|
R+L Carriers returns at Daytona
June 28, 2006
MATT KENSETH AND R+L CARRIERS BRINGING JULY IN
WITH A BANG
Kenseth and R+L Carriers team up for big weekend
 CONCORD, N.C. — Both Matt Kenseth
and his primary sponsor for the Pepsi 400, R+L Carriers,
are looking for a big weekend at Daytona. For the second
time in 2006, the Ohio-based trucking company, R+L
Carriers, will don the hood of Kenseth’s No. 17 Ford
Fusion in Saturday night’s Pepsi 400 at Daytona
International Speedway.
It’s a big weekend for Kenseth, who will pull double
duty by running the 3.56-mile road course in Round Three
of the 2006 Crown Royal IROC Series on Thursday night,
in addition to his normal routine in the NASCAR NEXTEL
Cup Series, where he will run the legendary 2.5-mile
oval on Saturday. Kenseth enters Daytona as the points
leader in the IROC Series and second in the NEXTEL Cup
Series points race.
“This weekend has the potential to be a big weekend
in both series,” said Kenseth. “It’s always the same
mindset; you want to run as hard as you can, lead laps,
and win the race, but I think we stand a much better
shot of winning on Saturday than Thursday. I’m not too
familiar with the road course at Daytona and there will
be some road course aces out there, all of which are
starting in front of me, so that will definitely be
challenging. As for Saturday, we’re brining the same car
that ran so good here in the 500 back in February. It’s
painted in the R+L Carriers colors, but other than that,
it’s the same. I felt in February it was the best car we
had ever brought to Daytona and hopefully that hasn’t
changed.”
The weekend is big for the R+L Carriers as well. The
decision to have the Pepsi 400 as a part of R+L
Carriers’ primary race sponsorship package was based on
the grand opening of their employee resort in Daytona
Beach, Fla. The 52-room resort is located on ocean-front
property in Daytona Beach and is exclusively for R+L
Carriers employees only. The third property of its kind,
R+L Carriers also has exclusive resorts for employees in
Pigeon Forge, Tenn., and Ft. Myers, Fla. reflecting the
company motto, “Pride in our People. Pride in our
Performance.”
Based out of Wilmington, Ohio, R+L Carriers is a
family owned and operated company that with over 40
years of committed service to their customers, has grown
to be one of today’s leaders in the Less than Truckload
(LTL) industry. R+L Carriers, the first major LTL
trucking company to sponsor a cup car in 1997, made the
decision to rejoin the sport due to the positive impact
between employees and customers and the connection
NASCAR has of bringing them both together. With nearly
10,000 employees, R+L Carriers Inc. currently services
49 states, as well as Puerto Rico, the Dominican
Republic, and all of Canada. R+L Carriers continues to
be the “The ONE CALL — ONE CARRIER” that you can count
on.
n
Visit the R+L Carriers
website
IROC Preview
June 28, 2006
Daytona Road Course • Daytona Beach,
Fla.
IROC Round #3 • Thursday,
June 29 • 10:00 pm/e Speed Channel
MATT KENSETH READY TO TAKE ON DAYTONA ROAD COURSE
2004 IROC Champ gunning to emerge
round three still atop the standings
 CONCORD, N.C. — When Matt
Kenseth rolls into Daytona International Speedway on
Thursday, he, like several of his fellow NEXTEL Cup
competitors, will be preparing for two very different
races at the World Center of Racing. On Thursday,
Kenseth along with 11 other of the nation’s best drivers
will tackle the 3.56-mile road course at Daytona
International Speedway in round three of the 2006 Crown
Royal IROC Series.
Kenseth enters Thursday night’s event as the IROC
series’ points leader with 43 points, nine ahead of
second place Tony Stewart. The last time the IROC series
was at Daytona for round one in February, raced on the
legendary 2.5-mile oval, Kenseth dominated, leading the
final 34 laps of the 40-lap event to score his third
career IROC victory.
“It will definitely be different this time around,”
said Kenseth, who won February’s event starting from the
12th position, the same position he will start on
Thursday night. “I don’t really know what to expect on
Thursday. I’ve only raced the road course at Daytona
once and that was when Greg (Biffle), Kurt (Busch) and I
ran the 24 Hour race last year. I feel like starting
last will be a bigger disadvantage than it was in
February when we ran the oval. It’ll be harder to pass,
but we’ll just have to see how everything plays out. If
I still have the points lead after Thursday, I’ll feel
like it was a successful night.”
Road courses in general have given Kenseth some
trouble in the past. In his 13 combined races at
Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen, Kenseth has scored
only three top-10 finishes. Last weekend at Infineon
Raceway, Kenseth finished 17th, his lowest lead-lap
finish of 2006.
“Nothing helps you more than seat time,” Kenseth
explained. “I never ran road courses growing up, and
I’ve only run a handful altogether. The more you do
something, the more comfortable you get with it. On
Thursday night, it’s only going to be about IROC and
trying to get the best finish I can, but I’m sure I’ll
learn something about road racing while I’m out there
and hopefully it will help my road course efforts in
Cup.”
n
Visit the IROC Racing
website
Daytona Preview
June 28, 2006
Daytona International Speedway •
Daytona Beach, Fla.
Pepsi 400 • Saturday,
July 1 • 7:30 pm/e Fox
Chassis — #17 R+L Carriers / DeWALT Ford Fusion
Primary —
RK-327 (Last ran the ’06 Daytona 500, led 28 laps before
finishing 15th); Backup — RK-283 (Last ran the ’05 Pepsi
400, finished ninth)
Matt
Kenseth’s
Cup Record at
Daytona:
|
Date |
S |
F |
Laps |
Reason |
|
02/19/06 |
11 |
15 |
203/203 |
Running |
|
07/02/05 |
38 |
9 |
160/160 |
Running |
|
02/20/05 |
14 |
42 |
34/203 |
Engine |
|
07/03/04 |
36 |
39 |
110/160 |
Accident |
|
02/15/04 |
12 |
9 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
07/05/03 |
37 |
6 |
160/160 |
Running |
|
02/16/03 |
35 |
20 |
109/109 |
Running |
|
07/06/02 |
38 |
30 |
154/160 |
Running |
|
02/17/02 |
40 |
33 |
154/200 |
Accident |
|
07/07/01 |
15 |
16 |
160/160 |
Running |
|
02/18/01 |
16 |
21 |
196/200 |
Running |
|
07/01/00 |
22 |
20 |
160/160 |
Running |
|
02/20/00 |
24 |
10 |
200/200 |
Running |
Matt Kenseth’s
Cup
Series
totals
at
Daytona:
| |
Races |
Wins |
Top 5s |
Top 10s |
Poles
|
|
Daytona 500 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
Pepsi 400 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
Cumulative |
13 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
Kenseth on racing at Daytona International
Speedway:
“I’ve been looking forward to this race for
awhile. We’re bringing the same car we ran there in
the 500 and it was probably the best car I’ve ever
had at Daytona. Hopefully it will be just as good
this weekend. You have to have a car that handles
good when you come to Daytona. You don’t necessarily
think of handling when you think about Daytona, but
if you have a car that handles good you can really
maneuver through the turns, instead of just
following the guy in front of you. This car handled
really well there in February. I thought we were
good enough to compete for the win until we got
taken out. Still, we managed to come back and finish
15th and that says something about this car and
about our team.”
Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at Daytona
International Speedway:
“Anything can happen at Daytona. I always tell
our guys that they have to be prepared for anything
when we come here. With the reduced fuel cell, you
have to be ready for two-tire stops, four-tire
stops, gas only, and then you’d better to be ready
to patch up the car on pit road. It use to be, when
you came to Daytona you didn’t really think about
beating and banging, but now, after the race, these
cars look like they’ve just ran 500 laps at
Martinsville sometimes. There are so many things
that are out of your hands at Daytona, so you just
have to make sure that what you can control, you do
it well and you hit all of you marks on pit road.”
Daytona Fast Facts
n
Matt Kenseth will fly the R+L Carriers colors
this weekend for the second time in 2006. In its
previous showing, Kenseth drove the R+L Carriers
Ford Fusion to a fifth-place finish at Charlotte.
The paint scheme will run once more at Martinsville
in October.
n
Kenseth will race in round three of the 2006
Crown Royal IROC Series on Thursday night. Kenseth
comes into round three as the IROC points leader
with 43, nine points clear of second place.
n
Thursday will mark the second time Kenseth
has raced on Daytona International Speedway’s road
course. He first did so in the 2005 24 Hours of
Daytona.
n
Kenseth has two top-10 finished in the past
three Pepsi 400s.
n
Kenseth comes into Daytona ranked second in
the championship point standings. The last three
seasons he has entered this weekend ranked first in
2003 (Championship year), third in 2004, and 20th in
2005.
Infineon Recap
June 25,
2006
No. 17 DeWALT Ford Fusion
recap
Kenseth manages 17th after tough day at Infineon
A hot, sunny day in Northern California made for a
slick track at Infineon Raceway’s 11-turn, 1.99-mile
road course. The field of 43 took to the first road
course of the season as Kurt Busch carried them to the
green flag at 2:45 PM Pacific.
Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 DEWALT Ford Fusion rolled
off ninth, their third top-10 qualifying position in
their last four races at Infineon Raceway. Before the
field could make one circuit, a multi-car wreck behind
Kenseth brought out the first caution of the day, which
soon after, became the first red flag as safety crews
took nearly five minutes to clean the track.
For most of the afternoon, Kenseth, like many of his
fellow competitors fought a loose handling racecar, due
to the slick track conditions. On lap 29, with the field
under green, Kenseth made his way to pit road for his
first stop of the afternoon. The Killer Bees went to
work with a 13.38-second, four tires and fuel pit stop
that picked up one albeit important position on the
track. Once the field had cycled through the round of
green-flag stops, Kenseth was running in the tenth
position.
Being at the only track where Kenseth and Robbie
Reiser have never scored a top-10 finish, the No. 17
team was determined to do everything in their power to
correct that. Kenseth fought for much of the afternoon
in the top 15, poised to strike if an opportunity
presented itself.
The second green-flag cycle of pit stops began with
Kenseth running in the 11th position. On lap 68, Kenseth
headed to pit road, but as some teams had pitted earlier
and out of sequence, he returned to the track in the
17th position.
As the fifth caution flag flew on lap 97, just 13
laps from the finish, Kenseth sat in the 16th position
and the team had a decision to make. With nearly the
entire 32 cars that remained on the lead lap on old
tires, Reiser made the call and brought Kenseth to pit
road for four new tires, fearing that if they did not
pit, everyone behind them would making the No. 17 a
sitting duck.
The strategy may have worked as many cars followed
Kenseth to pit road, however on the first lap after the
restart, the No. 40 turned sideways directly ahead of
Kenseth in the treacherous carousel turn 11. Kenseth did
his best to squeeze between the No. 40 car and the tire
barrier, but sustained damage to the left front of his
Ford. The following lap, the caution flew for the sixth
time and gave Kenseth, now running in the 24th position,
an opportunity to catch back up with the field.
On the ensuing restart, Kenseth immediately picked
off three positions before the final caution occurred
for a multi-car pileup which again brought out the red
flag. This time lasting for 17 minutes, Kenseth sat in
the scorching heat and planned his last advance. With
only three laps remaining when the field took the final
green flag, Kenseth restarted 21st, but made a valiant
last-ditch effort to pick up four positions in the final
laps to finish 17th.
For the race, Jeff Gordon dominated the final 50 laps
and won his Cup record, ninth road course race of his
career. The victory is Gordon’s first since last October
at Martinsville.
“We had about a top-15 or top-20 car and that’s where
we finished,” Kenseth said shortly after the race. “It
was a tough race out there today. You have to be nearly
perfect if you’re going to finish good here because
track position is so hard to come by. We got caught up
in an accident down in turn 11, but other than that ran
a pretty clean race.
This team fought hard all day and we got about all we
could out of the racecar.”
NEXT UP:
Pepsi 400, Daytona International Speedway, Daytona
Beach, Fla.
Saturday, July 1, 2006
RACE
SUMMARY:
Matt Kenseth • Started: 9th • Finished: 17th
POINTS
SUMMARY:
Matt Kenseth
Race Total: 112 points
Season Total: 2333 points, Ranked 2nd,
101 points behind
first
Infineon Preview
June 22, 2006
Infineon Raceway • Sonoma, California
Dodge/Save Mart 350 • Sunday,
June 25 • 3:00 pm/e Fox
Chassis — #17 DeWALT Ford Fusion
Primary —
RK-250 (Ran both road courses last season; Finished 11th
at Sonoma and 18th at Watkins Glen)
Matt
Kenseth
Cup Record at
Infineon Raceway
|
Date |
S |
F |
Laps |
Reason |
|
06/25/00 |
38 |
32 |
110/112 |
Running |
|
06/24/01 |
20 |
21 |
112/112 |
Running |
|
06/23/02 |
6 |
39 |
90/110 |
Running |
|
06/22/03 |
4 |
14 |
110/110 |
Running |
|
06/27/04 |
5 |
20 |
110/110 |
Running |
|
06/26/05 |
24 |
11 |
110/110 |
Running |
Matt Kenseth
Cup
Series
totals
at
Infineon Raceway
| |
Races |
Wins |
Top 5s |
Top 10s |
Poles
|
|
Cumulative |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Kenseth on
racing at Infineon Raceway:
“Sonoma has not been good to us over the years. I
thought last season, we were finally going to break
through and score at least a top 10. We had a good
car and thought we were going to be able to pick up
some spots at the end because the leaders would have
to pit for fuel. But, they got a caution and were
able to conserve fuel and we ended up just outside
the top 10. I’m looking forward to this weekend.
We’ve ran good at nearly every track and even when
we haven’t had a car capable of winning, we’ve been
fortunate enough to run inside the top 10 for most
of the year. Hopefully we can score our first ever
top 10 at Sonoma this weekend.”
Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at Infineon
Raceway:
“It wasn’t long ago where we kind of dreaded
coming to a road course. But, a couple of years ago,
we started putting more emphasis on our road course
program and I think it’s paid off. Maybe we haven’t
had the results to prove it, but we were much more
competitive last year at Sears Point (Infineon) and
Watkins Glen than we have been in the past. We were
in position to pick up two top 10s last year at the
road courses but we had some trouble in the pits at
the Glen and just didn’t get a long green flag run
like we needed at the end of the race at Sonoma.
We’re bringing the same car this year that we ran
both road courses last year. It was good to us last
year and we’re thinking it should be good to us this
year.”
Infineon Fast Facts
n
Matt Kenseth’s nine top-five finishes lead
all drivers in 2006.
n
Kenseth’s average starting spot in 2006 is
15.7, currently the best in his seven year Cup
career. His single-season best is 17.0 in 2005 and
his career average is 21.4.
n
Kenseth’s average finish in 2006 is 8.9, also
currently the best average in his Cup career. His
single-season best is 10.4 during his 2003
Championship Season. His career average is 15.5.
n
Infineon Raceway is the only track that
Kenseth has yet to score a top-10 finish during his
Cup career. He has scored at least one top-10 finish
at 22 of 23 tracks (including Rockingham).
n
Kenseth’s average finish at Infineon Raceway
is 22.8; second only to Homestead as the worst
average finish during his career.
Rain spoils Kenseth comeback at Michigan
June 18,
2006
No. 17 Carhartt/DeWALT Ford Fusion
recap
Rain spoils Kenseth comeback at Michigan
Rain threatened, and in the end won the day, at
Michigan International Speedway, first delaying the
start of the 3M Performance 400 by one hour before
ending the race 71 laps shy of the scheduled 200. Matt
Kenseth and the No. 17 Carhartt/DEWALT Ford Fusion team
did everything but wreck out of the event in the first
70 laps, but with their trademark resilience fought
their way back into contention for yet another top 10 at
Michigan.
In front of a near-capacity crowd and under
threatening skies, eventual winner Kasey Kahne brought
the field to a delayed green flag. Michigan, known for
its long green-flag runs, went the other way on Sunday
with nine cautions for 37 of the race’s 129 total laps.
Kenseth started 20th on Sunday, which was where he
remained when he headed to pit road as the second
caution flew on lap 10. Robbie Reiser made the call for
two tires in order to gain track position, but as
Kenseth began to exit his pit stall, the No. 23 car,
pitted just ahead of Kenseth, was coming into his stall
for service. The No. 23 clipped the right front of the
17 machine damaging the right-front fender. Kenseth
remained on pit road as the Killer Bees scrambled to
repair the damage.
Luckily for Kenseth, rain was falling on the track
and subsequently extended the caution period allowing
him to return to pit road several more times for
repairs. Eight laps and three pit stops later, Kenseth
restarted the race in the 43rd position.
Two cautions later, Reiser decided to stay out in
order to pick up track position. After the ensuing
restart, Kenseth worked his way up to the sixth position
but still needed maintenance as a result of the pit road
incident with the No. 23 car. The Carhartt Ford returned
to pit road under caution for extensive work on lap 33,
dropping Kenseth to the 37th position.
Under the green flag Kenseth worked his way back up
to the 19th position and was threatening for more. As
the caution flew once again on lap 55, Kenseth returned
to pit road for service and for the first time did not
need an extended stop for repairs. But when a tire got
away from the crew, the uncharacteristic mishap slowed
the stop significantly, putting Kenseth back out in
28th.
For the third time of the day, Kenseth again began to
advance through the field. Then on lap 67, a near
catastrophe struck. Kenseth moved high on the No. 96
machine heading into turn one. As the No. 96 moved high,
Kenseth dove underneath in an attempt to take the
position; however the No. 12 machine, slightly trailing
Kenseth at the time, had the same idea and the two ended
up going after the same piece of real estate. Kenseth
made a sharp move to avoid contact, but ended up
spinning his Ford at the exit of turn two. Kenseth made
a great save and while he avoided cosmetic damage, he
had flattened several tires and lost one lap to the
leaders as he nursed the No. 17 back to pit road.
Saddled one lap down in the 38th position, Kenseth’s
day to this point had been a nightmare. But,
predictably, the never quit spirit of Kenseth and the
Killer Bees endured. Kenseth received the caution flag
he needed on lap 70, and being the first car one lap
down, benefited from the free pass back on the lead lap.
Back in the game and with his racecar’s handling much
improved, Kenseth began his fourth and final march to
the front. Restarting 36th on lap 85, Kenseth stormed
through the field and by lap 110 had advanced into the
17th position. This time, as the leaders headed to pit
road, the Killer Bees turned it on and knocked out a
12.8-second, four-tires-and-fuel pit stop and turned
Kenseth out in the 11th position.
Just as it appeared that Kenseth and company were
finally primed to compete for another Michigan top ten,
Mother Nature had other plans. The rains came for good
on lap 124 and officially ended the race on lap 129 with
Kenseth slotted in the 13th position. The rain snapped
the No. 17 team’s string of four consecutive top-five
finishes and six consecutive top 10s at Michigan.
“I’d rather keep racing because I think we’re better
than that,” Kenseth explained standing in front of his
hauler during the final rain delay. “I don’t think we
can win, but I think we’re probably a top five or a
top-10 car. It’s been eventful. We wrecked in the pits
on the first stop and that kind of messed our car up,
but then we got it fixed. We got running better and made
our way most of the way back up to the front. Then I
spun out and lost a lap doing that. I finally got decent
track position, so I’d like to race again because I
think we can finish better than where we’re currently
at. But it could be a lot worse I guess. We didn’t
really try to race for rain because we had so much stuff
going on that we just had to pit every time and try to
get track position. We tried to get our car fast because
we had so many problems.”
NEXT UP:
Dodge/Save Mart 350, Infineon Raceway, Sonoma,
Calif.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
RACE
SUMMARY:
Matt Kenseth • Started: 20th • Finished: 13th
POINTS
SUMMARY:
Matt Kenseth
Race Total: 124 points
Season Total: 2221 points, Ranked 2nd, 74 points behind
first
Michigan: Where the ’05 turnaround
began
June 14,
2006
Matt Kenseth reflects on last year’s dreadful
start and remarkable comeback
CONCORD, N.C. — Matt Kenseth arrived at Michigan
International Speedway last June with a daunting task
ahead of him and his No. 17 DEWALT team. With only 12
races remaining before the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup
officially began, Kenseth sat 24th in the NEXTEL Cup
point standings, 700 points behind the leader and 320
points behind the 10th-place cutoff. Little light
remained at the end of the tunnel as Kenseth, the 2003
NEXTEL Cup champ, had recorded only two top-10 finishes
and three DNFs in the series’ first 14 races.
“At the start of the 2005 season, we were trying some
different things with the car to try to pick up some
speed here and there,” Kenseth explained. “Obviously, it
wasn’t working. After Darlington we went back and looked
at what we were doing whenever we ran good the previous
years and then compared that to what we were doing at
the moment, and it wasn’t close. So we scrapped the new
stuff and went back to a lot of what we knew worked and
everything seemed to fall in place. Plus, we started to
have some things go our way on the track as well.”
Kenseth’s comeback was nothing short of amazing. In
the 12 races that followed, beginning at Michigan,
Kenseth scored one win, six top fives, nine top 10s, and
closed the gap on the leader to 602 points. More
importantly, Kenseth secured a spot in the Chase for the
NEXTEL Cup by being ranked ninth in the standings, 59
points clear of 10th place.
“Looking back on it, I can say I’m definitely glad
we’ve started 2006 the way we have,” smiled Kenseth.
“The first 14 or so races of 2005 were not a lot of fun.
I wasn’t sure we could make the Chase, but we all knew
what it would take. The problem was up until that point
we really hadn’t been competitive all year, with the
exception of a couple of races. We couldn’t afford any
more mistakes, and luckily, we didn’t make too many more
before the Chase and that’s what it took.”
Kenseth’s start in 2006 has been quite the opposite.
Below is a look at how the two seasons (2005 & 2006)
stack up to each other:
| |
Rank |
Points |
Out of 1st |
Out of 10th |
Races |
Wins |
Top5s |
Top10s |
DNFs |
|
2005 |
24 |
1362 |
-700 |
-320 |
14 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
|
2006 |
2 |
2097 |
-48 |
+432 |
14 |
2 |
9 |
10 |
1 |
Michigan Preview
June 15, 2006
Michigan International Raceway •
Brooklyn, Michigan
3M Performance 400 • Sunday,
June 18 • 1:00 pm/e Fox
Nextel Cup Chassis — #17 DeWALT Ford Fusion
Primary —
RK-323 (Raced at Texas, Fontana, and Vegas)
Matt
Kenseth
Cup Record at
Michigan
|
Date |
S |
F |
Laps |
Reason |
|
08/22/99 |
25 |
14 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
06/11/00 |
23 |
17 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
08/20/00 |
28 |
8 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
06/10/01 |
31 |
15 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
08/19/01 |
33 |
4 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
06/16/02 |
20 |
1 |
161/200 |
Running |
|
08/18/02 |
21 |
11 |
162/162 |
Running |
|
06/15/03 |
21 |
4 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
08/17/03 |
33 |
9 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
06/20/04 |
18 |
7 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
08/22/04 |
5 |
8 |
193/194 |
Running |
|
06/19/05 |
21 |
4 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
08/21/05 |
13 |
3 |
200/200 |
Running |
Matt Kenseth
Cup
Series
totals
at
Michigan
| |
Races |
Wins |
Top 5s |
Top 10s |
Poles
|
|
Spring |
6 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
|
Fall |
7 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
0 |
|
TOTALS |
13 |
1 |
5 |
9 |
0 |
Matt Kenseth on
racing at Michigan:
“I look forward to going to Michigan. It is one
track that I am glad we visit twice a year. We have
always run really well there, but it’s been a couple
of years since we got a Cup win at MIS. So, it would
be nice if we could do something about that here
soon. It would be great to get Carhartt in Victory
Lane. We have been having a pretty good season so
far. The guys here in the shop have been working
really hard and have given me some really great
cars. I’m sure that that will not change this
weekend.”
Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at
Michigan:
“We have a good history at Michigan. I think with
the way that things have been going so far this year
we have a pretty good shot at at least a top-5. We
are taking the car that ran at California, Texas,
and Vegas so maybe we will be able to pull off
another Fontana in Michigan.”
Michigan Fast Facts
n
Matt Kenseth has had13 career starts at
Michigan International Speedway. His average finish
has been 8.1
n
In the 2005 season the DEWALT Ford finished
in the top 4 in each event at the Michigan
International Speedway.
n
Kenseth has had a total of 9 top-10 finish
out of those13 career starts at this track.
Race recap:
Kenseth notches another
Top 5 at Pocono
June 11,
2006
n
Photos from Pocono
No. 17 DeWALT Ford Fusion Recap:
Kenseth brings home 9th Top-5 finish of 2006
With a beautiful mountain landscape in the
background, Matt Kenseth took the green flag at Pocono
Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. Under bright sunny skies
roared 43 cars to the green flag. Kenseth’s day started
in the 25th position, but that wasn’t a true indication
of the performance and speed that the No. 17 DEWALT team
had underneath their hood.
By lap 15, the No. 17 DEWALT Ford Fusion had gained
eight positions and was poised to continue their forward
charge. Kenseth was happy with his Ford Fusion, but felt
with a few minor changes could be able to find more grip
on the racetrack. The timing couldn’t be better for
Kenseth’s team, as the second caution flag of the
afternoon flew over the Pocono Raceway, allowing the
Killer Bees to go to work on lap 21. After a stellar pit
stop, Kenseth returned to the track in 12th position.
Kenseth continued to pilot his way around the
2.5-mile tri-oval, clicking off some of the fastest lap
times on the track. Later in the run, his DEWALT Ford
began experiencing the same loose condition as before.
Again, on lap 52, Robbie Reiser summoned Kenseth back
down pit road for his second round of pit stops.
Kenseth returned to the raceway in the 10th position
and settled in for what would be a long green-flag run.
As other teams began pitting under green flag
conditions, it was Reiser who made the call to leave
Kenseth on the track allowing him to gain an additional
five bonus points by leading the race for one lap.
Kenseth then returned to pit road on lap 140 for service
to his No. 17 Ford.
Immediately after exiting pit road, the yellow flag
was displayed for debris on the Long Pond Straightaway
(the straightaway between turns one and two). Upon the
restart of the race on lap 145, Kenseth found himself in
the ninth position and only 55 laps to move ahead.
Moving ahead was exactly what Kenseth and the DEWALT
Ford did. Kenseth was able to muscle his way through
field, gaining three positions and setting himself for
the final segment of the race. It wasn’t until the
caution was once again displayed over the raceway on lap
190 that Kenseth and Reiser were forced to make a
late-race decision. To pit or not to pit was the
question on each of their minds as Kenseth rolled out of
turn three. A last minute call by Reiser to stay out
allowed the DEWALT to gain another position, moving him
into fifth.
The race was halted with just eight laps to go for
debris clean-up in turn one of the raceway. After a
short rest for the drivers, the mood was set for a
late-race shootout and with only six laps to go; Kenseth
knew he had to maintain his position.
Maintain his position was exactly what he did, and as
the checkered flag was displayed to race winner Denny
Hamlin, it was Kenseth who brought home another
fifth-place finish.
This marks Kenseth’s ninth top-five finish of the
year and moves him to within only 48 points out of first
place in the Nextel Cup point standings.
“We didn’t really run very strong, but we finished
really good. I don’t know how we get that done, but we
did. That was a great finish and Robbie did a good job,
the pit crew did a good job. This was a great day
overall for the entire DEWALT team.”
RACE SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Started: 25th •
Finished: 5th
POINTS SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Race Total:
160 points • Season
Total: 2097 points, Ranked 2nd, 48 points behind first
NEXT UP:
3M Performance 400
Michigan
International Speedway, Brooklyn, Mic.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Pocono Preview
June 7, 2006
Pocono Raceway • Long Pond, Pa.
Pocono 500 • Sunday,
June 11 • 1:30 pm/e Fox
Nextel Cup Chassis — #17 DeWALT Ford Fusion
Primary —
RK-340 (Brand new car; never tested)
Backup —
RK-280 (Tested
at Charlotte, last ran Michigan, Jun. ’06; finished 4th)
Matt Kenseth’s performance
summary at Pocono
|
Date |
S |
F |
Laps |
Reason |
|
06-19-00 |
29 |
14 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
07-23-00 |
24 |
5 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
06-17-01 |
31 |
6 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
07-29-01 |
24 |
14 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
06-09-02 |
4 |
35 |
161/200 |
Running |
|
07-28-02 |
22 |
8 |
175/175 |
Running |
|
06-08-03 |
25 |
3 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
07-27-03 |
9 |
13 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
06-13-04 |
15 |
21 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
08-01-04 |
15 |
8 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
06-12-05 |
10 |
32 |
197/201 |
Running |
|
07-24-05 |
30 |
36 |
195/203 |
Running |
Matt Kenseth totals at
Pocono:
| |
Races |
Wins |
Top 5s |
Top 10s |
Poles
|
|
Spring |
6 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
|
Fall |
6 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
|
Cumulative |
12 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
0 |
Matt Kenseth on
racing at Pocono:
“Pocono hasn’t been one of our better tracks;
especially last year, this place really hurt us in
the points. But, we’re riding a pretty good wave of
momentum right now. Coming off of an awesome win at
Dover means a lot. That was a special win for me and
the team and our sponsor DEWALT because being only
one and a half hours away, they kind of consider
Dover their home track, and they had a big turnout.
But, that was last week, and that’s how you have to
approach this, week by week. Pocono is a new weekend
and a completely different track. You need a lot of
grip off the corners, which are pretty flat, if
you’re going to get the big run you need down the
straightaways to make the pass. It’s a unique track
with a lot of room to pass, it’s really fast and I’m
looking to have a lot of fun out there on Sunday.”
Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at
Pocono:
“Pocono creates a lot of different challenges for
your team as far as race setup. I think that’s why
you see teams bring so many different type cars
here. Some bring short track cars, some bring
speedway cars. We’re bringing a brand new car that
we sort of built with this place in mind. It’s never
tested other than a little wind tunnel time, so
we’re anxious to see how it’s going to work out.”
Pocono Fast Facts
n
Matt
Kenseth’s win at Dover was the 12th of his
NEXTEL Cup career, and the second of 2006.
n
Dover
becomes the tenth different track that Kenseth
has scored a win at. 2006 becomes the third
season in which Kenseth has recorded multiple
wins.
n
Kenseth’s eight top-five finishes in 2006 is
currently tops among NEXTEL Cup Series drivers.
n
In
Kenseth’s first 10 trips to Pocono, he finished
on the lead lap nine out 10 times. However, last
year, Kenseth finished one or more laps down in
both races.
n
Kenseth has led only 23 laps in 12 races at
Pocono, the lowest total number of laps led at
any track where Kenseth has 10 or more starts.
n
Tracking Kenseth’s turnaround — at this point in
2005 compared to this season
| |
Rank |
Points |
Behind |
Wins |
Top 5’s |
Top 10s |
|
2006 |
2 |
1937 |
-74 |
2 |
8 |
9 |
|
2005 |
22 |
1295 |
-617 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
Race recap: Matt Kenseth wins at Dover
June 5,
2006
n
Photos from Dover
No.17 DEWALT FORD FUSION RECAP:
Kenseth slays Monster Mile for second win of 2006
Matt Kenseth wheeled the No. 17 DEWALT Ford Fusion
underneath Jamie McMurray with just three laps remaining
to take the lead and drive away to his second NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup Series win of 2006 and his first at Dover,
the same track he made his NNCS debut in 1998.
In front of a capacity crowd, Ryan Newman led the
field to the green flag at just after 2:20 PM Eastern
under warm, sunny skies. Kenseth started 19th but knew
that the car was better than where it qualified and in
typical Kenseth fashion, began to make his way to the
front.
By lap 13, Kenseth had maneuvered his way into the
ninth position and from the start of the race appeared
to have a car capable of contending for the win. The
Robbie Reiser–led crew did their part on pit road
throughout, making minor adjustments on the racecar to
keep up with the changing conditions of the racetrack.
Kenseth drove the DEWALT Ford into the top five on
lap 67, and after a lightning fast pit stop (12.80
seconds) on lap 116, came out of the pits in the second
position. On the ensuing restart, Kenseth took command
for the first time of the race, leading the first of his
83 total laps on lap 120.
After falling to second, the Killer Bees again went
to work on pit road on lap 265 and got Kenseth back out
in front via a 12.72-second, four–tires–and–fuel pit
stop. However, after a caution on lap 300, several teams
played pit strategy to get track position and Kenseth
found himself back in the seventh position.
A relatively clean and green first half of the race
gave way to a slew of caution flags over the last third
of the event. On short runs, the No. 17 looked good, but
not quite good enough to win. But Kenseth was confident
that he had the car to beat on the long run; trouble
was, he couldn’t get one. From lap 264 to lap 345, a
total of seven cautions flew. Kenseth had gradually
worked his way up to fifth, but needed a long green flag
run if a win was in the cards.
Fortunately, it was. The field took the green flag
with just over 50 laps remaining in the 400-lap event
and the race remained green the rest of the way. Kenseth
restarted fifth and quickly made his way around Jeff
Burton. Setting his sights on third place, Kenseth
reeled in Kyle Busch, but Busch put up a valiant effort.
By the time Kenseth made his way around, he was running
out of time. Kenseth still trailed the leader by 2.7
seconds with just over 20 laps remaining.
As the leaders encountered lapped traffic, Kenseth’s
torrid pace erased the deficit and quickly brought his
yellow and black Ford to the rear of second place, Kevin
Harvick. Kenseth made short work of Harvick and with
just under 10 laps remaining took aim at leader and
teammate McMurray. As the two cars roared back to the
stripe with three laps to go, Kenseth worked his way
around McMurray and was rewarded with nothing but
daylight between him and the checkers. As Kenseth exited
turn four for the final time he radioed with exuberance
and yelled, “Woohoo! That’s how you do it boys!”
The win was Kenseth’s second NASCAR NEXTEL Cup win of
2006 and 12th of his NNCS career. It also marked a
series’ best eighth top-five finish of 2006. The win was
Kenseth’s first NNCS win at Dover International
Speedway, the site of his debut in the series in 1998.
“Obviously, we had a great car all day,” said Kenseth
after the race. “We kind of started in the middle of the
pack and were able to make the right adjustments to the
car. Robbie and Chip (Bolin, Engineer) did a great job
last night of figuring what they wanted to put in the
car, coming up with a plan and sticking with it. It
worked well. That’s by far the best we ever performed
here. It was an exciting race to be part of it and I’m
glad that we came out on top.”
From Victory Lane: “I had a lot of fun today,” said
Kenseth. “I got to race with Jeff Burton a lot up front
today at different times during the race and just had a
blast with him. Then at the end with Kevin Harvick and
Jamie McMurray, I mean, that was just a great race. They
both raced me as hard as they could and still everybody
was clean and made it out of there. There were a lot of
tight situations that we were in with all three of us
racing for the win with just five or six laps to go but
it was just really exciting to be apart of that race.
“Obviously, we had a great car all day. We kind of
started in the middle of the pack and were able to make
the right adjustments to the car. Robbie and Chip
(Bolin, Engineer) did a great job last night of figuring
what they wanted to put in the car, coming up with a
plan and sticking with it. It worked well. That’s by far
the best we ever performed here. It was an exciting race
to be part of it and I’m glad that we came out on top.”
RACE SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Started: 19th • Finished: 1st
POINTS SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Race Total: 185 points • Season
Total: 1937 points, Ranked 2nd, 74 points behind first
SEASON SUMMARY
|
Matt Kenseth |
|
Starts |
Wins |
Top Fives |
Top 10s |
Poles |
|
13 |
2 |
8 |
9 |
0 |
NEXT UP:
Pocono 500
2.5-Mile Pocono Raceway
Pocono, Pa.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Dover Win press conference
June 4,
2006
KENSETH WINS FOR SECOND TIME IN 2006
- Matt Kenseth took the checkered flag for the
12th time in his NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series career
with this afternoon’s victory. His previous best
finish at Dover was second in 2000.
- The win is Kenseth’s second of the season,
making him the third multiple winner of 2006
(Johnson/Kahne).
- Ford has now won 573 all-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
Series races.
- Ford’s win this afternoon is its 21st at Dover
International Speedway.
- The last Ford triumph at Dover occurred when
Greg Biffle won this event in 2005.
MATT KENSETH — No. 17 DeWALT Fusion (finished 1st)
—
“Obviously, it was great. We had a great car all day. We
kind of started in the middle of the pack and were able
to make the right adjustments to the car. Robbie and
Chip did a great job last night of figuring what they
wanted to put in the car, and coming up with a plan and
stick with it and it worked well. That’s by far the best
we ever performed here, and it was an exciting race to
be part of it and I’m glad that we came out on top.”
ROBBIE REISER — crew chief, No. 17 DeWalt Fusion
—
“It was pretty uneventful for us. We didn’t really make
a lot of changes to the car and the way the cautions
fell, and the early part of the race it was pretty much
straight forward. Towards the end there when we had the
cautions right in a row we had to make some decisions
and we just basically stayed out until we got to our
fuel window and then pitted. And then at the end I
thought that we needed tires and Matt thought we didn’t.
He knew what he had there and made a decision to stay
out, and thank God he won the race because we’d probably
be in the trailer fighting right now.”
MATT KENSETH, continued —
YOU MADE A CLEAN PASS ON TEAMMATE JAMIE MCMURRAY ON LAP
397; WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN WILLING TO USE THE FRONT BUMPER
TO MOVE HIM, IF NECESSARY, TO WIN THE RACE? “No.
It’s not really that kind of track, first of all. No, I
wouldn’t. It didn’t make any difference that it was my
teammate. To be really honest with you, if it was
switched around and Jamie was second and Harvick was
first I would’ve raced both the same way. I think you
should race people how you want to be raced. I don’t
think either one of them guys would’ve punted me out of
the way. At this kind of track if you get into somebody
you’re going to wreck ’em. They were leaving me plenty
of room to pass. The track is so good here that you can
run two- and three-wide and there’s plenty of room to
pass. There’s certainly is no excuse to run somebody
over. There’s plenty of room to get underneath somebody.
They both gave me a full lane to race in. It was just up
to me to figure out how to get my car to get through the
corner fast enough to get in front of ’em.”
AT WHAT POINT DID YOU REALIZE THAT YOU HAD THE CAR TO
GET PAST KEVIN HARVICK? “When I got under him, I
caught them guys pretty good because they got racing
each other side-by-side and I was able to catch up to
them pretty quick with 10 to go or 15 to go or
something, and I was able to get under Kevin and thought
I had the pass made and I got real, real sideways loose
getting into the corner. I lost a big amount, 10 or 15
car lengths, so at that point, I think we were at 10 to
go, I honestly didn’t think I was going to get by either
one of them. We lost our momentum there and I knew I
needed to regroup and come up with some kind of plan to
not get along side of them in the wrong place, to get
the pass finished before I got through the corners so I
could get up in front of them on the straightaway. The
problem was I could get three-quarters of the way by
him, but then they’d come down the straightaway on your
right-rear and they’d pass you again down the
straightaway when you’re all bogged down on the bottom,
and it was hard to finish the pass so I knew I needed to
try to make a different entry into the corner to try to
finish it. But, just caught him at the right time and
was able to just barely squeeze in front of both of
them.”
ON THE DISAGREEMENT WITH ROBBIE REGARDING THE
DECISION TO STAY OUT AND NOT PIT. “There’s a couple
factors. At the time I knew about where we had on tires.
I thought we were a little faster than the four cars in
front of me, and them guys all stayed out and I saw a
few cars behind me that I knew were good cars, but I
knew that really didn’t run with us most of the day and
I thought there were enough cars that looked like they
might stay out that they would slow the progress of the
guy with the new tires. I just thought that was my only
chance to win the race. I felt like, in my head, that if
we got four tires we weren’t going to get back up and
win the race — we might finish second or third or fourth
or fifth, but I just thought it was our best chance to
win. The really wasn’t any discussion. He just told me
to pit and I didn’t say anything. I just kind of watched
what everybody did and when I saw everybody stay out I
just kind of decided on my own to stay out. When I
looked over going down the frontstretch and saw the look
on his face, I knew I better finish pretty good or it
was going to be a long couple of months.”
THIS ONCE WAS A DIFFICULT TRACK FOR YOU, BUT NOT IN
THE LAST FEW YEARS. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? “It was
all psychological. For years and years I’ve always said
it was my favorite track — this is sort of a joke, so
don’t take this too serious about psychological — but
I’ve always said it was my favorite track. Every time I
go to hospitality, fans, one of the first things they
always ask you is your favorite track, and I’ve always
said Dover. And, ever time we drive in this track, it’s
just always been a real special place for me from the
Busch Series and winning some races here with Robbie in
the Busch car and driving Bill’s car and doing all that,
so every time we get here on Thursday me and Katie drive
the rental car in over the track and I look at the bank
and I always tell her how cool it is, ‘Isn’t this track
awesome? I love coming here. It’s so great.’ We drove in
this time and I said, ‘Man, I hate this place. I can’t
wait until we get out of here Sunday,’ and I was joking
of course, and that was really the difference for us.”
KYLE BUSCH WAS CONCERNED THAT HE HELD YOU UP TOO
MUCH. ONCE YOU CLEARED HIM HE SAID YOU WERE HIS PICK TO
WIN. WAS THERE ANY CONCERN WITH GETTING BY HIM WHEN YOU
REACHED HIM? “Yeah. It’s a hard thing to figure out
in that situation because if someone’s catching you and
they get underneath you, there’s only 40 to go and he
probably thought we were a little closer to the same
speed so he was going to try to race me, but I was
running a little different line. He was running the
bottom and I was mowin’ ’em down and as soon as caught
him he moved up to my line and I just couldn’t figure
out how to get by him — which is all right. It all
turned out in the end. I wish I would’ve gotten by a
little quicker, being so many laps left and thought we
were quite bit faster but that’s just part of it. You
got to race your own car, and figure out what’s going to
make your own car finish the best.”
JACK ROUSH — Owner, Roush Racing —
ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU KNOW HAVE ALL FIVE CARS I N THE TOP
15 IN POINTS. CAN ALL FIVE MAKE THE CHASE AGAIN THIS
YEAR? “It’s a very definite possibility. I think
that our furthest back car now is 15th, and we’re coming
hard. We ran well at Charlotte, ran well here. Whether
we are able to put all five of our cars in the top 10 by
the second Richmond race won’t be determined by how many
races we win but by how many parts we break and how many
flat tires we have at the wrong time and many wrecks we
have. If we can race clean, the guys will have a very,
very, very, very good chance of getting in there because
they communicate well with one another, they help one
another and, of course, we’ve got lots of speed.”
ROBBIE REISER, continued —
YOU AND MATT HAVE WORKED TOGETHER FOR SO LONG.
HOW MAD WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN IF MATT’S DECISION TO STAY
OUT TURNED OUT NOT TO BE A GOOD ONE? “I'll answer to
the first question, I probably wouldn’t have been that
mad. We’ve been doing this a long time and we put him in
a lot worse situations than this, where cars have run
30th and 40th at times, so it just comes with the
territory. Sometimes it works and sometimes it don’t.
Everybody on this DeWALT team has pretty much got a hand
in it. As we make decisions we make mistakes and we live
with it. It’s just the way it is. This deal ain’t easy,
so we’ll just go through it that way. On the relation
part, we just won a race. I like to race as much as Matt
likes to race and we put everything we got into it and
we got a great race team that’s supports everything
we’re doing, including myself and Matt, and I think
that’s why it makes it work. Jack gives everything we
need to go racing with, and Matt’s my friend as much as
he is my teammate, so we just work together. He sees
things like I see them. We just don’t always agree with
’em. When the day’s over we pretty much come up with the
same common goal that we want to win so that’s we go
after.”
MATT KENSETH, continued —
ON THE TURNAROUND FROM LAST YEAR REGARDING
CONFIDENCE. “Confidence is high but, really,
honestly, since we’ve been with Robbie and Jack when we
put this DeWALT team together, I don’t know, it’s been
seven years ago now, there was only one stretch that I
can think of where I wasn’t very confident. We didn’t
have the right stuff, couldn’t figure out how to make
them go fast and do all that stuff. There was only one |
