Kenseth 43rd at Homestead-Miami
HOMESTEAD, FL. (November 16th, 2003) —
Perhaps it
was a great idea for the No. 17 DEWALT Tools team to lock up
the 2003 Winston Cup Championship one week ago today in
Rockingham. Matt Kenseth and Co. had an uncharacteristic
mechanical failure, which relegated them to a last place
finish in the final event of the year.
Rolling off the starting grid from 37th place, Kenseth
radioed that the car was very loose, but crew chief Robbie
Reiser assured him that the setup would come around in a few
laps. Dodging an early caution in front of him, Kenseth
pitted for the only time of the day on lap five.
Kenseth restarted in 25th place and got as high as 24th
before the failure came without warning. The crew took the
car to the garage and silently pulled out the backup car for
the post-race celebrations. Speaking with reporters, Kenseth
managed to put a positive spin on a strange exit in the
final race of the year:
“Real disappointing for the DEWALT team. This is the
same way it ended last year. We blew an engine in the last
race last year, too. It didn’t really give us any
indication — something just broke. It’s real
disappointing. We had a pretty good car, you probably couldn’t
really see it, but I think in a long run we were going to be
real good, and hopefully be a factor at the end.”
THE CHAMPIONSHIP IS ALREADY SECURED. AS FAR AS THE TEAM
IS CONCERNED, WHEN DOES NEXT YEAR START? “About two months
ago. We started building cars and started getting ready
already. So, we’ve got three or four 2004 cars done, and
been to the wind tunnel and have been working on them. So,
we’re already working on it. But, this is a disappointing
way to end the day.”
After the conclusion of the Ford 400 event at
Homestead-Miami Speedway, the entire Roush organization
gathered around the frontstretch for the trophy presentation
by Winston. After doing a burnout on the frontstretch to the
delight of the crowd, Kenseth drove the No. 17 DEWALT Tools
Ford onto the stage and, as he exited the car, planted the
final Winston Cup Championship driver flag atop the stage
risers.
Kenseth’s final point total was 5,022 points, 90 more
than second place finisher Jimmie Johnson.
Matt Kenseth’s
thoughts on racing at the new Homestead:
ROCKINGHAM, NC (November 9th, 2003) —
Matt Kenseth
and the No. 17 DEWALT Tools team won the 2003 Winston Cup
Championship today with a fourth place finish at North
Carolina Speedway in Rockingham. Going into the event, there
were several scenarios which would have resulted in the
clinching of the title, but one fact was clear — Kenseth
needed to leave the track with a 186-point lead over the
second place points finisher in order to win it all. He left
with a 226-point lead. His fourth place finish was his 11th
top-five finish of 2003 and his 25th top-10 of the year —
still a league-leading statistic.
The weekend was full of anticipation and the team got
things kicked off with a third place finish in the Union
76/World Pit Crew Championship on Saturday. Though they had
won back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002, the team’s
17.456–second effort still got them a podium finish.
Earlier on Friday, Kenseth qualified in 23rd position at the
track where he had four straight top-10 finishes.
As the race got underway, Kenseth held a cautious line in
traffic and fell back to 30th by lap 24. He reported that
the car was tight off the corners and many cars found the
high line favorable when passing him. Just ten laps later,
the car had stabilized and Kenseth reported that the car was
coming around. He began to move forward in the field — all
the way back to 20th on lap 72 when the first caution flag
waved.
Kenseth came down pit road for four tires and an air
pressure adjustment. He restarted the race from 19th on lap
81. Two laps later, Ryan Newman got booted by Jeff Gordon,
causing Kenseth to check up. He was promptly plowed from
behind by Tony Stewart. “We just got hammered,” Kenseth
radioed to the crew. Luckily, the hit was directly square to
the rear bumper and didn’t cause any real or lasting
damage. It didn’t, however, keep the crew’s hearts from
skipping a beat.
Robbie Reiser brought the car down pit road on lap 85 to
check for damage and change four tires and Kenseth restarted
the race in 26th place. Within the next 20 laps, there were
three separate cautions for incidents involving multiple
drivers. “It’s like walking around in a minefield out
here,” radioed Kenseth.
The team was able to get a long green flag run on the
subsequent lap 117 restart. By the time the next caution
flag flew on lap 155, Kenseth had made up a couple of
positions and was running in 22nd place. After another
four-tire stop, Kenseth restarted 20th on lap 160. The
longest green flag run of the day paid off as Kenseth
rocketed all the way up into the top-10 for the first time
of the day on lap 223.
Things got interesting as the next pit cycle began. Many
of the lead lap cars had already ducked onto pit road,
including second place points car, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Kenseth was on his way to pit road on lap 242 when the
caution flag waved. Kenseth quickly and wisely shot back
onto the track before heading down pit road, but NASCAR
penalized Kenseth for passing the “commitment line” of
the pit entrance on his way in. Even still, Kenseth was now
one of six cars not a lap down in the running order.
Earnhardt Jr. was caught on pit road during the caution and
lost a lap that he never regained — all but handing the
day to Kenseth in the process.
With the laps winding down, Kenseth made the most of the
fortunately timed caution. Another long green flag run
ensued just when the DEWALT team needed it. Kenseth moved up
to fifth place with just 100 laps to go in the 393-lap
event. Though the light at the end of the tunnel was
becoming brighter, Kenseth continued to be all business on
the track. He implored the team to make the car turn better
in the center of the corner for the final run.
Kenseth never again fell out of the top-five running
order for the rest of the day. As lap after lap wound down,
the No. 17 DEWALT Tools pit stall became more and more
crowded with cameras and media personnel seeking to witness
Roush Racing’s first ever Winston Cup Championship in over
15 years of trying.
One final caution flag on lap 374 tightened up the field
again. NASCAR turned them all loose for the final time with
just 11 laps to go. Kenseth was running third, but gave up a
position in the final laps to a hard charging Jeremy
Mayfield. Crossing the line in 4th place as the checkered
flag flew, 31-year old Matt Kenseth of Cambridge, Wisconsin
became the final Winston Cup Champion.
Immediately two Winston- sponsored pickup trucks
descended upon the pit stall to pit up the DEWALT
crewmembers. From there they took a victory lap with Matt
Kenseth bringing up the rear in the No. 17 DEWALT Tools Ford
— having won the title in just his fourth full year on the
circuit.
Afterward, a subdued Matt Kenseth spoke to millions of
fans from the front stretch along the start-finish line:
“It’s unbelievable. This is beyond my wildest
dreams. I never thought I’d ever have the opportunity to
sit in one of these cars, much less be the champion. I’m
just so appreciative to my team, my owners, and my sponsors,
everybody that puts this thing together. I’m just real
lucky. There are thousands of race car drivers out there
that I’m sure could do a better job than I have and not
many people get this opportunity. I’m just thankful to be
in good equipment with good people working on it.”
DID YOU DREAM THIS WOULD EVER HAPPEN WHEN ROBBIE CALLED
YOU IN 1997?
“No. I actually had a big internal fight
with myself. I was racing ASA up in Wisconsin and I had
never pulled back on any of my promises before and I had to
quit the ride I was driving to go down and take that chance.
I felt like at the point I was in my career and my age that
I had to do it. I thought it was my last chance. Robbie
said, ‘Well, we can run four races or so and see how it
works out,’ and I just moved all my stuff down there and
went after it. I’ve just been fortunate that it’s worked
out since that day.”
YOU’RE COMPARED TO DAVID PEARSON ON AND OFF THE TRACK.
YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT?
“That’s a cool comparison. I
never got to race with David or watch him race very much,
but I’ve learned a lot from Mark Martin. He’s taught me
a lot on when to race and when not to race. I don’t do a
good job at it all the time, but I
