Zak Yarnot
Duties: Rear Tire Carrier/Fabricator
Born: March 19, 1979
Home: Pittsburgh, Pa.
Resides: Troutman, N.C.

Zak Yarnot’s story is an inspiration to everyone aspiring to get into the profession of big-time auto racing. In 2001, with little more than a dream, Yarnot left his home in Pittsburgh, Pa., to pursue a life in NASCAR.

“When I got to North Carolina I didn’t know anybody,” Yarnot explained. “I went around, basically door to door, handing out resumes and talking to as many crew chiefs as possible.”

Before 2001, Yarnot attended the University of North Western Ohio where he learned the ins and outs of high-performance racing setups. While attending school, he worked at a local paint & body shop where he also fine tuned his skills as a mechanic.

Finally in mid-2001, after moving to North Carolina, Yarnot got his break when he was hired by Team Rensi Racing to work in the paint and body shop on the No. 25 NASCAR Busch Series car. Two years later, while still at Team Rensi Racing, he received his shot to go over the wall as a tire carrier on the No. 25. But when team management changed, so did most of the crew. This isn’t unusual in team sports, auto racing being no exception.

Yarnot immediately found employment with Spears Racing and worked with them for the remainder of 2003 (about six months) on the No. 75 truck team.

At the start of 2004, Yarnot joined Roush Racing, again in the paint and body department. At Roush Racing, he worked out with the developmental pit crew. One year later, at Daytona in February of 2005, Yarnot made his inaugural appearance as a member of the top pit crew in NASCAR’s NEXTEL Cup Series, the No. 17 DEWALT Ford pit crew, otherwise known as “The Killer Bees.” The name aptly depicts the yellow and black uniforms, as well as the masterful way the crew consistently pummels the competition on pit road.

“My first race over the wall with the team was the Daytona 500,” said Yarnot. “That was pretty cool. This team is a great team to be a part of, there’s a lot of energy and you can see how focused everyone is each week. If you would’ve told me five years ago, when I left Pittsburgh, that this is where I’d be today, I would’ve said, ‘I’ll take it.’”

Matt Kenseth post-race press conference
April 9, 2006

MATT KENSETH — No. 17 DeWalt Ford Fusion (Finished 2nd) — “I’m real proud of these guys and everybody on this DeWalt race team has done a great job this year. We’ve had great cars each and every week. I ran into the 10 getting on pit road and kind of messed the hood up and had to start in the back, but these guys just worked really hard all day to get a good finish.”

YOU MUST BE HAPPY WITH HOW THINGS HAVE STARTED FOR YOU. “I don’t think I could be much happier. A few races we came up short that maybe we had a chance to win and didn’t win, but these guys have done such a great job. We’ve been contenders every week and we’ve got a lot of momentum right now and these guys are operating at a championship level, so it’s a lot of fun to be a part of.”

TURN TWO WAS A PROBLEM FOR A LOT OF GUYS TODAY. “At times I had trouble with all the turns, so I didn’t think two was any worse than the rest. It was a little slick, but overall the track was really good. I just didn’t have the car. That was the best we could get it.”

“We started in the back and had an OK car. I don’t think we had the car as good as his (Tony’s), but we just had great pit stops and they just adjusted on the car a lot and got it better and got us the right adjustments we needed at the end to be part way competitive. We couldn’t run near whatever the 9 was doing there at the end, but we had it the best it was all day at the end so it was a good job by those guys.”

HOW DID YOU GET FROM THE BACK TO THE FRONT BECAUSE IT LOOKED HARD TO PASS? WAS IT DIFFERENT FROM YESTERDAY? “I know with my car when you’re back in traffic, if you’re like fifth on back, I think your car handles about the same. What I noticed today is we had our car pretty good. We kept freeing it up all day and getting it better and better and drove up to fifth or sixth or seventh or wherever we were and had a good pit stop and came out third. We actually got up there and led for just a couple of laps and it got so loose. It was just an unbelievably different setup from being in the lead to being 10th, at least for my car, so that was the thing I noticed. We had our car pretty good in traffic, but when we did get up to the front it was hard to keep it there for me. It was just too loose and if we tightened it up I thought we were gonna be too tight if we did get back to fifth or sixth place.”

WITH THE LAPS COUNTING DOWN WERE YOU JUST GOING FOR THE POINTS AND NOT PUSHING IT TOO HARD? “No. Whenever I get asked this question it’s the same. It pays the most points to win and lead the most laps. It could have paid a million points to win and I couldn’t have caught Kasey Kahne. I don’t think I could have caught him with eight tires to tell you the truth, he was so fast at the end. You’re running as hard as you can at the end. Yeah, when you’re in a spot and you can’t catch the leader and you’re hoping the guy behind you can’t catch you, you’re counting the laps and looking forward to the end of the race so you don’t lose another spot. But you’re always running as hard as you can to try to get up there and that’s the best we had our car all day. There’s no way we could have run any quicker than we were.”

DO YOU FEEL THE SEASON HAS ALL EVENED OUT FOR YOU? “From my point I don’t think my season could be a lot better than what it’s been, really. We’ve had cars that have been contenders basically every week, except for probably Martinsville and there we had a top 10 car before I wrecked it, so I don’t think my season could be any better. I let a couple of them get away from me at Bristol and Vegas with under five to go. I wish I could have them, but it’s been a great year. We’ve had just super-competitive cars. The group is really energized and having a lot of fun. It’s a little different group and they’re excited to be at the race track and they’re giving me great stuff, so for my part I don’t think it could be a lot better.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE CARS AND WHAT HAPPENS ON TRACKS LIKE THERE WHERE IT’S HARD TO PASS? “They ask about passing and not being able to pass the leader and this and that. That’s kind of the discussion every week, but if you think about it, qualifying is a lot different than racing and cars get sprinkled all over the field. After a couple hundred miles, the good cars should be in front by then and when the good cars are in front, the cars that brought the best cars to the track or have the right setup for the day should be able to stay there unless they have a problem. They talk about passing and those cars staying up front and not a lot more passing, but when the fast cars are up there, if the guy behind you is slower, he’s certainly not gonna be able to pass you once they get to the front. I think we could shorten the races. I think Pocono could be 300 miles. But once they get up there and the fast cars are up there, you might see them mixing it up but it’s gonna be hard for a car that dropped back to get up there.”

Kenseth finishes 5th in IROC #2, Keeps points lead
April 7, 2006

On a cool and extremely windy day in Texas, 12 of the nation’s best drivers came together at the Texas Motor Speedway for round two of the 2006 Crown Royal IROC Series. Like all IROC races, the Shootout format was used meaning the race length was 67 total laps, with a “competition caution” displayed at lap 47 so that every competitor could come to pit road for four fresh tires. 

The starting lineup was set based on the series point standings and since Matt Kenseth won, in dominating fashion, at Daytona in Round One, he began shotgun on the field in the 12th position. 

There was concern among competitors that it would be difficult to pass in the Pontiacs much the same as it was at Texas last year. But, that wasn’t the case. The race quickly resembled a restrictor-plate race, with the pack staying bunched together throughout, sometimes two or three wide, with multiple passes for the lead.

Kenseth started last, but didn’t waste any time making his way up through the field. By lap four, Kenseth was running in the top five and threatening the leaders. Mark Martin, who started on the pole, led the first 25 laps until Kenseth claimed the top spot on lap 26. Over the course of the next 20 laps, Kenseth, Martin, and Tony Stewart took turns leading the 21-car pack around the 1.5-mile ribbon of asphalt. 

After the competition caution on lap 47, Stewart led the field to the green for the final 20-lap segment that proved to be a wild one indeed. Over the final 20 laps, Kenseth, Martin, Stewart, Ryan Newman, and Martin Truex Jr., would take turns at the head of the field. 

On lap 59, several cars got together on the back stretch resulting in a multi-car wreck that sent Steve Kinser on his roof for the second time in as many races. The race was then red flagged for a brief period before getting back under way for the final seven-lap shootout. 

Kenseth led the field back the start/finish line on lap 60 but quickly got shuffled to the back of the 10-car pack. Stewart would hold off Newman over the final five laps for the victory. One final rally for Kenseth was good enough to for a fifth-place finish, but his overall performance was enough to maintain his series point lead, now nine points ahead of second place Stewart. 

“It was a lot of fun out there today,” Kenseth said. “It was a lot easier to pass this year than it was here last year and that made it a lot of fun. I kind of got shuffled out at the wrong time and just didn’t have enough time to back to the front there at the end. But, overall, it was a pretty good day. It should be a good points day, at least better than what I thought going in and having to start from the back.”

Matt Kenseth Race Summary:
Started: 12th
Finished: 5th
Race Points Total: 14
Season Points Total: 43 points, Ranked 1st, Nine points ahead of second 

NEXT UP:
IROC #3, Thursday, June 29, 2006 — 3.56-mile road course, Daytona International Speedway

Kenseth looking to go two-for-two in IROC
April 6, 2006

2004 IROC Champ takes 12-point lead into Round Two

CONCORD, N.C. — After dominating round one of the 2006 Crown Royal IROC Series at Daytona in February, Matt Kenseth is hoping to do the same at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday. But Kenseth, the three-time IROC race winner knows that he has his work cut out for him this weekend.

“I’d like to tell you to expect the same thing this Friday, but I’m not sure that’s going to be the case,” Kenseth explained. “The fact is, at Texas, these IROC cars become a lot tougher to pass than at the other places we run. I’m starting last because of leading the points and it’s going to be real tough to get to the front in such a short amount of time. It doesn’t help that Mark (Martin) is starting on the pole either.”

IROC sets the starting lineup for each event by inverting the point standings. That way the leader always starts last. Last year, Kenseth finished ninth at Texas in IROC. For his career, Kenseth is the all-time lap leader at TMS in NASCAR’s top three national series with a combined 571 laps led. Kenseth has also recorded victories at TMS in both the Nextel Cup Series and the Busch Series. Though the task may be daunting, the 2003 Nextel Cup Champion says he’s up to the challenge.

“You have to get as many positions as you can on the restarts or hope somebody in front of you messes up,” said Kenseth. “But, I came from the back in Daytona earlier this year and over the years we’ve had some success at Texas, so — I don’t know, maybe we can run a clean race, catch a couple of breaks, and be in position to challenge for the win at the end. That’s about all you can ask for.”

Texas Busch & Nextel Cup Preview
April 5, 2006

Texas Motor Speedway • Fort Worth, Texas
O’Reilly 300 • Saturday, March 25 • 3:00 pm/e Fox
Samsung/RadioShack 500 • Sunday, April 9 • 1:30 pm/e Fox

Nextel Cup Chassis — #17 Carhartt Ford:
Primary — RK-323 (Last ran Las Vegas, Mar. ’06, finished second; Won at Fontana in Feb. ’06)
Backup — RK-317 (Last ran Texas, Nov. ’05, finished third)

Busch Chassis — #17 Ameriquest “Soaring Dreams” Ford:
Primary — RK-346

 
Matt Kenseth Cup Record at Texas

Date	S	F	Laps	Reason
04/02/00	13	31	288/334	Accident
04/01/01	27	20	332/334	Running
04/08/02	31	1	334/334	Running
03/30/03	17	6	334/334	Running
04/04/04	25	16	332/334	Running
04/17/05	39	18	334/334	Running
11/06/05	3	3	334/334	Running

 
Matt Kenseth Nextel Cup series totals at Texas:

	Starts	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles
Cumulative	7	1	2	3	0

 
Matt Kenseth on racing at Texas:

Nextel Cup: “Texas is a really fast track and I love racing there. Any driver loves speed and Texas doesn’t disappoint in that department. We’ve had some success there and I always feel going into the weekend that we should be competing for the win. We’ll be looking to rebound from last week where we had a good racecar but just lost the brakes there at the end. Still, we were running in the top ten all day, and just because something like that happened at the end, it doesn’t break our momentum by any means.”

Busch: “I’m looking forward to Texas. We’ve ran real good there over the years, especially in the Busch Series. Every track we’ve gone to this year in the Busch Series, we’ve had a car that competed for the win. It’s not going to be hard to find my car out there this weekend with the unique paint scheme we’ll be running, which represents the kids who have participated Ameriquest’s Soaring Dream Program. It’s a pretty neat program they have going that teaches kids about teamwork, achievement, and responsibility. I’ll be taking part in the program myself on Thursday morning at the track, so I’m looking forward to what should be an exciting weekend.”

Nextel Cup Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at Texas:

“Well, we’re bringing a car that’s been real good to us so far this year. It ran well at Fontana and Las Vegas and very easily could be sitting two for two on the season. Texas has been good to us during our career and hopefully we can get back on the right track this weekend. The mood in the shop has remained real upbeat. We were in before sun up on Monday breaking down the Martinsville car, putting that behind us and focusing on Texas. So, I don’t expect to see any kind of let down on this team.”

Busch Series Crew Chief Chad Norris on racing at Texas:

“We are taking the same car to Texas that we have been running here lately. It’s been a good car but just not good enough. So, we brought it back and worked on it a little more, trying to make it better. The No. 17 team is really pumped up right now we have been running good and qualifying good its just a matter of time before we visit victory lane.”

Texas Fast Facts

n Matt Kenseth is the all-time lap leader at Texas Motor Speedway in NASCAR competition, leading 571 laps total; 299 in NEXTEL Cup and 272 in Busch.

n In nine Busch Series starts at Texas, Kenseth has an average finish of 7.0.

n Kenseth is running chassis number 323 which so far this season has led 186 laps, won at Fontana and finished second at Las Vegas.

n Until his accident on lap 493 at Martinsville last week, Kenseth had completed every lap of the 2006 season (2042 laps to that point).

n Kenseth will be running the Carhartt paint scheme this weekend; the first of three races in which Kenseth will carry the Carhartt colors (Michigan 6/18, Charlotte 10/14).

n Kenseth enters the second round of the 2006 Crown Royal IROC Series as the point leader after dominating round one at Daytona in February. Kenseth, the 2004 IROC Champion, has 29 points and leads second place Sam Hornish Jr. by 12.