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Kenseth to compete in 2007
All-Star Challenge at Madison Int’l Speedway
December 7, 2006
FIRST SUPPLY ALL-STAR CHALLENGE RETURNS TO MIS IN
2007
n
Click for ticket
ordering information
Roy Kenseth of RK Race Promotions has announced that
his third All-Star Challenge event will return to
Madison International Speedway on Tuesday, June 26,
2007. The event will once again be called the First
Supply All-Star Challenge.
Like the successful event in 2006 at the fast
half-mile facility, 2003 NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion and
1994 MIS track champion Matt Kenseth will return along
with 2002, 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup champion, Tony
Stewart. Kenseth has stated that he is looking at having
a third NASCAR Nextel Cup driver to compete at the 2007
event.
“It was a no-brainer to bring this event back to MIS
after the awesome event we had in 2006,” Roy Kenseth
recently stated. “Both Matt and Tony had a lot of fun
and can’t wait to return and compete again.”
Kenseth has also stated that this event will be a
super late model event. Details regarding the feature
event and rules will be announced at a later date.
First Supply is proud to be the title sponsor for the
second year in a row. First Supply has evolved into the
single source provider that most Midwestern contractors
rely on for wholesale plumbing, heating and cooling,
municipal, fluid handling, and builder and industrial
supplies. Some of their 20 locations feature Gerhards,
First Supply Showroom, the largest and most versatile
kitchen and bath showplace in the Midwest.
“We were amazed with the exposure that First Supply
received last year with this event,” Michael Miller,
First Supply General Manager stated. “It's a privilege
to be able to return with
Roy for our second year in
a row to help sponsor this great event."
General admission tickets will be on sale at the RK
Race Promotions office, located next to the Village
Motel (101 Hwy 18) on the corner where Hwy 12 & 18 split
entering Cambridge, about a quarter-mile east of the
Matt Kenseth Fan Club Headquarters. The office is open
seven days a week between the hours of 4-8 p.m. until
further notice.
General admission tickets are $25 for ages 11 and up
and $10 for ages 10 and under, or ages 18 and over can
purchase an advance pit pass for $50. The pit pass will
also give you access to the grandstand area.
“I recently got the tickets and have them available
now,” Kenseth stated. “I wanted to make sure I have them
now because this would make a great holiday present for
the local race fans.”
Madison International Speedway, the host facility, is
located off of Hwy 138 between Oregon and Stoughton. The
facility hosts its weekly Friday night racing program
between April and September on its famous half-mile oval
and its new quarter-mile oval. The track’s official
website is
www.madisoninternationalspeedway.com.
Sponsorship opportunities are currently available.
Please contact Roy Kenseth at (608) 209-1188 for more
information.
Arby’s to sponsor Kenseth in 13 BGN races
and one Cup race in 2007
December 7, 2006
ARBY’S® REVS ITS ENGINES IN ’07 WITH SPONSORSHIP
OF RACING MAVERICK MATT KENSETH
ATLANTA, GA (December 7, 2006) — It’s no secret that Arby’s is the place for people who crave something
different and something better than ordinary fast food.
Now, the leader in great tasting fast food is teaming up
with Roush Racing to sponsor racing phenomenon Matt
Kenseth on and off the track during the 2007 season. The
Arby’s brand will be the primary sponsor of 13 races on
Kenseth’s No. 17 Ford Fusion NASCAR Busch Series entry
beginning with the season opener at Daytona
International Speedway in February 2007. Arby’s also
will appear as the primary sponsor on Kenseth’s NASCAR
Nextel Cup Ford Fusion in the Spring 2007 race at
Bristol Motor Speedway.
“It’s very exciting to have Arby’s on board with us
next year on both the Busch and Cup cars,” Kenseth said.
“It’s always great to bring a new sponsor into the
sport, especially considering I already ate at Arby’s to
begin with. Our Busch team had a great 2006 season; we
ended the year with two straight wins. Hopefully, we
will be able to pick up where we left off and get a win
for Arby’s at Daytona.”
Chris Kuehn, Senior Vice President of National
Marketing, Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc. said Arby’s was
very excited to partner with a driver of Kenseth’s
caliber.
“We are thrilled to make our first entry into NASCAR,
one of the premier sports in the country, partnered with
a championship driver behind the wheel of the Arby’s
race car, Matt Kenseth, supported by the best team in
the business, Roush Racing,” Kuehn said. “Matt is a true
champion who exemplifies our core values of dreaming
big, working hard, getting it done, and having fun.”
In addition to a full car paint scheme during the
races, the exciting partnership also includes a 200-day
show car tour across the United States, and an associate
sponsorship of all No. 17 Nextel Cup races. Special
sweepstakes, collectible cups and other in-store
promotions also will take place throughout the year.
Kenseth competed in 21 of the 35 Busch Series races
in 2006 and was a force to be reckoned with in those
starts. He rounded out the 2006 season with four poles,
three wins, 15 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes in his 21
starts.
About Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc.
Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc., based in Atlanta,
is the franchisor of the Arby’s restaurant system, which
consists of more than 3,500 restaurants worldwide, and
is owner and operator of more than 1,000 of those
restaurants located in the United States. Founded in
1964, Arby’s quick service restaurants specialize in
offering slow roasted and freshly sliced roast beef
sandwiches as well as its Market Fresh® deli-style
sandwiches, wraps and salads with the convenience of a
drive-thru. Arby’s offers guests a unique, great tasting
alternative to traditional fast food with its
one-of-a-kind menu items including the Beef ‘n Cheddar,
Curly Fries and Jamocha shakes. Arby’s Restaurant Group
also owns and operates the T.J. Cinnamons® brand and is
a subsidiary of Triarc Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRY, TRY.B).
To learn more about Arby’s, please visit
www.arbys.com.
Kenseth receives Goodyear Gatorback
Championship
November 30, 2006
NEW YORK, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Winning at
auto race tracks takes many forms, and it
 doesn’t always mean capturing the checkered flag.
Just ask Matt Kenseth, who won this year’s Goodyear
Gatorback Fastest Lap Championship.
Driving for Roush Racing and finishing second in the
NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, Kenseth put enough distance
between himself and the rest of the field to receive the
coveted solid crystal trophy along with a check for
$75,000 at today’s NASCAR/NMPA Myers Brothers Awards
Luncheon.
The contingency award is sponsored by Goodyear
Engineered Products, manufacturer and marketer of the
award’s namesake — Goodyear Gatorback Poly-V automotive
belts. The trophy is laser-etched with the likeness of
Kenseth and his car, his car’s No. 17, and a Gatorback
Poly-V belt.
A weekly Gatorback award goes to a driver posting the
fastest lap while leading a Nextel Cup race. At the end
of the season, the driver compiling the most Fastest Lap
awards is declared the overall Gatorback champion for
the season.
Kenseth captures top honors by having won the weekly
award at six races.
Jeff Burton, Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart each won
the weekly award four times, while ten other drivers
received it at least once.
The award is a tribute to teamwork, according to Jon
Cocco, marketing manager for Goodyear’s automotive
belt-and-hose products. “To turn in the fastest lap, a
crew has to properly tune the engine and setup the car,
and their driver must attack the track.”
Kenseth logged his fastest award lap last April at
the Talladega Superspeedway at 195.411 mph, and he and
his teammates also captured the award at shorter tracks,
including Las Vegas, Chicago and Bristol, where he
turned a lap at 123.047 mph at the half-mile track. He
also won the Fastest Lap award at Michigan and
California and went on to win those races.
“Matt is a fierce competitor,” said Cocco, “and he
understands the importance of each component of a finely
tuned race engine. That’s why we’re happy his team
continues to select Gatorback belts for their engine,
which in turn supports our development of
high-performance automotive belts for on and off the
track.
“The belts are put to the test weekly during Cup
races, supporting Goodyear’s philosophy that we race, we
learn, and our customers win,” Cocco added. “Performance
data collected at the track helps our power transmission
belt engineers continuously improve products,
strengthening our competitive advantage in the
automotive aftermarket.”
Gatorback Poly-V belts were first introduced to
NASCAR racing in 2001. Today, every Nextel Cup car team
chooses Gatorback, the same straight-off-the- shelf
belts that race fans can purchase from auto parts stores
and installers nationwide.
Goodyear has supplied belts to NASCAR for 25-years
and is the exclusive NASCAR Performance licensee of
automotive replacement Poly-V and v- belts, timing
belts, tensioners and curved radiator hose.
For more
information, visit
www.goodyearbeltsandhose.com.
Reiser named Nextel Cup Crew Chief of
the Year
November 21, 2006
WYPALL Wipers Crowns Crew Chief Champions
Reiser, Bruce and Ren win Crew Chief of the Year
honors
HOMESTEAD, Florida (November 17, 2006) - WYPALL
Wipers is pleased to announce Robbie Reiser, Trip Bruce
and Rick Ren as the winners of its 2006 Crew Chief
Challenge.
The WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief Challenge has been a
season-long contest to determine the best crew chiefs in
the garage. At the conclusion of each event in racing’s
top-three series, a panel of judges, including Tony Eury
Sr., Director of Competition at Dale Earnhardt, Inc., a
member of the local media and a WYPALL Wipers
representative, decided which crew chief did an
outstanding job. It wasn’t necessarily the crew chief
that went to victory lane, but it was always the crew
chief that made the biggest difference to his team. The
crew chief in each series with the most weekly wins won
top honors as the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the Year.
The WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief Challenge spotlights the
crew chief’s efforts to get his team in Victory Lane.
“WYPALL Wipers and crew chiefs are a natural fit,” said
Tom Merrill, category manager for WYPALL Wipers. “Crew
chiefs only want to use reliable products on their cars
and engines. That’s why they choose WYPALL Wipers. Our
products are used to wipe up the toughest, most stubborn
messes, and we want to focus on the men who put WYPALL
Wipers to use each week. That’s why we continue to show
our appreciation to the crew chiefs,” added Merrill.
Robbie Reiser, crew chief of the Nextel Cup
Series No. 17 Roush Racing DeWalt Ford, earned Crew
Chief of the Race accolades at five events this season,
narrowly edging Kenny Francis, crew chief of the No. 9
Dodge Dealers Dodge, who won the award four times.
Reiser received $20,000 as the Crew Chief of the Year.
“There are so many great teams and talented crew chiefs
racing at this level, so it’s a real honor to be
recognized by WYPALL,” said Reiser. “I’ve got a great
team around me and they always give 100% at every race
we go to. I couldn’t have won this award without them.”
Trip Bruce, crew chief of the Busch Series No.
9 Evernham Motorsports Dodge Charger, won the Crew Chief
of the Race award five times this season, beating out
Shane Wilson, crew chief of the No. 21 Coast Guard
Chevrolet, who picked up four wins. Bruce won $10,000
for his achievement. “Winning this award presented by
WYPALL means a great deal to me,” said Bruce. “Everybody
on the No. 9 Ultimate Chargers team has played a huge
part in this. My crew has worked so hard all season long
with several talented drivers. They’re the reason that
we’ve been successful this year. When a company provides
a product that helps our jobs and reach our goals of
winning races, recognizes and rewards us for these
accomplishments, it proves they have pride and
confidence in their product and the people that use it.”
Rick Ren, crew chief of the Craftsman Truck
Series No. 23 Bill Davis Racing Toyota, won a close
competition over Mike Hillman Jr., crew chief of the No.
30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota, for WYPALL Wipers Crew
Chief of the Year honors. Ren won the Crew Chief of the
Race award five times throughout 2006, earning a $10,000
grand prize as the champion. “It’s been an awesome year
for us,” said Ren. “I’m thrilled to win the Crew Chief
of the Year award. Thanks to everybody at Bill Davis
Racing and WYPALL Wipers for making this possible.”
WYPALL Wipers will return in 2007 with its Crew Chief
Challenge and continue to spotlight the men behind the
machines. For more information, log onto
www.WYPALL.com.
About WYPALL Wipers and Kimberly-Clark
Professional
Known and respected since 1975, WYPALL Wipers are
The Crew Chief’s Choice. Consistent and clean every
time, and available in a variety of formats, WYPALL X80
Towels are made using Kimberly-Clark’s patented
HYDROKNIT® Fast-Absorbing material, so they feel like
cloth and work even better, with heavy-duty absorbency
and strength in solvents. For more information, visit
www.wypall.com.
Homestead-Miami Nextel Cup recap
November 20, 2006
No. 17 DeWALT Ford Fusion Recap:
KENSETH
WRAPS UP SUCCESSFUL 2006 SEASON — FINISHES SECOND IN
CHASE FOR THE NEXTEL CUP
Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 team snapped out of their
mid-Chase doldrums and were highly competitive for much
of the evening at Homestead in the 2006 season finale on
Sunday. After starting 19th, Kenseth quickly maneuvered
inside the top 10 where he would remain throughout the
contest. The caution flag flew on lap 247 bringing the
field to pit road for the final time. Robbie Reiser
elected to take two tires and keep track position. That
proved to be the correct call as Kenseth restarted fifth
and was able to hold on over the next 15 laps to finish
sixth. With the finish, Kenseth secured the second-place
spot in the NEXTEL Cup championship point standings, the
second highest points finish of his career.
An estimated crowd of 80,000 was treated to perfect
weather conditions as Kasey Kahne led the field to green
flag at 3:11 PM Eastern. Kenseth started 19th in the No.
17 DEWALT Ford and after a strong final practice
session, in which he was fifth fastest, seemed to have a
new-found confidence.
After an early caution brought Kenseth to pit road
for two tires and minor adjustments, Kenseth restarted
18th, but quickly made his way to the top 10. By lap 21,
Kenseth was scored in the 10th position and by the time
the caution flag waved on lap 45, he was up to seventh.
After a terrific four-tires-and-fuel pit stop, Kenseth
returned to the track in the fourth position.
Throughout the first half of the race, with the sun
still bearing down onto the racetrack, Kenseth reported
the car as being too loose on entry and exit. However,
both Kenseth and Reiser knew that the track would begin
tightening up as nightfall drew closer. That was the
case as Kenseth began reporting the car as being too
tight the longer each tire run would last and of course,
tighter the longer the evening wore on. At the midway
point, Kenseth was running in the seventh position.
In order to loosen the car up, Reiser called for
spring rubbers to be pulled from the left rear of the
No. 17 machine and a series of air-pressure adjustments.
The adjustments worked and Kenseth responded by racing
again back inside the top five.
On lap 190, Kenseth came to pit road in fifth but
eight cars stayed out on the track. After four tires and
fuel, Kenseth returned in the 12th position. In order to
gain back the track position lost on the previous stop,
Reiser called for two tires under caution on lap 206.
This time Kenseth emerged in third place but was never
quite able to challenge for the lead.
The final pit stop of the day occurred on lap 248
under caution. Nearly everyone would stop for tires, but
“how many tires” would be the question. As Kenseth and
Reiser debated, Kenseth leveled to his crew chief, “This
is where you make your money.” Reiser elected to go with
two tires allowing Kenseth, who entered in the fifth
position, to exit in fifth as well.
Having run nearly 70 laps since putting on left-side
tires, Kenseth was fighting for everything he had on the
race track, but was able to hold on to sixth when the
final caution occurred on lap 262, just five laps shy of
the finish. The caution set up one final
green-white-checkered finish and Kenseth, scored in
sixth, was trying hard to keep pace with Denny Hamlin.
Hamlin, who was running three spots in front of Kenseth,
had cut Kenseth’s hold on second place in the point
standings to 12 points.
Over the final two circuits, Kenseth was able to hold
his position on the track and in the points. Finishing
sixth in the race, Kenseth ended up second in the 2006
NEXTEL Cup Series points standings, just 56 points
behind newly-crowned champion, Jimmie Johnson.
For the season, Kenseth finished with four wins
(second only to 2002), 15 top-five finishes (a career
personal best and series best in 2006), and 21 top-10
finishes (second only to Johnson) in 36 races. Kenseth’s
1132 laps led were second best to Tony Stewart in 2006
and a career personal best. Kenseth scored nine top-15
finishes in the Chase, the only driver to do so.
“It’s been a great year for us,” Kenseth said after
the race. “The guys did a great job throughout the
season as a whole in preparing the racecars. We were a
little bit off over the past couple months, but I’m real
happy with the way we ran tonight. We’ve got some work
to do to get these cars better during the winter, but I
thought our performance today was solid. The guys
continued to do an awesome job on pit road - they’re the
best. I just couldn’t quite get up there and race with
those guys at the end. Plus, I was concerned about
hanging onto second in the points because I knew we had
to keep Hamlin and (Kevin) Harvick in sight there at the
end.
“Congratulations to Jimmie (Johnson) and the No. 48
team. They were awesome this year when it counted at the
end, but really, they’ve probably been the most
consistent team over the past three or four years. Year
in and year out they’re the ones to beat and they
deserve it. I’m happy Greg (Biffle) got the win tonight
and Roush Racing was able to deliver a Ford sweep here
at Ford Championship Weekend.”
RACE SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Started:
19th • Finished: 6th
POINTS SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Race Total:
150 points • Season
Total: 6419 points, Ranked 2nd, 56 points behind first.
SEASON SUMMARY
| |
Starts |
Wins |
Top 5s |
Top 10s |
Poles
|
|
Matt Kenseth |
36 |
4 |
15 |
21 |
0 |
NEXT UP:
Gatorade Duel (qualifying
race for Daytona 500) •
Daytona International Speedway •
Thursday, February 16, 2007
Homestead Nextel Cup & Busch Preview
November 15, 2006
Homestead-Miami Speedway • Homestead, Fla.
Ford 300 •
Saturday, November 18 • 7:00 pm/e TNT
Ford 400
• Sunday, November 19 • 2:00 pm/e NBC
Nextel Cup Chassis — #17 DEWALT
Ford Fusion
•
Primary — RK-323 (Last ran at Charlotte in
October, finished 14th; Won Michigan in August and
Fontana in February; Ran at Texas in April, finished
second)
Busch Chassis — #17 Pennzoil Ford Fusion
•
Primary — RK-360 (Last ran Texas, finished
26th)
Matt Kenseth’s Cup Series performance
summary at Homestead:
|
Date |
S |
F |
Laps |
Led |
Reason |
|
11/20/05 |
17 |
3 |
267/267 |
0 |
Running |
|
11/21/04 |
30 |
19 |
271/271 |
0 |
Running |
|
11/16/03 |
37 |
43 |
28/267 |
0 |
Engine |
|
11/16/02 |
13 |
40 |
223/267 |
0 |
Engine |
|
11/11/01 |
21 |
27 |
266/267 |
0 |
Running |
|
11/12/00 |
38 |
21 |
264/267 |
0 |
Running |
Matt Kenseth Cup Series totals at
Homestead:
| |
Races |
Wins |
Top 5s |
Top 10s |
Poles
|
Led |
|
Cumulative |
6 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Matt Kenseth in the Busch Series
at Homestead:
| |
Races |
Wins |
Top 5s |
Top 10s |
Poles
|
|
Cumulative |
7 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
Matt Kenseth on racing at
Homestead-Miami Speedway:
Cup: “Homestead hasn’t been a very good track for us,
that’s for sure. But, our finishes are kind of
deceiving of how we’ve run there. Two engine
failures have been a big cause for the average
finish being so low, but I feel like we were
competitive there last year and we had one of our
better test sessions there earlier this year.
“As far as our championship chances… well they
definitely aren’t good. But, anything can happen.
Really, all we can do is the best with what we have
and see where we stand at the end of the day. We
haven’t run nearly as well as we did earlier in the
year and it’s definitely a bad time to be struggling
the way we have recently. It’s going to take the No.
48 having some big problems for us to have a chance,
but we have to make sure that we do our part to be
there if something does happen so that we can
capitalize. It’s a long shot at this point, but it’s
definitely possible.”
Busch: “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working
with Jimmy and the guys on this No. 17 team in the
Busch Series this year. We’ve had cars capable of
competing for wins more times than not and that
always makes it fun. It was great to get another win
last weekend in Phoenix and it’d be really cool to
make it two in a row this weekend. I don’t know if
we’ll have a dominant car like last weekend, but we
should be able to run near the front and hopefully
put ourselves in position to win.”
Nextel Cup Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at
Homestead:
“We’ll be taking the chassis we feel the most
comfortable with this weekend and that’s No. 323.
It’s won a couple of races this season and run
really good on some mile-and-a-half tracks. It’s
been frustrating over the past two months as our
cars just haven’t handled the way we need them to in
order to compete. We’re working as hard as anyone to
try and figure out the problem and if I knew what it
was, I’d fix it. But, this team has still got a lot
of fight in them. They haven’t quit by any means. If
you look at how we’ve run the past seven or eight
races, which is probably around 20th to 25th each
week, and then see our finishes, you’ll understand
just how hard this team has worked on race day to
get the best finish possible. I’m proud of these
guys for doing that.”
Busch Crew Chief Jimmy Fennig on racing at
Homestead:
“The team has worked hard all season putting
together competitive cars for Matt. We did not get
the finish we would have liked with this car in
Texas, but that is behind us and we are ready for
Homestead. It was great to get Pennzoil into victory
lane last weekend, and hopefully we will be able to
follow the win up with a strong run at Homestead.”
Homestead Fast Facts
n
Matt Kenseth’s average finish of 25.5 at
Homestead-Miami Speedway ranks tenth among the 10
tracks in the Chase. It also ranks last in average
finish among the 23 tracks (including Rockingham)
that Kenseth has raced in NEXTEL Cup, thanks largely
to two consecutive mechanical failures in 2002-03.
n
Kenseth’s “Chase stats” at Homestead:
|
|
|
Start |
Finish |
Laps |
Led |
Rank |
|
|
2005 |
17 |
3 |
267/267 |
0 |
7th |
|
|
2004 |
21 |
27 |
266/267 |
0 |
8th |
n
Kenseth enters the weekend 63 points behind
leader Jimmie Johnson. During the previous two
Chase’s, Kenseth has entered Homestead 228 points
back in 2005 and 383 points back in 2004.
n
In Kenseth’s last visit to HMS he recorded a
third-place finish in the 2005 season finale.
n
Despite Kenseth’s highly publicized “slump,”
in the past 13 races he has finished worse than 14th
only once (23rd at Kansas).
n
Kenseth will be racing the No. 17 Pennzoil
Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Busch Series on Saturday.
Kenseth has recorded five top-10 finishes in eight
starts in the Busch Series at HMS.
n
Kenseth’s Busch Series win at Phoenix last
weekend is the 20th of his career. He remains in
fifth place on the all-time Busch Series win list,
just four behind Harvick for second place.
Phoenix Nextel Cup recap
November 13, 2006
No. 17 USG Sheetrock/DeWALT Ford Fusion Recap:
KENSETH & CREW FIGHT TO FINISH 13TH AND KEEP
CHAMPIONSHIP HOPES ALIVE
It was another uphill struggle for Matt Kenseth and
the No. 17 team on Sunday in Phoenix. After starting
10th Kenseth slid all the way back to the 25th position
in the first 70 laps. Thanks to several adjustments and
an excellent performance on pit road by the “Killer
Bees,” Kenseth managed to claw his way back through the
pack and inside the top 15. The handling just never came
around on the car, but Kenseth managed to hold on to a
13th-place finish, his sixth straight top-15 finish.
Kenseth remains second in the Championship point
standing, but now trails leader Jimmie Johnson by 63
points with only one race remaining.
The capacity crowd on hand at the one-mile Phoenix
International Raceway was treated to a warm, sunny day
as Jeff Gordon led the field to the green flag at 1:37
PM Mountain time. Kenseth, winner of Saturday’s Busch
race at PIR, rolled off 10th but knew from the outset
that Sunday was going to be a battle.
Kenseth was right. Fighting a car that he reported as
being “way loose off the corner,” Kenseth fell almost
immediately from the top 10 all the way back to the 25th
position. In danger of losing a lap to the leader,
Kenseth received the caution he so desperately needed on
lap 70. After staying out to lead a lap, Kenseth came to
pit road to take on four tires and received much needed
adjustments.
Restarting 31st on lap 77, Kenseth could waste little
time if he wanted to remain on the lead lap. The
adjustments made by Reiser and the No. 17 team made a
difference as Kenseth began to work his way through the
pack. By lap 116, Kenseth had returned inside the top 20
and was threatening for more.
While the theme all day long on the No. 17 team was
“hang on,” the pit crew did its part to pick up valuable
track position on pit road. When Kenseth came to the
attention of his crew on lap 152, he came to pit road in
21st, but emerged 19th. The same thing happened 25 laps
later when Kenseth came in 17th and left 14th. The track
position helped tremendously on a day when the No. 17
Ford Fusion struggled on the track.
The final pit stop of the day came on lap 254 when
Kenseth came in and went out in the 12th position after
minor adjustments. Thanks to great pit stops during the
second half of the race, Kenseth was able to stay ahead
of several multi-car wrecks, two of which happened right
behind him.
After a multi-car incident brought out the caution
for the final time, the field was brought to a halt
under the red flag; allowing clean-up crews the
opportunity to clear the track. The final three-lap
shootout began on lap 310 with Kenseth in the 11th
position.
Two laps after the restart, Kenseth took the white
flag in the 10th position and was hungry for more.
Attempting to make it three wide going into turn three,
Kenseth got a little too high and had to save it coming
off of turn four. The gamble cost Kenseth a few
positions and he ended up finishing 13th. Heading into
the season finale at Homestead next week, Kenseth trails
leader Jimmie Johnson by 63 points in the championship
points standings.
“We ran about 25 to 30th all day, so the guys did a
good job on pit road (keeping track position),” said
Kenseth. “Fortunately we qualified pretty good, so we
never lost a lap on those long green flag runs, but it’s
pretty frustrating. We’ve just got some terribly, awful
handling cars for some reason. We can’t get out of our
own way. I feel bad. I lost a couple of spots at the
end. I was trying to hang it out and do everything we
could and we kind of got up in the marbles there, but
our cars are so bad that we just can’t race with
anybody. I don’t know why they’re so bad. We just got
off somewhere and it’s not much fun right now.”
RACE SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Started:
10th • Finished: 13th
POINTS SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Race Total:
129 points • Season
Total: 6269 points, Ranked 2nd, 63 points behind first.
NEXT UP:
Ford 400 •
Homestead-Miami Speedway •
Sunday, November 19
Phoenix Busch & Nextel Cup Preview
November 7, 2006
Phoenix International Raceway • Avondale, Ariz.
Arizona.Travel 200 •
Saturday, November 11 • 3:30 pm/e NBC
Checker Auto
Parts 500 • Sunday, November 12 •
3:00 pm/e NBC
Nextel Cup Chassis — #17 USG Sheetrock/DEWALT
Ford Fusion
•
Primary — RK-353 (Last ran Loudon in Sep.,
finished 10th; also ran Loudon in July, finished 14th;
also ran Phoenix in April, finished 3rd)
•
Backup — RK-150 (Tested earlier in ’06 at Vegas)
Busch Chassis — #17 Pennzoil Ford Fusion
•
Primary — RK-395 (last ran Richmond, finished
3rd)
Matt Kenseth’s Cup Series performance
summary at Phoenix:
|
Date |
S |
F |
Laps |
Led |
Reason |
|
04/22/06 |
4 |
3 |
312/321 |
1 |
Running |
|
11/13/05 |
16 |
32 |
310/312 |
0 |
Running |
|
04/23/05 |
17 |
42 |
164/312 |
0 |
Accident |
|
11/07/04 |
16 |
36 |
280/312 |
4 |
Engine |
|
11/02/03 |
37 |
6 |
312/312 |
0 |
Running |
|
11/10/02 |
28 |
1 |
312/312 |
55 |
Running |
|
10/28/01 |
38 |
4 |
312/312 |
0 |
Running |
|
11/05/00 |
12 |
42 |
53/312 |
0 |
Accident |
Matt Kenseth Cup Series totals at
Phoenix:
| |
Races |
Wins |
Top 5s |
Top 10s |
Poles
|
Led |
|
Spring |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Fall |
6 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
59 |
|
Cumulative |
8 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
60 |
Matt Kenseth’s Busch
performance summary at Phoenix:
|
Date |
S |
F |
Laps |
Reason |
|
04/21/06 |
2 |
7 |
206/206 |
Running |
|
11/12/05 |
22 |
3 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
11/06/04 |
17 |
8 |
205/205 |
Running |
|
11/01/03 |
21 |
19 |
181/181 |
Running |
|
10/27/01 |
3 |
22 |
198/200 |
Running |
|
11/04/00 |
16 |
6 |
200/200 |
Running |
|
11/06/99 |
6 |
8 |
200/200 |
Running |
Matt Kenseth Busch Series
totals at Phoenix:
| |
Races |
Wins |
Top 5s |
Top 10s |
Poles
|
|
Cumulative |
7 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
0 |
Matt Kenseth on racing at
Phoenix:
Cup: “I enjoy racing a Phoenix. We’ve had
some ups and downs there but it’s a good track and
we’ve had our share of success. It’s one of the
tracks we’ve won at and that will give us a little
bit of confidence going in. Hopefully this weekend
will add to that confidence. We can definitely use
some momentum. It’s getting down to crunch time and
that means no more mistakes. A mistake at this point
could cost us big time. We have to stay focused on
our team and our performance and let everything else
fall where it may. All we can do is our best and
we’ll just see how it turns out.”
Busch: “I’m looking forward to going to
Phoenix with Jimmy and the guys. We had a rough time
at Texas, which is really the first time in a long
time where we haven’t been competitive. We’ll be
looking to bounce back in a big way this weekend.
Phoenix was one of the first races this season that
Jimmy and I were together. I think Texas the week
before was actually our first race together. We were
decent but I feel confident we’ll be better this
time around. Phoenix is a good track. It’s unique
and a lot of fun. The corners drive so much
differently from one another and you better have a
good handling racecar or you’re in for a long day,
but, of course, that’s pretty much any where we go.
We’ve only got two more races and this team has run
too good all year long not to win another one. We’ve
won once, but we’ve come close several other times.
Hopefully we can give ourselves a chance this
weekend.”
Nextel Cup Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at
Phoenix:
“We’re bringing the same car we ran at Phoenix
earlier this year. We have to get our cars running
better and give ourselves a chance on Sunday. We
can’t keep pulling out top-15 finishes from cars
that can barely run in the top 25. We’re very
fortunate to finish where we did in Texas. We didn’t
run anywhere near as good as we finished, but I have
to credit the guys on the team. They never quit and
we found a way to get a respectable finish. We feel
pretty good about the car we’re bringing this
weekend. We can’t afford anything less than our best
in these next two races if we’re going to have a
chance to win it all.”
Busch series crew chief Jimmy Fennig on racing at
Phoenix:
“Last weekend in Texas was a tough one for our
No. 17 Pennzoil Ford Fusion team. We’ve put that
behind us and are ready to put forward a solid
effort in Phoenix. We had a top-10 finish here in
the spring and we are looking to improve on that
this weekend.”
Phoenix Fast Facts
n
Matt Kenseth’s average finish of 20.8 at
Phoenix International Raceway ranks ninth among the
10 tracks in the Chase.
n
Kenseth will run the USG Sheetrock paint
scheme for the third and final time in 2006.
n
PIR is one of four tracks in the Chase where
Kenseth has scored victories during his Cup career.
The other three are Dover, Charlotte, and Texas.
n
Kenseth’s “Chase stats” at Phoenix:
|
|
|
Start |
Finish |
Laps |
Led |
Rank |
|
|
2005 |
16 |
32 |
310/312 |
0 |
7th |
|
|
2004 |
16 |
36 |
280/312 |
4 |
9th |
n
In his last visit to each of the remaining two
tracks, Kenseth has scored finishes of third at
Phoenix in April, and third at Homestead last
November
n
Despite notching a win in 2002 at PIR, Kenseth’s
average finish there is just 20.8, third only to
Homestead (25.5) and Sonoma (22.0) as statistically
his worst track.
n
Kenseth will be racing the No. 17 Pennzoil Ford
Fusion in the NASCAR Busch Series on Saturday. For
his career, Kenseth has notched five top-ten
finishes in seven starts in the Busch Series at
Phoenix.
Matt Kenseth Nextel Teleconference
transcript
November 7, 2006
THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, welcome to this
week’s NASCAR teleconference in advance of Sunday’s
Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.
This will be the ninth race in the 2006 Chase for the
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, the last ten races of the season that
determine the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup series champion.
Today our guest is Matt Kenseth, driver of the #17
DeWalt Power Tools Ford. He is second in the standings
coming into Phoenix. What’s your outlook for your team
going into Phoenix?
MATT KENSETH: Not as good as it was a few weeks
ago I guess. You know, we’re going to go there and
try to bring our best stuff and hopefully run better
than we have the last few weeks. So we’re just going
to go there and put forth our best effort and see
how it turns out. Certainly we have not ran up to
our standards the last few weeks. For whatever
reason, we haven’t been performing the way we need
to so we’re just going to go there and hopefully get
back on track. We’re still close to Jimmie but we’re
certainly not running in the league that he’s
running in. So hopefully we can get back to that.
THE MODERATOR: Sounds good. We’ll go to some
questions for Matt Kenseth from the media.
Q. Matt, obviously with Jimmie having the momentum
of the Chase and Tony having outside the Chase momentum,
the way y’all have been running during the Chase, A, is
it possible to sort of pull some momentum out of a hat;
and B, how do you go about that, how can you pull out of
a hat getting a team running strong all of a sudden for
these last two races?
MATT KENSETH: Well, I think the team has been
doing a pretty good job. I still think I’ve got one
of the best teams in the garage. We just haven’t
been putting it together lately. We haven’t been,
you know – it all starts with the cars not running
the way they need to run. We start with our cars not
running good, and that leads to mistakes by me and
not as good of a performance by everybody.
I don’t think we’re going to find a magic pill
that’s going to take us from, you know, we ran 30th,
really, all week last week and just finished better.
But really those were the times we ran was
equivalent to a 30th place car. So I don’t really
feel like we’re going to find the magic and going
like that to running like Jimmie is. But we’re still
close in points and anything can happen. You know,
you don’t want to hope somebody has bad luck or hope
to win it like that or anything, but you know,
honestly we’re not, you know, performing anywhere in
the league that they are right now for whatever
reason, for most of the year we have. Since Kansas
for whatever reason we’ve been off and haven’t been
able to get that back. Going to Phoenix is a
different track, it’s a lot different than other
tracks and we’ve ran pretty well there in the past
and hopefully we can go there and get it on track.
Q. If you can pull it out like this, like you say,
hating to win it like this, do you look back, like the
year before you won the championship, you had the most
wins of anybody in the league, and didn’t win the
championship, the next year, you get all of the
criticism and – not criticism but people saying, well,
NASCAR changed because of Matt Kenseth’s championship
battle, and now, to the possibility of winning it
mediocre, are you somewhat – are you sometimes saying to
yourself, how can you win this thing without getting any
complaints about winning it?
MATT KENSETH: Somebody is going to find a way to
pick things apart. I used to worry about what
everyone thinks but to be honest with you, I don’t
really care. I don’t really care what anybody says
about it. I know that, you know, I drive to the
airport every week and hoping that I give it 100%
and give everybody the best job that I can do. If
I’m satisfied with how I performed, the effort we
forth, that’s really all I can ask for.
A lot of the people don’t necessarily, you know,
know everything that goes into it, and I think we’ve
had as strong a year – probably a stronger year this
year than we’ve ever had before. The last few weeks
haven’t been as good, but we won four races; I think
we led up until the last two weeks, Tony is probably
past that, but I think we’ve led the most laps all
year. And we’ve been in contention right down
towards the end and let them get away from us.
So I think that we’ve ran as good as any team out
there overall if you look at the whole entire
season. It’s just when we needed to be better, and
when it really counts, right now, we just haven’t
been doing it.
Q. Can you explain the difference between racing
to try win that day’s race, between trying to win a
championship? And as a driver who has a burning desire
to win the trophy every Sunday, is that frustrating?
MATT KENSETH: It’s really the same. I know we
have to make stories out of it all and everything,
but it’s really the same. I don’t know about the
race this weekend with Jimmie and Tony, I don’t
really see that. From what I saw all day, Tony had
by far the best car. Racing for wins is how you race
for a championship. I mean it pays the most points
to win the race and it pays the most points to lead
laps; that’s how you race to win a championship.
In our case last weekend we had a 25th or 30th
place car. Well, I don’t care who is driving that
thing; you’re not going to have a chance to get up
front and win with it. You’re just going to do the
| |
