth focused
• Reiser Remains Resolute
• Kenseth needn’t apologize for points
• Kenseth keeping Cup rivals at bay
• For Winston Cup Leader, Winning Is Beside the Point from the New York Times!
• Kenseth makes it a point not to coast on big Winston Cup lead
• Pit choice bolsters Kenseth’s points lead
• Steady Kenseth stretches Cup lead
• Kenseth keeps piling up the points on challengers
• Second place good enough for Kenseth
• Kenseth extends points lead at Indy
• Indy post-race press conference from Ford Racing

Sirius at the Glen • Sunday, August 10
Watkins Glen International • 2.45 miles • Watkins Glen, N.Y.
Chassis Number MMR-30, finished 14th at Sonoma

Matt Kenseth at Indianapolis:

DATE	START	FINISH	LAPS	WINNINGS	STATUS
08/13/00	12	10	90/90	$54,565	Running
08/12/01	38	23	90/90	$44,120	Running
08/11/02	8	33	89/90	$56,075	Running

Matt Kenseth on racing at Watkins Glen:

“I’ve said before that road courses aren’t my specialty, but we’ve run better at the Glen than Sonoma and we finished 14th there earlier this year. That’s one of the reasons we tested at both tracks. We try to use the strategy of testing places that we’ve been weak in the past. I think we’ve got a great car and we’ll just go out and do the best job we can.”

Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at Watkins Glen:

“We had a great test here and Matt’s comfortable with the car. We’re bringing the same chassis we used at Sonoma and it was a very decent car for us. If this crew keeps up the good work they’ve been doing week in and week out, we’ll be fine.”

Notes:

Matt Kenseth now has 16 top-10 finishes in 21 starts, a league-leading statistic. He also has nine top-five finishes; second only to Bobby Labonte’s 10 top-five finishes.

Kenseth’s 2003 Winston Cup point lead is now 286 points over second place Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

If Kenseth wins the Sirius Satellite Radio at the Glen event, his Winston-leader bonus payout would be a record $220,000.

Kenseth has completed all but two laps of competition in the 2003 season.

CONCORD, NC (August 5, 2003) — Roush Racing driver Matt Kenseth recently completed a two-day test session at Watkins Glen International Raceway in preparation for the Sirius Satellite Radio at the Glen race this upcoming weekend. It marks the second time this year that the No. 17 DEWALT Tools Ford chose a road course as one of their seven official 2003 test dates.

“We get seven tests total and this is the first year that Indy wasn’t mandatory,” said Kenseth. “We chose to go test the road courses. We’re also going to test Darlington and Martinsville later this year,” he added.

It’s all part of the DEWALT team’s strategy to focus their testing efforts on the areas where they feel they need the most help. The Watkins Glen test was a success for the team according to crew chief Robbie Reiser.

“We brought the same road course car down to the [Watkins] Glen test,” said Reiser. “We tweaked some things on it based off of what we learned during the Sonoma race and I think it’s going to help our overall chassis setup. Matt likes this place a little better than Sonoma, so I think we’ll have a decent day,” he added.

Over two-dozen teams took part in a two-day testing session July 28th and 29th last month. During Monday’s session, Matt Kenseth ran a fast lap of 121.471 miles per hour. He picked it up to 122.161 miles per hour during the closing laps of the Tuesday session.

• Kenseth driving home a point
• Kenseth: Team better prepared for a title chase this season
• Hallowed Ground by Matt Kenseth
• Kenseth Laying Low — Out in Front
• Kenseth in firm control of points race
• Outsmarting ’em all: Driver heads to Indy with 232-point lead
• More than just a Sunday drive
• Series leader Matt Kenseth is far ahead of nearest competitor Gordon
• Kenseth running to win, not just for points crown
• Kenseth says conservative approach won't work
• Winston Cup drivers trying to catch Kenseth
• Kenseth won’t rest on lead in Pa. 500
• What’s the world got against the average guy?
• Press conference with Matt (good, long interview)
• Consistency pays in NASCAR
• Give edge to David [Kenseth] over Goliath
• Kenseth not at all boring
• Kenseth on target to win by a landslide
• Kenseth keeps championship chasers all hot and bothered
• Pit crew article: New members breathe new life into Killer Bees

SPEEDWAY, IN (August 3, 2003) — Matt Kenseth nearly pulled off a spectacular win at Indy in the Brickyard 400, but instead settled for second place as Kevin Harvick beat him to the line. Driving the No. 17 Smirnoff Ice Triple Black Ford, Kenseth ran in the top-ten all day long and had a strong enough car for the win. He bested both of his closest points pursuers, Jeff Gordon, who finished fourth, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished 14th.

Rolling off the starting grid in 17th place, he made a bold statement by charging up to 10th on the first lap. He hovered between ninth and tenth for the first 25 circuits around the famed two-and-a-half mile speedway. He reported that his car was loose in and loose off, but tight when he was around traffic.

The first caution flag of the day waved on lap 36 as Dale Jarrett spun out coming onto pit road and struck a member of his over-the-wall crew. After a few very tense moments, there were assurances that the crewmember was going to be all right. Meanwhile out on the track, Kenseth had not yet pitted and was planning to do so on lap 37. The accident on pit road, however, closed pit lane so that emergency crews could tend to the injured team member. By lap 40, Kenseth had no choice but to come down pit lane anyway, drawing a penalty from NASCAR, but he avoided running out of fuel on the racetrack. The penalty for the infraction was to line up at the tail end of the longest restart line, which Kenseth did as the race restarted on lap 44.

One lap was all it took for yet another caution flag to wave, this time for a single car accident involving John Andretti. Kenseth radioed to the crew that he ran into the back of Bobby Labonte’s racecar and possibly damaged the front grille work. Even more alarming was the fact that the temperature gauge was rising to around 260 degrees. Crew chief Robbie Reiser directed Kenseth’s spotters on the racetrack to check the damaged area with binoculars. Both reported only cosmetic damage and Reiser kept Kenseth off pit road for the time being.

The race restarted on lap 50 with Kenseth in 14th place. He quickly radioed in that the car was still hot and he was sure the damage might be more severe than first thought. Reiser, atop the pit box, assured Kenseth that the temperatures would come down after a few laps. Three laps later, Kenseth radioed in that he wasn’t leaking any water and the car was cooling off. The pit crew breathed a collective sigh of relief as they had already begun to swing into action in the event that Matt needed some repairs to the radiator and cooling system.

Between laps 55 and 78, Kenseth charged through the field from 12th place to fifth. He reported that the car was very fast and he had a great set of matched tires. When the pit cycles began, crew chief Robbie Reiser wisely kept Kenseth out on the track, stretching the fuel mileage so that Kenseth could lead lap 82. One lap later, he pitted for four tires and fuel, which the crew completed in 15.57 seconds. Kenseth cycled out of the pits in fourth place overall.

The third caution flag of the day waved on lap 104 as Elliott Sadler’s car had engine trouble. On lap 106, Kenseth pitted again and the crew removed tape from the grille so that the car would run cooler. This time, the stop took only 14.90 seconds.

On lap 109, Kenseth restarted in fourth place then blew to third, passing Bobby Labonte just two laps later. On lap 114, Kenseth moved up to second as both he and Jamie McMurray passed Robby Gordon to the inside.

The race was shaping up for its conclusion by lap 130 as some cars began to duck onto pit road hoping to play the fuel mileage game to make it the rest of the way. Kenseth took over the lead on lap 133 as then leader Jamie McMurray tried the same strategy. However, with the blistering pace that Kenseth set while in the lead, he ended up putting several good competitors one lap down when the fourth caution flag flew on lap 138 for debris on the backstretch.

Kenseth pitted on lap 141 for fuel and a two-tire only stop. He restarted the event in third place on lap 144. Just one lap later, a wild melee ensued going into turn three as Kurt Busch and Terry Labonte got together triggering a multi-car accident, which collected seven cars. Kenseth and the others stayed out on the racetrack as the laps ticked down.

The got their final restart with just ten laps to go and Kenseth went to work from the fourth position. He was able to draft by Robby Gordon on lap 155 of the 160 lap race and two laps later, he got Jamie McMurray, who was running in second at the time. Unfortunately for Kenseth, there were only three laps left in the event to try and catch eventual winner Kevin Harvick. Thus, the No. 17 Smirnoff Ice Triple Black Ford came home in second place in the second biggest race of the year.

Afterward, Kenseth was appreciative of how the day’s events turned out.

“It was a real great finish for us. The guys had terrific stops. Robbie made the right calls. So, it was a great day, we had good car and I got a good finish for us. It feels really good. I thought we had a good car, but when that first deal worked out where we had to pit when the pits were closed to get gas and stuff, I wasn’t sure it was going to happen, but we had a good enough car. It was great day for Smirnoff Ice Triple Black car, they did a good job pitting the car, made good calls in the pits and had a real competitive car all day. It seemed like we came from behind a lot, but our car was really handling good, and we could really pass good, so they did a good job at working at that really hard yesterday so we could pass other cars.”

Matt Kenseth now owns a 286-point lead over second place Dale Earnhardt Jr. This total reflects a 54-point gain on the day. The finish was also Kenseth’s ninth top-10 finish of 2003, and his 16th top-10 finish in 21 races, a league-leading statistic. As the Smirnoff Ice Triple Black advertising campaign says, There’s a reason they call Kenseth the “Ice Man.”