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Atlanta recap
October 30, 2006
No. 17 DeWALT Ford Fusion Recap:
KENSETH & CREW RETURN TO FORM AT ATLANTA; MAINTAIN
POINTS LEAD WITH THREE RACES TO GO
On Sunday in Atlanta, Matt Kenseth and the No. 17
DEWALT Team turned in their most solid performance at an
intermediate track since Chicago back in July. By
starting on the pole, thanks to qualifying being rained
out on Friday, and consistently running among the
leaders, Kenseth scored his series’ leading 15th
top-five finish of the season by coming home fourth in
the Bass Pro Shops 500. In the process, Kenseth put much
needed distance on everyone in the Chase with the
exception of Jimmie Johnson, who he now leads by 26
points with only three races remaining.
After a cold and rainy weekend, the clouds vanished
and the 115,000 fans on hand in Hampton, Ga., were
treated to perfect conditions on Sunday. Kenseth led the
field to the green flag for the first time since October
9, 2005 (Kansas) for the start of the Bass Pro Shops 500
at 3:10 PM Eastern.
Kenseth and the No. 17 team struggled to find speed
throughout much of the weekend, but after the final
practice on Saturday decided to revert to their setup
from the spring. The strategy worked. While the setup
didn’t make Kenseth’s machine the fastest on the track,
it was good enough to run inside the top 10 in the early
going.
Kenseth reported that the balance on the No. 17 was
good but that there wasn’t enough grip in the corners,
meaning the car was sliding around. It took several
stops in order to tweak the car to Kenseth’s liking but
after sliding back to 15th after a lap-83 pit stop, he
was ready to make his charge.
By lap 117 Kenseth had maneuvered inside the top 10,
but soon afterwards came to pit road early due to a
vibration in the right-front tire. Kenseth feared the
tire was going down, brought it to pit road on lap 133
and by doing so lost his track position. Emerging in the
25th position a quick caution could have spelled
disaster, but with fresh rubber, Kenseth was able to
barrel his way through the field. Luckily for Kenseth,
now running in the fifth position, the next caution
occurred on lap 170 and put him back in cycle with
everyone else.
Over the next 155 laps, Kenseth never ran outside of
the top five. The Robbie Reiser-led crew had the car the
fastest it had been all weekend and the “Killer Bees”
did the job on pit road, never losing a position during
the final four pit stops.
The performance was very typical of what the No. 17
team is accustomed to. The car was good enough to run
inside the top five, the pit crew was firing on all
cylinders and Kenseth was running a flawless race. Had
the finish line been about 10 feet further, Kenseth
would have finished third. The photo finish between
Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. for third was about the
only drama at the finish because Tony Stewart had run
away with his second Atlanta victory in as many days.
With Kenseth’s fourth-place finish, he put more
distance between he and the field with the exception of
Johnson and Earnhardt. Kenseth now leads the
Championship Point Standings by 26 points with only
three races to go, but is 84 points clear of fourth
place and beyond.
“That finish was pretty close,” said Kenseth on pit
road after the race. “Dale Jr. was driving on those old
tires and I was just too tight to get by him. I could
get a run in three and four and I kind of messed it up
at the end, but he was good through one and two. It was
a fun race. It’s a great track and always puts on a
great race. I wish we could have run better, but yet
with how we ran Saturday it was pretty good.”
ON REBOUNDING WITH A TOP-FIVE: “Yeah, they (pit crew)
were super-competitive on pit road - probably better
than anybody today. They had great stops and fixed what
was wrong with the car Saturday. We finished fourth or
whatever and we had a 44th-place car on Saturday, so
they did a great job with it. That’s how we need to run
to have a shot at it. All the rest of those guys are
going be running in the top five and we need to be there
to in order to have a shot at it.”
RACE SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Started:
1st • Finished: 4th
POINTS SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Race Total:
160 points • Season
Total: 6008 points, Ranked 1st, 26 points ahead of
second.
NEXT UP:
Dickies 500 •
Texas Motor Speedway •
Sunday,
November 5
IROC recap
October 30, 2006
No. 17 IROC Recap:
KENSETH FINISHES SECOND
IN 2006 IROC SERIES AFTER SECOND-PLACE RUN AT ATLANTA
The 2006 IROC Series came to a conclusion at Atlanta
Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon with Tony Stewart
crowned as champion – his first IROC title of his
career. Matt Kenseth, who won the season’s first event
at Daytona International Speedway, entered Saturday’s
race second in the standings, 15 points behind the
leader, Stewart.
As is customary for IROC races, the starting lineup
is determined by the inversion of the point standings,
meaning that Kenseth and Stewart shared the last row;
Kenseth in 11th and Stewart in 12th. Ted Musgrave led
the field to the green at 3:10 PM to start the 65-lap
dash.
In order for Kenseth to have a chance at stealing the
championship, he needed to get to the front and lead
early. But, starting 11th, it was going to be hard to
get to front quickly without benefit of a caution or
two. Five-time IROC Champion, Mark Martin, paced the
field for nearly the entire first segment (40 laps),
sprinting out to a four-second advantage. The caution
that Kenseth sorely needed to regroup the field didn’t
occur until lap 34, just six laps shy of the mandatory
stoppage at lap 40. By the break at lap 40, Kenseth, who
ran in the top five for most of the race, was scored in
the fourth position.
On the restart, Kenseth quickly made his way up to
the front and challenged for the lead. But, the ebb and
flow of the two-line train of traffic wasn’t in his
favor. Kenseth was on the inside, but every time the
field went across the stripe, the outside line moved
slightly ahead.
As the race neared the end, it became apparent that
unless Stewart was to wreck, Kenseth’s IROC title hopes
were gone. The race, however, was heating up directly in
front of Kenseth. Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Newman were
locked in a fierce battle for the lead with Kenseth
ready to pounce if either slipped.
The IROC cars are slow enough at Atlanta where the
drivers rarely have to break the throttle, therefore the
draft and “bump drafting” become prominent. During the
waning laps Kenseth bumped Truex ahead of Newman on more
than several occasions, including the last shot on the
white flag lap, when Kenseth pushed Truex by to gain the
lead for good.
As the field stormed to the checkered flag, Newman
made one last attempt to get alongside Truex, but to no
avail. Truex won, Newman came across second, with
Kenseth slotting in a close third.
Kenseth’s third-place finish was easily enough to
secure second place in the final point standings, just
12 points shy of his second IROC Championship.
“These cars are slow enough to where you can run
side-by-side, three wide, without losing control pretty
good,” Kenseth said. “You definitely saw some guys out
there doing stuff that you won’t see tomorrow in the Cup
cars. It was wild and a lot of fun. I needed to get up
front early and win if I was going to have a chance to
beat Tony for the title and that just didn’t happen.
But, it was a good run this year in IROC and I had a lot
of fun. It was fun winning the first race at Daytona and
I had a chance out there today, but the road course at
Daytona really killed my chances of winning it all.
Hopefully, we’ll get to do this again and try to get
that second IROC title.”
RACE SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Started: 11th •
Finished: 2nd
POINTS SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Race Total:
17 points • Season Total: 65 points, Ranked 2nd, 12
points behind first
IROC FINAL POINTS STANDINGS:
(Top Five)
1. Tony Stewart
2. Matt Kenseth
3. Martin Truex Jr.
4. Ryan Newman
5. Mark Martin
Atlanta Nextel Cup & IROC Preview
October 25, 2006
Atlanta Motor Speedway • Hampton, Ga.
IROC #4 • Saturday, October 28 •
3:00 pm/e Speed
Bass Pro Shops 500 • Sunday, October 29 •
2:30 pm/e NBC
Nextel Cup Chassis — #17 DeWALT Ford Fusion
•
Primary — RK-267 (Last ran at Darlington in May,
finished third; also ran at Atlanta in the spring,
finished 13th)
•
Backup — RK-280 (Last ran at Michigan June ’05,
finished fourth)
Matt Kenseth’s Cup Series performance
summary at Atlanta:
|
Date |
S |
F |
Laps |
Led |
Reason |
|
03/19/06 |
27 |
13 |
325/325 |
0 |
Running |
|
10/30/05 |
23 |
5 |
325/325 |
1 |
Running |
|
03/20/05 |
23 |
31 |
311/325 |
0 |
Running |
|
10/31/04 |
39 |
41 |
175/325 |
0 |
Engine |
|
03/14/04 |
30 |
6 |
325/325 |
0 |
Running |
|
10/28/03 |
37 |
11 |
325/325 |
0 |
Running |
|
03/09/03 |
24 |
4 |
325/325 |
0 |
Running |
|
10/27/02 |
9 |
9 |
248/248 |
0 |
Running |
|
03/10/02 |
32 |
4 |
325/325 |
46 |
Running |
|
11/18/01 |
23 |
17 |
325/325 |
0 |
Running |
|
03/11/01 |
38 |
37 |
273/325 |
0 |
Engine |
|
11/20/00 |
23 |
9 |
324/325 |
0 |
Running |
|
03/12/00 |
4 |
40 |
199/325 |
2 |
Engine |
Matt Kenseth Cup Series totals at
Atlanta:
| |
Races |
Wins |
Top 5s |
Top 10s |
Poles
|
|
Spring |
7 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
|
Fall |
6 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
|
Cumulative |
13 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
0 |
Matt Kenseth on racing at
Atlanta:
“Atlanta is a great track. It’s fast and there’s
plenty of room to pass. The track has a lot of grip
and you can run high or low, basically wherever your
car is working best at the time. We’ve had some
decent runs there in the past and we’ve had some bad
ones there as well. Earlier this year, we had a
pretty good car but got a little too aggressive with
the setup and had some tire problems. But, we’ve
learned from that and hopefully this time we’ll be
able to compete for a top-five finish. The
championship is still wide open. Yes, we’re leading
and that’s definitely better than the alternative,
but we have to start running better or we’ll see it
slip away. Usually, the mile-and-a-half tracks are
good to us, but we’ve struggled in the last two at
Kansas and Lowe’s. We’ll need to turn that around if
we’re going to get the job done down the stretch.”
Nextel Cup Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at
Atlanta:
“We were pretty fast at Atlanta in the spring,
but we went a little too far on our setup. But, we
know what we did and we know how to fix it. It’s
business as usual this weekend. We can’t pay any
attention to the points. We just need to go to
Atlanta, get the car the best we can, and on Sunday,
have no mistakes on pit road and we’ll see what we
have. If we take care of business on our end and
have a good solid weekend, then that’s really all we
can do. After Sunday, we’ll see where we stand, but
when we go to Atlanta, all we’re going to do is try
to win on Sunday. We need to pick up our performance
as a whole if we’re going to finish this deal, so
all of our focus right now is getting a good finish
at Atlanta.”
Atlanta Fast Facts
n
Matt Kenseth’s average finish of 17.5 at
Atlanta Motor Speedway ranks seventh among the 10
tracks in the Chase.
n
Kenseth is the only driver in the 2006 Chase
that has scored at least five top-15 finishes in the
first six races.
n
Kenseth’s average start at 1.5-mile tracks in
2006 is 10.7, better than his overall average of
14.4, which is vastly improved over his total career
average of 20.9.
n
Kenseth has led a total of 274 laps on
1.5-mile tracks in 2006 (second only to Kasey Kahne)
and has led in five of the seven races on those
tracks.
n
Kenseth’s average starting position in NEXTEL
Cup at Atlanta is 25.5, better only than Homestead
for his career.
n
Kenseth’s “Chase stats” at
Atlanta:
|
|
|
Start |
Finish |
Laps |
Led |
Rank |
|
|
2005 |
23 |
5 |
325/325 |
1 |
7th |
|
|
2004 |
39 |
41 |
175/325 |
0 |
9th |
n
Kenseth will race Saturday in the IROC season
finale. The 2004 IROC Champion, Kenseth is currently
second in the point standings with 48 points, 15
back of leader Tony Stewart.
n
In three IROC races this season, Kenseth has one
win at Daytona’s oval, finished fifth at Texas, and
10th at Daytona’s road course.
Martinsville recap
October 23, 2006
n
Photos from
Martinsville
No. 17 R+L Carriers/DeWALT Ford Fusion Recap:
KENSETH LEAVES MARTINSVILLE WITH SERIES POINTS
LEAD
Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 Team turned in a familiar
performance on Sunday by taking a 20th-place racecar and
finishing 11th at Martinsville, notably one of the
team’s worst racetracks. Benefiting from a solid
pit-road performance by the Killer Bees, and flawless
pit strategy from Robbie Reiser, Kenseth was able to
hold his ground on an otherwise less-than-stellar
weekend to score a near top-10 finish and in the process
regain the points lead for the first time during the
10-race Chase for the NEXTEL Cup.
On what started as a cold and damp afternoon in
Southern Virginia, Jeff Gordon led the field to the
start of the Subway 500 at 1:00 PM Eastern. Kenseth and
the No. 17 Team struggled for most of the weekend to
find speed, but managed to qualify 20th, which was
crucial at a place where track position is hard to come
by and getting lapped is a high possibility.
Reiser and Kenseth both knew they had their work cut
out for them on Sunday and although Kenseth drove the
No. 17 up the 15th position shortly after the green
flag, he found himself back in 20th by the time he
reached pit road for the first time on lap 66.
Kenseth reported early and often throughout the race
that the car struggled to “roll through the center.”
Despite the struggles on the track, the crew managed to
pick up a total of seven positions on pit road during
the first two cautions which proved integral to keeping
the No. 17 on the lead lap in the early going.
As the afternoon wore on, the sun broke through the
overcast skies and the track began to heat up becoming
slick in the process. When this happened, the No. 17 R+L
Carriers/DEWALT Ford, along with most of the other cars
began fighting loose conditions. At the midway point,
with the car adjusted more to Kenseth’s liking, he had
managed to avoid several multi-car incidents that
occurred in front of him and was scored in the 11th
position.
On lap 278, trouble struck as Kenseth, running 10th
at the time, was hit from behind by the No. 07 car as
they exited turn four. Kenseth went spinning but managed
to keep it off the wall and only lost one position in
the process. After a pit stop, Kenseth was scored in the
14th position.
Nothing came easy for the No. 17 team on Sunday,
including several skirmishes with the No. 29, but a
solid team performance carried them through. On lap 449,
just 51 laps from the finish, Kenseth, along with the
rest of the field, came to pit road for the final time
in the 18th position. The “Killer Bees” clicked off a
13.19-second, four-tires-and-fuel pit stop that got the
No. 17 back on the track in the 15th position.
Over the final 50 laps, Kenseth steered clear of
several wrecks and was able to pick up a few positions
to finish 11th, a truly 17-esque performance, as they
utilized a solid team performance to overcome adversity
and get the best finish possible. The finish moved
Kenseth into the points lead for the first time since
Richmond back in early Sep. and marked the first time
Kenseth has ever led the Championship points standing
during the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup. Kenseth is now 36
points clear of second place Kevin Harvick with only
four races remaining.
"We didn't run very good today,” said Kenseth. “We
kind of did the pit thing, I thought, right at the end,
and got tires and we were decent there. Whatever the
heck we're doing not racing back to the cautions lost us
two spots. Harvick passed two of us through the wreck -
which isn't his fault; he had a hole to go through
there. They left him in front of us so they just gave
him two free spots, so that was frustrating. And then
when it was time to pass him, I got ran into the fence
twice, so that was frustrating as well. We didn't have a
great car and we didn't get a lot of room out there.
Toward the end I just did the best I could with it, and
the guys on pit road did a great job, and we salvaged
something out it."
RACE SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Started:
20th • Finished: 11th
POINTS SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Race Total:
130 points • Season
Total: 5848 points, Ranked 1st, 36 points ahead of
second.
NEXT UP:
Bass Pro Shops 500 •
Atlanta Motor Speedway •
Sunday, October
29
Martinsville Nextel Cup Preview
October 18, 2006
Martinsville Speedway • Martinsville, Va.
Subway 500 •
Sunday, October 22 •
12:30 pm/e NBC
Nextel Cup Chassis — #17 R+L Carriers/DeWALT Ford Fusion
•
Primary — RK-164 (Last ran Martinsville in April,
finished 24th; ran both Martinsville races in ’05;
finished 12th and 11th)
•
Backup — RK-150 (Tested earlier in ’06 at Vegas)
Matt Kenseth’s Cup Series performance
summary at Martinsville:
|
Date |
S |
F |
Laps |
Led |
Reason |
|
04/02/06 |
16 |
24 |
493/500 |
0 |
Running |
|
10/23/05 |
25 |
12 |
500/500 |
19 |
Running |
|
04/10/05 |
18 |
11 |
500/500 |
1 |
Running |
|
10/24/04 |
25 |
16 |
500/500 |
2 |
Running |
|
04/18/04 |
29 |
8 |
500/500 |
0 |
Running |
|
10/19/03 |
14 |
13 |
500/500 |
0 |
Running |
|
04/13/03 |
34 |
22 |
499/500 |
0 |
Running |
|
10/20/02 |
17 |
19 |
499/500 |
0 |
Running |
|
04/14/02 |
26 |
2 |
500/500 |
0 |
Running |
|
10/15/01 |
22 |
36 |
459/500 |
26 |
Rear End |
|
04/08/01 |
25 |
6 |
500/500 |
11 |
Running |
|
10/01/00 |
37 |
34 |
447/500 |
0 |
Running |
|
04/09/00 |
31 |
21 |
498/500
|
0 |
Running |
Matt Kenseth Cup Series totals at
Martinsville:
| |
Races |
Wins |
Top 5s |
Top 10s |
Poles
|
Led |
|
Spring |
7 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
12 |
|
Fall |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
47 |
|
Cumulative |
13 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
59 |
Matt Kenseth on racing at
Martinsville:
“Martinsville is one of our tougher tracks and it
hasn’t been too kind to us for sure. I’m just not a
big fan, mostly because it’s so slow and there’s no
room to pass. Racing at Martinsville is kind of like
racing around two cones out in a parking lot
somewhere. That being said, we have to stay focused
on the job at hand and that is trying to score a
top-10 finish this weekend. This is the race that I
knew would be the toughest for us going into the
Chase. Some people point to Talladega, but I’ve
always pointed to Martinsville as the real wild card
for us. If we can get a good finish this weekend I
think we’ll be in good position to make a run at the
title, because we’ve had success at the remaining
tracks.”
Nextel Cup Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at
Martinsville:
“This is a big weekend for us. We didn’t do too
good as a team last Saturday night and this is
probably our toughest track coming up at
Martinsville. We’ve got our work cut out for us but
the good thing is, after all that happened last
weekend, we’re only 45 points back. We were very
fortunate to finish 14th last week. We’ve had some
brake issues at flat tracks this year. We wrecked
with less than 10 to go in the spring at
Martinsville when our brakes went out. But, we’ve
done a good amount of brake testing over the past
month and we’re hoping we’ve got the issue fixed. If
not, it’s going to be another long day where we have
to kick and fight our way to a decent finish. We
can’t have many more of those races. We need to stay
up front and do a great job in the pits this week
and try to come out of there with a top 10.”
Martinsville Fast Facts
n
Matt Kenseth’s average finish of 17.2 at
Martinsville ranks sixth among the 10 tracks in the
Chase.
n
Kenseth and the No. 17 team will be flying
the R+L Carriers
colors this weekend for the third and final time in
2006.
n
Kenseth’s average finish on short tracks this
season is 14.8; his overall average is 9.9. Take out
two finishes at Bristol (third and first), and
Kenseth’s average finish on short tracks in 2006 is
23.3.
n
Kenseth’s “Chase stats” at
Martinsville:
|
|
|
Start |
Finish |
Laps |
Led |
Rank |
|
|
2005 |
25 |
12 |
500/500 |
19 |
9th |
|
|
2004 |
25 |
16 |
500/500 |
2 |
8th |
n
Kenseth has completed the third most laps of any Cup
driver at Martinsville in the past nine Cup races
(4,491 of 4,500).
n
Kenseth has scored only three top-10s at
Martinsville, the lowest count of top 10s at any
track where Kenseth has totaled at least 10 starts.
Charlotte recap
October 15, 2006
n
Photos from
Charlotte
No. 17 Carhartt/DeWALT Ford Fusion Recap
EARLY PROBLEMS TAKE KENSETH OUT OF CONTENTION;
SALVAGES 14TH-PLACE FINISH
A tight condition coupled with a vibration
saddled Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 Carhartt/DEWALT
Ford two laps down early in the race. Kenseth gained
a lap back on merit alone, racing his way past the
leader to get to within one lap. Once the handling
improved Kenseth was able to run amongst the
leaders, but never could get back on the lead lap.
An untimely caution on lap 242, during a green-flag
cycle of pit stops, again trapped Kenseth two laps
down and this time it was too much to overcome. Two
laps down, the No. 17 team still had a fast car and
was able to outlast many other competitors and bring
home a respectable 14th-place finish.
In front of 170,000 fans, Scott Riggs took the
green flag to signify the start of the Bank of
America 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway at 7:20 PM on
Saturday night. Eventual winner, Kasey Kahne started
on the outside of row one and with the win, swept
LMS in 2006 (Kahne won the Coca-cola 600 in May).
Kenseth started 11th, his fourth straight qualifying
effort inside the top 20.
After several early cautions, Kenseth began
reporting that the car was severely tight in the
center of the corner. From lap 22 to lap 34, Kenseth
fell from 14th to 20th. A couple of cautions allowed
the No. 17 Team an opportunity make major changes
and clear the right-front fender which was rubbing
the tire. But, the lengthy repairs meant Kenseth
restarted in 34th, the last car on the lead lap.
The race restarted on lap 54, which signaled the
beginning of a long green-flag run. Kenseth, still
tight, worked his way up to the 25th position and
once the pit-stop cycle began, was able to stay out
longer than anyone else and lead a lap for five
bonus points. However, after the pit stop, Kenseth
returned to the track barely in front of the
leaders.
That’s when the evening took a turn for the
worse, when on lap 94, just four laps after pitting,
Kenseth radioed to the crew that the car was picking
up a, “pretty bad vibration.” Not risking
catastrophe, Kenseth dove to pit road for right-side
tires, but in the process lost two laps; a
monumental hole to climb out from.
Despite being two-laps down in 35th position,
Kenseth and the No. 17 Team displayed the will of a
champion. Having made drastic improvements to the
handling of the machine, Kenseth was able to run
with the leaders and amazingly gained a lap back on
the racetrack on his own merit.
But, the timely caution that the team needed to
get back on the lead lap never came over the second
half of the race. Kenseth was able to out run
everyone on his lap, but his fate was sealed on lap
242 when a caution during green-flag pit stops
trapped Kenseth two-laps down for the second time of
the day.
Fortunately, with the pace Kahne had set, only 13
cars were within one lap of the leader. Kenseth and
the No. 17 Team displayed a great amount of tenacity
on a night when they could have easily given up.
Kenseth ran with the leaders for the rest of the
evening, passing as many cars as he could. At the
end of the day, Kenseth and company remarkably
brought home a 14th place finish to make the damage
in the points minimal; now trailing leader Jeff
Burton by 45 points with five races remaining.
“We had a lot of bad things happen to us
tonight,” Kenseth said. “But, at the end of the
night, with everything that went wrong, we have to
feel pretty good about finishing where we did. It
definitely could have been a lot worse, but it
really could’ve been a lot better. I thought we had
a car capable of a top-10 finish, but we made too
many mistakes early and never had the chance. We’re
still in good shape and just need to put this one
behind us, learn from it, and move on to
Martinsville.”
RACE SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Started:
11th • Finished: 14th
POINTS SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Race Total:
126 points • Season
Total: 5718 points, Ranked 2nd, 45 points out of first.
NEXT UP:
Subway 500 • Martinsville Raceway •
Sunday, October
22
Charlotte Busch & Nextel Cup Preview
October 11, 2006
Lowe’s Motor Speedway • Concord, N.C.
Dollar General 300 •
Friday, October 13• 8 pm/e
TNT
Bank of America 500 • Saturday, October 14 •
7 pm/e NBC
Nextel Cup Chassis — #17 Carhartt Ford Fusion
•
Primary — RK-323 (Last ran at Fontana, finished
7th; Won Michigan in August and Fontana in February; Ran
Charlotte in May, finished 5th)
•
Backup — RK-280 (Has not run in 2006; tested
Charlotte in May)
Busch Chassis — #17 Ameriquest Ford Fusion
•
Primary — RK-346 (last ran Chicago, finished 5th)
Matt Kenseth’s Cup Series performance
summary at LMS:
|
Date |
S |
F |
Laps |
Led |
Reason |
|
05/28/06 |
6 |
5 |
400/400 |
1 |
Running |
|
10/15/05 |
18 |
26 |
326/336 |
0 |
Running |
|
05/29/05 |
3 |
37 |
254/400 |
0 |
Accident |
|
10/16/04 |
36 |
11 |
334/334 |
0 |
Running |
|
05/30/04 |
37 |
3 |
400/400 |
1 |
Running |
|
10/11/03 |
29 |
8 |
334/334 |
0 |
Running |
|
05/25/03 |
18 |
2 |
276/276 |
82 |
Running |
|
10/13/02 |
7 |
34 |
254/334 |
27 |
Engine |
|
05/26/02 |
21 |
2 |
400/400 |
21 |
Running |
|
10/07/01 |
32 |
12 |
334/334 |
1 |
Running |
|
05/27/01 |
40 |
18 |
334/334 |
2 |
Running |
|
10/08/00 |
26 |
9 |
334/334 |
1 |
Running |
|
05/28/00 |
21 |
1 |
400/400 |
32 |
Running |
|
10/11/99 |
27 |
40 |
231/334 |
0 |
Accident |
Matt Kenseth Cup Series totals at
LMS:
| |
Races |
Wins |
Top 5s |
Top 10s |
Poles
|
Led |
|
Spring |
7 |
1 |
5 |
5 |
0 |
139 |
|
Fall |
7 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
29 |
|
Cumulative |
14 |
1 |
5 |
7 |
0 |
168 |
Matt Kenseth’s Busch
performance summary at LMS:
|
Date |
S |
F |
Laps |
Reason |
|
05/27/06 |
1 |
38 |
136/200 |
Engine |
|
10/14/05 |
16 |
25 |
183/200 |
Suspension |
|
10/15/04 |
13 |
2 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
05/24/03 |
9 |
1 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
10/06/01 |
14 |
16 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
05/26/01 |
10 |
2 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
10/07/00 |
1 |
1 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
05/27/00 |
5 |
30 |
196/200 |
Crash |
|
10/09/99 |
1 |
7 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
05/29/99 |
9 |
3 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
10/03/98 |
2 |
2 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
05/23/98 |
5 |
5 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
10/04/97 |
38 |
12 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
05/24/97 |
35 |
22 |
199/200 |
Running |
|
05/25/96 |
37 |
31 |
194/200 |
Running |
Matt Kenseth Busch Series
totals at LMS:
| |
Races |
Wins |
Top 5s |
Top 10s |
Poles
|
|
Cumulative |
15 |
2 |
7 |
8 |
3 |
Matt Kenseth on racing at
LMS:
Cup: “Talladega was a big help in the
points, basically because a lot of guys had trouble
and we were one of the few that didn’t. We’ll need
to continue that performance at Charlotte in order
to keep our momentum. We’re bringing what we feel
like is our best car this weekend. It’s ran well
everywhere we’ve taken it this year and it’s the car
I feel most comfortable with on intermediate tracks.
We took a different car to Kansas a couple weeks ago
and that didn’t really work out for us. Charlotte
has been a good track for us in the past. I got my
first win there and we won the All-Star race in
2004. We’ve won a couple of Busch races there as
well, so hopefully we can add to that success this
weekend.”
Busch: “We had the car to beat here in
May. We sat on the pole, led the most laps and were
looking good to contend for the win. That was, until
we broke something in the engine. I believe that was
our only engine problem this year and frankly, we
have so few engine problems that it’s hard to get
disappointed in one issue. We’ve only won one Busch
race this year, but we’ve had a ton of top fives.
Jimmy and the guys do a great job preparing these
cars and they’ve been a blast to drive. Hopefully,
our car will be just as strong the weekend and we’ll
have a good shot for the win on Friday night.”
Nextel Cup Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at
LMS:
“The car we’re bringing this weekend is No. 323.
It’s been the most consistent car we’ve had this
year. Matt’s comfortable with it and we kind of know
how the car will react and how we can tune on it
throughout the weekend. It’s the car we probably
should have taken to Kansas a couple weeks ago, but
hindsight’s 20/20. 323 already has wins this year at
Michigan and Fontana and came close to wins at Las
Vegas and Texas. It was decent for us in May at
Charlotte. We ran consistently in the top 10 all
night. That’s the kind of performance we’re aiming
for on Saturday night. We just have to maintain
focus and keep doing what we’re doing; have good pit
stops, stay out of trouble and everything else will
take care of itself.”
Busch series crew chief Jimmy Fennig on racing at
LMS:
“Friday night should be an interesting race. In
the spring we started on the pole then had some
mechanical problems. But with Matt’s skill and
history at Charlotte we hope to put the No. 17
Ameriquest Ford Fusion back in victory lane.”
Charlotte Fast Facts
n
Matt Kenseth’s average finish of 14.9 at LMS
ranks third among the 10 tracks in the Chase.
n
Kenseth currently leads the NEXTEL Cup Series
in top-five finishes (14), top-10 finishes (19),
laps led (1129), and average finish (9.8).
n
Lowe’s Motor Speedway is one of four “Chase
tracks” where Kenseth has recorded a Cup victory
(Dover, Texas, Phoenix).
n
Kenseth’s “Chase stats” at
LMS:
|
|
|
Start |
Finish |
Laps |
Led |
Rank |
|
|
2005 |
18 |
26 |
326/336 |
71 |
9th |
|
|
2004 |
36 |
11 |
334/334 |
0 |
7th |
n
Kenseth and the No. 17 team will be flying the
Carhartt colors this weekend for the third and final time in 2006.
n
Kenseth has scored four career victories at LMS;
2000 Coca-Cola 600, 2004 All-Star Race, and two
Busch Series wins.
n
Kenseth has five top-five finishes in seven starts
in the Coca-Cola 600, but has yet to score a
top-five finish in seven fall races at LMS.
n
Kenseth made his first career NASCAR Busch Series
start at LMS in May of 1996, driving a Chevrolet for
Wegner Racing; he finished 31st.
Kenseth gets 4th at Talladega
October 9, 2006
n
Photos from Talladega
No. 17 DeWALT Ford Fusion Recap
KENSETH STEERS CLEAR OF TROUBLE; FINISHES FOURTH
AT WILD TALLADEGA
Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 DEWALT Ford team did
exactly what they needed to do on Sunday: they
avoided wrecks, ran near the front, had another
stellar day on pit road and brought home yet another
top-five finish. Kenseth led 21 laps and was ahead
of two multi-car incidents that reduced the field,
swallowing several Chase contenders title hopes in
the process. After restarting seventh with 10 laps
to go, Kenseth was trying desperately for one final
charge to the win. Running sixth on the last lap,
Kenseth watched as the two leaders, Dale Earnhardt
Jr. and Jimmie Johnson, wrecked while heading into
turn three. The caution and checkered flags were
displayed signaling the end of the race with Kenseth
running in the fourth position.
In front of a capacity crowd and picture-perfect
weather, rookie David Gilliland led the field to the
green flag at 1:41 Central time. Kenseth took to the
2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway by rolling off
19th, which was his worst starting position during
the 2006 season at restrictor-plate tracks.
Kenseth predicted that the race would feature a
lot of green-flag pit stops and it did; the first
occurring on lap 33. Already having worked his way
through the draft and up to the third position,
Kenseth came to pit road and after the cycle of pit
stops he was scored in second place. By lap 47
Kenseth grabbed the top spot for the first time of
the race by diving to the bottom and driving around
Earnhardt on the backstretch. Kenseth led 11 of the
next 24 laps before coming to pit road for a second
time.
Still under green flag conditions, Kenseth
elected to take on two right side tires for the
second time of the afternoon. In fact, it was the
first time all season in which the No. 17 Team never
made a four-tire pit stop.
After the first caution of the day for debris on
lap 72, Kenseth became a victim of the ebb and flow
of restrictor-plate racing, which caused 63 lead
changes on the day. Running fourth on lap 77,
Kenseth was shuffled out of line and quickly fell
back to the 15th position. It took Kenseth 22 laps
to race back up to the 11th position only to have
the same occurrence take place on lap 101 when he
fell from the 13th spot back to 22nd in one lap.
After another cycle of green-flag stops, during
which Robbie Reiser and Kenseth elected to take two
left-side tires, the No. 17 moved back inside the
top 10. Kenseth regained the lead briefly on lap 125
and was back running in front of the lead pack, and
more importantly, in front of the storm brewing
behind him.
A caution for debris slowed the field on lap 130
and after pitting, Kenseth restarted second. It took
less than one circuit for Kenseth to gain the top
spot where he was running three laps later when the
“Big One” took place. As Kenseth led the field into
turn one, several cars got together behind him and
immediately blocked the track. After the smoke
cleared, 11 cars were involved in the melee.
Over the course of the next 50 laps, Kenseth
stayed inside the top 10 despite cycling through
green-flag pit stops once more. Kenseth again was in
front of the trouble on lap 174 when two cars got
together coming off turn three collecting five cars
total. This incident set up a 10-lap dash to the
checkers.
Kenseth restarted seventh and held his ground as
the first 20 or more cars stayed single file for the
next nine circuits. It appeared as if no one was
daring to make a move too soon, but as the field
roared towards turn three for the final time, the
second and third-place cars of Johnson and teammate
Brian Vickers dove low on the leader, Earnhardt Jr.,
attempting to pass. However, Vickers got too close
to Johnson and made contact with the right rear of
Johnson’s machine, sending Johnson into Earnhardt
Jr. as both cars went spinning into the infield
grass. The caution was displayed and the field was
frozen with Vickers in first and winning for the
first time in his NEXTEL Cup career.
Kenseth, who was running sixth and had a
front-row seat for the wreck, navigated through the
smoke and with the two cars in front of him wrecked,
was scored in fourth place as he rolled across the
finish line under caution. Kenseth’s 14th top-five
finish of the season is tops in the NEXTEL Cup
Series. More importantly, however, due to the
late-race problems suffered by points leader Jeff
Burton, Kenseth was able to take a huge chunk out of
Burton’s lead and is now in second place, only six
points out of first.
“It was a good points day,” said Kenseth as he
exited his No. 17 machine with a smile. “The car
felt good most of the day and we were able to get
out front and stay ahead of the most of the wrecks.
I thought were going to have a shot at it, but we
got shuffled back there and we didn't have a
drafting partner to pull out of line there at the
end. It felt good to get some points today and get
back up there. It put us back where we can have a
shot at it.”
RACE SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Started:
19th • Finished: 4th
POINTS SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Race Total:
165 points • Season
Total: 5592 points, Ranked 2nd, 6 points out of first.
NEXT UP:
Bank of America 500 • Lowe’s Motor Speedway •
Saturday, October 14
Talladega post-race quotes
October 8, 2006
MATT KENSETH #17 DeWALT Ford Fusion (Finished
4th)
“It was a good points day. The car felt good most of
the day and we were able to get out front and stay
ahead of the most of the wrecks. I thought were
going to have a shot at it, but we got shuffled back
there and we didn’t have a drafting partner to pull
out of line there at the end. It felt good to get
some points today and get back up there. It put us
back where we can have a shot at it.”
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE RACING SURFACE? “It’s
definitely easy to drive; it’s real smooth. It’s
easy to drive as long as you didn’t run into anybody
or get run into.”
WHAT DID YOU SEE FROM YOUR VANTAGE POINT ON THE LAST
LAP? “I didn’t see it at all. All I saw was smoke,
so I have no idea how it started.”
IS THIS THE BEST THAT YOU’VE FELT COMING OUT OF A
CHASE RACE THIS YEAR? “Other than going into Loudon,
this is the best spot that we’ve had,, so I feel
good about. I feel good about getting us some
points, and putting us back in the points. We had
our we felt like the last few weeks so to have a
little good and have a good car and get a good
finish feels good.”
Talladega Nextel Cup Preview
October 4, 2006
Talladega Superspeedway • Talladega, Ala.
UAW-Ford 500 • Sunday, October 8 • 1:30 pm/e NBC
Nextel Cup Chassis — #17 DeWALT Ford Fusion
•
Primary — RK-271 (Last ran in April at Talladega,
finished sixth; Both Talladega races in ’05, finished
11th & 3rd)
•
Backup — RK-327 (Last ran in July at Daytona,
finished fifth; Also ran in Feb.’s Daytona 500, finished
15th)
Matt Kenseth’s Cup Series performance
summary at Talladega:
|
Date |
S |
F |
Laps |
Led |
Reason |
|
04/30/06 |
12 |
6 |
188/188 |
23 |
Running |
|
10/02/05 |
11 |
3 |
190/190 |
23 |
Running |
|
05/01/05 |
23 |
11 |
194/194 |
0 |
Running |
|
10/03/04 |
7 |
14 |
188/188 |
0 |
Running |
|
04/25/04 |
31 |
42 |
59/188 |
0 |
Engine |
|
09/28/03 |
37 |
33 |
158/188 |
1 |
Engine |
|
04/06/03 |
27 |
9 |
188/188 |
9 |
Running |
|
10/06/02 |
8 |
14 |
188/188 |
15 |
Running |
|
04/21/02 |
37 |
30 |
180/188 |
18 |
Running |
|
10/21/01 |
24 |
4 |
188/188 |
3 |
Running |
|
04/22/01 |
40 |
19 |
188/188 |
11 |
Running |
|
10/15/00 |
36 |
10 |
188/188 |
2 |
Running |
|
04/16/00 |
42 |
18 |
187/188 |
2 |
Running |
Matt Kenseth Cup Series totals at
Talladega:
| |
Races |
Wins |
Top 5s |
Top 10s |
Poles
|
Led |
|
Spring |
7 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
63 |
|
Fall |
6 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
44 |
|
Cumulative |
13 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
0 |
107 |
Matt Kenseth on racing at
Talladega:
“Personally, I
don’t think the newly paved surface will have that
big of an effect. I think it should be smoother
which is good, because Talladega was one of the
bumpier tracks we race on. The formula for success
is the same as it is for every plate race: stay out
of the wreck, don’t beat yourself on the track or on
pit road and give yourself a shot at the end. I’ve
been very pleased with the way our superspeedway
cars have driven in the past year and a half. We
came very close to winning this race last year and
if not for the last caution with about two to go, I
feel like we would have won. But, it’s still
promising to know that our cars are capable of
running up front at plate tracks. One of these days,
I’ll make the right decision at the end of a race,
get some help, and maybe win one of these.”
Nextel Cup Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at
Kansas:
“We’re bringing the same car we’ve ran at
Talladega the last three races and it’s been pretty
good all three times. We’ve been so close the past
couple of races there and sooner or later we’re
going to win one of these things. A win couldn’t
come at a better time for us right now after last
weekend. I think we’ve got a great shot this
weekend, but just like anything at Talladega you
have to have some things go your way, that you
really don’t have control over. You have to avoid a
couple of big wrecks and you have to have help at
the end. But, everything else, the things you can
control such as pit stops and pit strategy — that’s
the stuff you have to take care of and hopefully
we’ll be around at the end with a chance to win.”
Talladega Fast Facts
n
Matt Kenseth will be making his 250th NEXTEL
Cup start on Sunday.
n
Kenseth’s 23rd-place finish at Kansas last
weekend snapped a streak of six consecutive top-10
finishes dating back to his win at Michigan on Aug.
20.
n
Kenseth’s average finish of 16.4 at Talladega
Superspeedway ranks fifth among the 10 tracks in the
Chase.
n
Kenseth’s “Chase stats” at
Talladega:
|
|
|
Start |
Finish |
Laps |
Led |
Rank |
|
|
2005 |
11 |
3 |
190/190 |
23 |
7th |
|
|
2004 |
7 |
14 |
188/188 |
0 |
5th |
n
Kenseth ranks fourth in laps completed (2,284) at
Talladega since the beginning of 2000, Kenseth’s
rookie season in NEXTEL Cup.
n
Kenseth’s average starting position at Talladega is
25.8; second lowest among NEXTEL Cup tracks for
Kenseth’s career.
n
Kenseth’s career average finish at restrictor plate
tracks is 18.0, his career average for all tracks of
15.2.
Kenseth reaches career milestone
October 2, 2006
KENSETH TO MAKE 250TH CUP START AT TALLADEGA
34-year old Cambridge, Wisconsin native reaches
milestone this weekend
CONCORD, N.C. — When Matt Kenseth takes the green
flag in this Sunday’s UAW-Ford 500 at the Talladega
(Ala.) Superspeedway, he will be making the 250th NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup Series start of his nine-year career.
Kenseth, the 2003 Cup Champion, will become the 76th
driver in NASCAR history to reach the milestone. Kenseth
broke into the Cup Series in 1998 at Dover International
Speedway, where he drove to a sixth-place finish while
filling in for Bill Elliott.
Together with crew chief and fellow Wisconsin native,
Robbie Reiser, and car sponsor DEWALT, Kenseth made the
leap into full-time competition in NASCAR’s Cup division
in 2000. That year, Kenseth became the only rookie ever
to win the Coca-Cola 600, a victory that helped propel
him to Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors.
In 2003, Kenseth brought car owner Jack Roush his
first Cup Championship by claiming the final
championship of the Winston Cup era. Since then, Kenseth
has won the 2004 International Race of Champions (IROC)
Championship, won the 2004 NEXTEL All-Star Challenge at
Lowe’s Motor Speedway and is one of only three drivers
to have made NASCAR’s Chase for the NEXTEL Cup all three
seasons.
Currently sitting fourth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup
Standings, Kenseth is 84 points behind Jeff Burton with
seven races to go.
“I had no idea this was number 250 until someone told
me,” said Kenseth. “You know, we race so much and so
often that you really don’t have time to think about the
races behind you because you’re so focused on the race
ahead of you. Especially after yesterday, I’m certainly
looking forward to next weekend. Of course, 250 really
isn’t that much if you consider that Mark Martin has
over 650 starts and somebody told me that Terry Labonte
is closing in on 850. I know I won’t be racing that
long, but I feel fortunate to be doing what I love to do
and it sure beats having to go to work for a living.”
Matt Kenseth Career NEXTEL Cup Statistics:
|
|
Races |
Wins |
Top 5s |
Top
10s |
Poles |
Laps |
Led |
Av. Start |
Av. Fin. |
Money |
|
|
249 |
14 |
64 |
117 |
3 |
71,016 |
3,894 |
20.9 |
15.2 |
$38,978,025 |
Kenseth suffers ‘off day’ at
Kansas, finishes 23rd
October 3, 2006
n
Photos from Kansas
No. 17 DeWALT Ford Fusion Recap
DEVIL OF A CAR CAUSES LONG DAY FOR
KENSETH AND CREW
Seventeen pit stops, approximately 24 separate
adjustments, one spin, and an agonizing 267 laps after
the drop of the green flag, Matt Kenseth drove the No.
17 DEWALT Ford across the finish line. In what was
without a doubt the most “off day” the No. 17 team has
experienced in recent memory, certainly of 2006, the
team displayed an extraordinary amount of tenacity and
teamwork, laboring, in every sense of the word, to a
23rd-place finish. The finish snapped a six-race streak
of top-10 finishes by Kenseth and company dating back to
Michigan in August and dropped them one spot in the
championship point standings to fourth with only seven
races to go; now 84 points out of first.
On a warm, sunny day in Kansas City, Kansas, a
capacity crowd was on hand to watch Kasey Kahne lead the
NEXTEL Cup field to the green flag at 1:22 PM Central.
In a race that seemed to hurl one obstacle after another
at the 10 Chase contenders, Tony Stewart ran out of gas
in the middle of the backstretch on the final lap, but
still managed to coast, thanks to his 17-second lead, to
his third win of 2006.
Matt Kenseth started the Banquet 400 in the eighth
position and for a brief moment appeared as if he and
the No. 17 team were going to be contenders yet again.
After quickly maneuvering into the fourth position, that
promise quickly went away when it became apparent that
there were serious issues with the car. From the outset,
Kenseth reported the car as being “super loose” on entry
and exit of the turns and tight in the center. The
severity of the issue quickly took center stage when
Kenseth’s free fall through the field began on lap 25.
Within 33 laps, Kenseth fell from fourth to 20th and was
endanger of being lapped.
To the team’s credit, they never gave up on the
racecar. In fact, if it could be adjusted on a racecar,
chances are it was by the No. 17 team during the Banquet
400. Air pressure, wedge, both sides of the track bar,
rear axle, toe (wheel alignment), spring rubber,
spoiler, you name it, and the Killer Bees likely
adjusted, tweaked and altered it in some fashion during
the course of the 267-lap event.
After several major adjustments didn’t seem to effect
the car in any significant way, on lap 133 the first
unusual adjustment called for by Reiser was lowering the
left-side of the track bar. Unlike the right side of the
track bar, which is commonly adjusted through a hole on
top of the rear windshield, the left side must be
adjusted through extensive work underneath the left side
of the car. The No. 17 crew managed to make the
adjustment without losing a lap, in fact, through all of
the extensive and lengthy service to the car, the crew
never lost a lap on pit road all day.
Hopes were high that the adjustment might make the
car better, but those were quickly dashed whenever the
No. 17 car spun out of control exiting turn four on lap
144. Kenseth explained the incident, “At the start of
the run it was extremely tight through the center,
uncontrollably tight. I was hoping to move up to the
high line and maybe help it turn, and as soon as I did,
when I got in the gas, it just spun out.”
Several adjustments later, with little progress on
the track, Reiser called for another unusual adjustment,
searching for anything that might help the machine. On
lap 174, under caution, the Killer Bees went to work
adjusting the rear axle by moving it forward 3/16 of an
inch, again without losing a lap. But, four laps after
the ensuing restart, a disheartened Kenseth radioed the
crew that there was “no change” to the racecar.
Unfortunately, despite a truly heroic effort by the
crew, the condition of the car never seemed to change,
puzzling Kenseth and Reiser to no end.
When it began to be apparent that most, if not all of
the field, would have to return to pit road once more
for fuel, Reiser called Kenseth to pit road early in
hopes that the fresh tires would help Kenseth gain some
track position and maybe pick up a few spots in the
process. He cycled into the pits in 25th and when the
checkered flag waved, just 16 laps later, Kenseth came
across in 23rd; his lowest since finishing 38th at
Richmond in May. Kenseth now sits fourth in the Chase
for the NEXTEL Cup, 84 points behind leader Jeff Burton.
“I probably drove about 800 miles, but I don't know
what we had wrong,” said Kenseth shortly after the race.
“We obviously had something wrong. Yesterday, we really
chased it all day and this was how bad we ran all day
yesterday. I really don't know. They changed everything
on it today. I'm just kind of dumbfounded. The car was
real good in the tunnel and everything - it was aligned
right - but it was so terribly loose all day. No matter
what we changed, it didn't fix it.
“It was a struggle, but I'm real proud of my guys.
They did a great job on pit road. I think they changed
tires about 20 times and moved the rear end and set the
toe in and did all kinds of stuff, so they did a great
job. We just didn't have it. This is our Indy car. It's
the only other place we ran it. We probably should have
brought 'old reliable' but I don't know if we would have
been any better with that. We were just terribly off all
day. We ran 35th and finished 23rd. That's a really bad
finish, but it's not a total disaster either. We'll just
go on and try to figure out what went wrong here and get
it fixed and go run with them the rest of the year. Some
other guys had some trouble and we've been performing
really good all year, so you've just got to go on and
look at next week and forget about this week."
RACE SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Started: 8th •
Finished: 23rd
POINTS SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Race Total:
94 points • Season
Total: 5427 points, Ranked 4th, 84 points out of first.
NEXT UP:
UAW-Ford 500 • Talladega Superspeedway •
Sunday, October 8, 2006
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