Martinsville Nextel Cup preview
March 29, 2007

Martinsville Raceway • Martinsville, Va.
Goody’s Cool Orange 500 • Sunday, April 1 • 1:30 pm/e Fox

Nextel Cup Chassis • #17 USG Sheetrock/DeWALT Ford Fusion
• Primary — RK-457 (Brand new, never tested)
• Backup — RK-458 (Brand new, never tested)

 
Matt’s Cup Series summary at Martinsville:

Date	S	F	Laps	Led	Reason
10/22/06	20	11	500/500	0	Running
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	Laps Led	Poles
Spring	7	0	1	3	12	0
Fall	7	0	0	0	47	0
Cumulative	14	0	1	3	59	0

 
Matt Kenseth on racing at Martinsville:

“Martinsville has never been too kind to us. It’s not that we’ve run terrible there we’ve just never been able to compete on a regular basis. I’m not a big fan of the track. To me, it’s just too narrow and too slow. It’s like racing around two light poles in the middle of a parking lot. There’s very little room to race and the turns are so tight and so flat that you have to go so slow through the turns, and try your best not to move out of the bottom groove. Now, imagine doing that 1,000 times in one afternoon.

“I’m not sure how the COT will be there. Obviously, when we get on the track on Friday it will be the first time all of us have been there with that car, so it will be a learning experience for all of us. At Bristol, the car stayed pretty tight through the center of the turn, which is something you definitely don’t want at Martinsville. If you come off the bottom of the track, you’ll find yourself moving backwards in a hurry. It’s going to be a learning experience all weekend, but hopefully we’re up to the challenge.”

Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at Martinsville:

“It was good to get back to the track last week although we struggled a little bit. We had some problems about midway through the race that affected the handling of the car, but up to that point I thought we were getting the car pretty close to where it needed to be to compete.

“We’re bringing a brand new car to Martinsville and we’ll be learning a lot on the fly this weekend. It was interesting getting the Bristol car back to the shop on Monday and tearing it down to see how everything looked after the race. Now, we know a little more about what to expect this weekend, but the track is obviously different. We have to handle better this week and we all know that going into it. Martinsville, for us, has always been about survival, so that’s what we’ll be looking to do this week. We’ll find out where we stand when we get on the track on Friday and then work like crazy to get the car better throughout the weekend.”

Martinsville Fast Facts

n Matt Kenseth has completed the third most laps of any Cup driver at Martinsville in the past ten Cup races (4,991 of 5,000).

n Kenseth will run the USG Sheetrock paint scheme this weekend for the first of three races this season (Chicago in July and Texas in November).

n Kenseth’s average finish on short tracks (under one mile in length) in 2006 was 14.1. His average finish on all tracks last season was 9.8.

n Kenseth has completed every lap so far in 2007, one of only three drivers to do so (Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton).

n Kenseth has scored only three top-10 finishes at Martinsville, the lowest count of top 10s at any track where Kenseth has totaled at least 10 starts.

n Kenseth’s only DNF (Did Not Finish) of 2006 was in April at Martinsville, when brake failure led to a turn-one crash with only seven laps remaining.

Bristol Nextel Cup recap

n Photos from Bristol

No. 17 ARBY’S/DEWALT FORD FUSION RECAP
Kenseth holds on for 11th-place finish at Bristol

Starting 38th on Sunday in NASCAR’s first Car of Tomorrow race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 Arby’s/DEWALT Ford team knew they had their work cut out for them. But with appropriate adjustments, good pit strategy, and steady pit stops, Kenseth was able to avoid most incidences, keep his car clean, and work his way towards the front. After going onto the apron to avoid an incident on lap 282, the No. 17 Ford never handled the same, and what looked to be an opportunity for another top-five finish was not to be. Kenseth was able to hold on over the course of the final 200 laps to cross the finish line 11th, their 10th top-15 finish in the past 11 races at Bristol.

Under clear blue skies, a capacity crowd of over 160,000 enjoyed warm weather as Jeff Gordon led the field of 43 to the green flag at 2:28 PM Eastern. Kenseth, again suffering from an unlucky qualifying draw (first), qualified 38th and on the treacherous half mile that is Bristol Motor Speedway needed to hit all of his marks early to avoid going a lap down.

Robbie Reiser, returning to the pit box for the first time since Homestead, Fla., last November, played pit strategy perfectly, pitting during the first caution to work on the car and then staying out when the rest of the field pitted after a caution on lap 45. Kenseth restarted third but wasn’t able to hold the position as cars with fresher tires made their way around the No. 17. But when the next caution flag waved on lap 120, Kenseth had only fallen to 14th and was now on the same pit cycle as most of the field.

For the first half of the race, Kenseth reported the car as being too tight in the center and too loose off, stating that the rear wheels seemed to over power the car. But, after a stop for service on lap 228, Kenseth was scored in the 11th position and poised to make a charge. The car, now handling the best it had all day, seemed to have come to life and Kenseth starting picking up positions and gaining time on the leaders. In just 51 laps, Kenseth had worked his way up to seventh and after a great pit stop on lap 284, restarted fourth and appeared primed for charge to the front.

But soon after the restart it became apparent to Kenseth that something was wrong with the car. “It feels like a three-legged table,” Kenseth radioed to the crew, reporting that the left front felt as if it wasn’t on the ground. Kenseth theorized that something may have broken on the left front when he dove onto the apron of the track to avoid a wreck on lap 282.

The No. 17 team made a valiant effort to adjust on the car but to no avail. It seemed no matter what adjustments were made it couldn’t help the car, which Kenseth now reported as being extremely loose.

Despite the condition, Kenseth and the No. 17 team never gave up and while unable to make up ground on the leaders, they were able to hold on over the course of the final 200 laps, survive a green-white-checker finish and end up with an 11th-place finish. Kyle Busch won the race becoming the first race winner in the Car of Tomorrow, which is scheduled to run 15 more races in 2007.

“We didn’t run good all day and didn’t have a really good day, but we didn’t finish too bad,” said Kenseth. “I think we had some broken stuff at the end. I think we busted a shock with about 200 to go and that pretty much did us in.” 

NEXT UP:
Goody’s Cool Orange 500 • Martinsville Speedway • April 1

RACE SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Started: 38th • Finished: 11th

POINTS SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Race Total: 130 points • Season Total: 697 points, Ranked 4th, 94 points behind first

Bristol Busch & Cup Preview
March 22, 2007

Bristol Motor Speedway • Bristol, Tenn.
Sharpie Mini 300 • Saturday, March 24 • 2:30 pm/e ABC
Food City 500 • Sunday, March 25 • 1:30 pm/e Fox

Nextel Cup Chassis — #17 Arby’s Ford Fusion
• Primary — RK-451 (Brand new, tested Bristol in early March)
• Backup — RK-454 (Brand new, tested Bristol in early March)

Busch Chassis — #17 Dish Network Ford Fusion
• Primary — RK- 295 (Last ran Bristol, Aug. ‘06, finished first)

 
Matt’s Cup Series summary at Bristol:

Date	S	F	Laps	Led	Reason
8/26/06	4	1	500/500	117	Running
3/26/06	7	3	500/500	124	Running
8/27/05	1	1	500/500	415	Running
4/3/05	25	16	497/500	50	Running
8/28/04	23	9	499/500	0	Running
3/28/04	23	5	500/500	0	Running
8/23/03	10	4	500/500	0	Running
3/23/03	37	2	500/500	25	Running
8/24/02	10	5	500/500	10	Running
3/24/02	6	6	500/500	0	Running
8/25/01	38	33	394/500	0	Accident
3/25/01	24	14	500/500	1	Running
8/20/00	22	39	379/500	0	Overheating
3/26/00	22	12	500/500	0	Running

  
Matt Kenseth Cup Series totals at Bristol:

	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Laps Led	Poles
Spring	7	0	3	4	200	0
Fall	7	2	4	5	542	1
Cumulative	14	0	7	9	742	1

Matt Kenseth Busch series summary at Bristol:

Date	S	F	Laps	Status
8/25/06	4	1	250/250	Running
3/25/06	22	3	300/300	Running
4/2/05	36	4	256/256	Running
8/27/04	25	2	256/256	Running
8/22/03	15	25	217/250	Accident
8/24/01	32	30	216/250	Accident
3/24/01	2	1	250/250	Running
3/25/00	7	27	227/250	Accident
8/27/99	3	1	250/250	Running
4/10/99	24	35	134/250	Accident
8/21/98	18	34	114/250	Running
3/28/98	13	3	250/250	Running
8/22/97	20	20	248/250	Running

 
Matt Kenseth Busch Series totals at Bristol:

	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles
Cumulative	13	3	7	7	1

 
Matt Kenseth on racing at Bristol:

Cup: “Bristol is one of a kind and it’s one of my favorite places to go. Part of that is because of the success we’ve enjoyed there over the years. I’m looking forward to this weekend for a lot of reasons, but I’m a little disappointed we had to retire our old Bristol car. We had brought that car to Bristol every race since 2001 and it was always competitive. It was our most reliable car in the stable and we only raced it at Bristol. It was pretty cool to win with it our last time out in August.

“With the C.O.T. this weekend, there’s sure to be a lot of unknown variables, but the bottom line is, everyone is starting from scratch and we’ll all have to deal with a lot of the same issues. Whoever can figure it out quicker than the rest will have a big advantage, so hopefully that will be us.

“Robbie’s back this week after a four-race vacation, so we’re glad to get him back. But, Chip (Bolin, team engineer/interim crew chief) did a great job leading this team at the track for the past month and it’s a testament to how good this team is from top to bottom that we were able to continue to perform at such a high level in Robbie’s absence.”

Busch: “Bristol is one of my favorite tracks to race at. I’ve had success there in the past and we are bringing the same car we won in the fall with. Hopefully it runs just as well as last time, I know Drew (Blickensderfer), Richie (Davis) and all the guys at the shop have been working hard and it has been showing up at the track. We haven’t quite earned the finishes we had hoped for the past two weeks, but hopefully we can turn that around this weekend and get the No. 17 team back to victory lane.”

Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at Bristol:

“Well, I think everybody went to the Bristol test expecting to see something different with the Car of Tomorrow and when it was all said and done, it was basically the same racecar that we had in the past. I mean, you still have to get it to go around the corner and you still got to make it fast, you still got to do all the same things. It looks a little bit different, but other than that, it’s the same stuff.

“Obviously, we got the same challenges as everyone else does with this Car of Tomorrow. We’ve got to work at it to get it to handle like that other (old) car did and having Matt behind the wheel makes a big difference at Bristol. So, I’m sure with our team and Matt, we can get that thing to work.”

Busch Series Crew Chief Drew Blickensderfer on racing at Bristol:

“Bristol is a really good track for Matt, he has won there in both the Busch and the Cup cars the past two years. We have had some really fast cars so far this year and we are hoping to continue that this weekend at Bristol.”

Bristol Fast Facts

n Matt Kenseth has led at least one lap in each NEXTEL Cup race this season.

n Kenseth comes to Bristol Motor Speedway riding a streak of three consecutive top-five finishes.

n Robbie Reiser will return to the track this weekend, after serving a four-race suspension. The past four races were the first Reiser had missed atop the pit box as Kenseth’s crew chief since 1999, a steak of 255 races.

n Kenseth has completed all but four laps in the past 10 races at Bristol (4,996 of 5,000); second most during that span (Earnhardt Jr. 4,998).

n Kenseth has an average finish of 5.2 during that span, tops among all drivers.

n Kenseth has nine top-10 finishes in the past 10 races at Bristol.

n Kenseth has seven top-five finishes during that span, which leads all drivers.

n Kenseth has led 656 of a possible 1,500 laps in the past three races at Bristol (43.7%).

n For his career, Kenseth has led 742 laps at Bristol, which is the highest number of laps led at any track during his career. Second on the list is Rockingham with 413 laps.

n Kenseth’s career average finish for Bristol is 10.7, the fourth highest among the 23 tracks he has competed on throughout his career.

n Kenseth will run the Arby’s paint scheme this weekend for the first and only time in the NEXTEL Cup Series in 2007.

Welcome back Robbie!

ROBBIE REISER SET TO RETURN AT BRISTOL
Long-time crew chief of the No. 17 anxious to get back to business

CONCORD, N.C. — After serving a four-race suspension, Robbie Reiser, the long-time crew chief of Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 DEWALT Ford team, returns to the track this weekend for the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. By missing the Daytona 500 in February, it was the first race Reiser missed atop the pit box as Kenseth’s crew chief since 1999, a steak of 255 races.

Reiser will return in time for NASCAR’s much-anticipated debut of the Car of Tomorrow. With the introduction of the C.O.T., the No. 17 team was forced to retire chassis number 89, which had run every race at Bristol since the beginning of 2001, collecting two wins, seven top fives, nine top 10s, one pole and led a whopping 742 laps during that span.

For audio (mp3 format) of this interview, please click here. 

TRANSCRIPT:

IT’S BEEN SINCE FEB. 11 THAT YOU’VE BEEN AT A TRACK, AT LEAST FOR A NASCAR WEEKEND. HAS YOUR TIME AWAY FROM THE TRACK GIVEN YOU A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON YOUR POSITION AS CREW CHIEF OF THE NO. 17 AND REALLY, WHERE YOU’RE AT IN YOUR CAREER? “Well, I think that I pretty much wanted to do something else down the road and get away from the race track. But, going through the suspension I kind of realized that I enjoy the track quite a bit and still enjoy the competition and I want to do it for a little while longer.”

THE TEAM HAS CONTINUED TO PERFORM AT A HIGH LEVEL IN YOUR ABSENCE. DOES THAT GIVE YOU A SENSE OF SATISFACTION OR PRIDE? “Well, no question. If it fell apart it would show that we hadn’t done a very good job. But, seeing that we got a lot of quality people here that have been loyal over the years, in my absence they were able to step in and fill the roles and do the things that they need to do to run competitively.”

SO, YOU’RE SAYING THAT’S THE REASON IT’S BEEN ABLE TO KEEP ITS LEVEL OF COMPETITION IS BECAUSE OF THE CONTINUITY OF THE TEAM? “Well, no question. I think if you look over the years, this team here has stuck together more than probably any other team in the garage. Chip Bolin, stepping in, he’s been here since we started this program, and I have four or five guys, Russ (Strupp, jack man/mechanic), Todd (Millard, tire specialist), Dean (Rosenberry, mechanic), and Randy Slack (engine tuner) who came from our Busch program that have been a big part of this team over the years. Not only those guys, but then there’s been another group of people that have been here the last three or four years and are able to keep this team running at the level it always runs at.

IS THERE A NEW RESOLVE OF COMPETITIVE FIRE WITHIN YOU RIGHT NOW? “No, I don’t think so. I think that I come and do my job 100% for the last ever how many years I’ve been doing this. I don’t think that this changes anything. I think it’s just another deal that I have to go through and now that it’s over, I’ll go back to the racetrack and do my job.”

SO, YOU’RE READY TO GO AND OF ALL PLACES TO OPEN UP YOUR ’07 CAMPAIGN ATOP THE PIT BOX, BRISTOL, IN WHAT’S ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED RACES IN SOME TIME FOR NASCAR, WITH THE DEBUT OF THE CAR OF TOMORROW. WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING FROM THE CAR THIS WEEKEND? “Well, I think everybody went to the Bristol test expecting to see something different and when it was all said and done, it was basically the same racecar that we had in the past. I mean, you still have to get it to go around the corner and you still got to make it fast, you still got to do all the same things. It looks a little bit different, but other than that, it’s the same stuff.”

HOW DO YOU ANTICIPATE THE CAR WILL RACE? “I don’t think I got an answer for that. I think everybody’s waiting to see what that’s like, including myself.”

YOU GUYS WERE STELLAR AT BRISTOL BEFORE, WITH QUITE A RECORD OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS AND WITH A CAR THAT YOU REPEATEDLY BROUGHT BACK TO THE TRACK; WILL THAT [SUCCESS] CONTINUE? “Well, we hope it does. Obviously, we got the same challenges as everyone else does with this Car of Tomorrow. We’ve got to work at it to get it to handle like that other car did and having Matt behind the wheel makes a big difference at Bristol. So, I’m sure with our team and Matt, we can get that thing to work.”

Atlanta Nextel Cup recap

n Photos from Atlanta

No. 17 DEWALT FORD FUSION RECAP
KENSETH KEEPS ROLLING IN ATLANTA,
PICKS UP THIRD CONSECUTIVE TOP-FIVE FINISH

Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 DEWALT team turned in another strong performance on Sunday and brought home their third straight top-five finish in only the season’s fourth race. The No. 17 team used a virtually flawless day on pit road, picking up 12 spots in the pits throughout the day, to help propel them to a career best Cup finish at Atlanta by finishing third on Sunday.

A crowd of over 100,000 was on hand to witness 43 NEXTEL Cup drivers take the green flag at 2:27 PM Eastern. Ryan Newman won the pole but was forced to the back of the field after changing engines on Saturday. Kenseth rolled off 21st but before he could crack the top 15, began to pick up a tight handling condition in the center of the turns.

As was the case for most of the afternoon, the No. 17 would lose a little ground at the beginning of the run, but gain it back and then some as the run wore on. For most of the afternoon, Kenseth fought a bit of a tight handling condition throughout the middle of the corner, but interim crew chief, Chip Bolin, and the “Killer Bees” used each of their eight pit stops to improve the car’s handling.

Green-flag racing ruled the day as there were only six cautions for 26 laps, which meant the field cycled through green-flag pit stops on several occasions. It was on pit road where the No. 17 team shined. The first big gain was on lap 37, under caution, Kenseth came to pit road in the 18th position but left in 14th, thanks to a 12.83-second, four-tires-and-fuel pit stop.

After returning to the track in the 14th position, Kenseth quickly maneuvered his way inside the top 10 and by the time the field began to cycle through green-flag stops on lap 80, he was up to the fourth position. Once the field cycled through green-flag stops, Kenseth was in second place and on lap 97 took the lead from Kurt Busch. That marked the fourth race in which Kenseth has led this season.

Kenseth would remain in the top ten for the rest of the afternoon. On lap 155, Kenseth snagged the lead from eventual race winner, Jimmie Johnson, and led for the next 10 laps, including the halfway point.

Kenseth momentarily began to slide back through the field due to some handling issues, but after hovering around the seventh position, Kenseth worked his way up to fifth over the course of a long green-flag run. After caution for debris was displayed on lap 270, Kenseth came to pit road in the fifth spot and after a 12.56-second stop emerged in the second position.

Hanging onto the third spot for the last 50 laps was no easy task, but Kenseth again benefited from the work of his pit crew when he stopped for the final time on lap 311 and picked up one position to restart second, only 11 laps from the finish.

Kenseth restarted directly in front of Johnson, and despite Johnson driving by and onto victory, Kenseth was able to hold off a hard-charging Jeff Burton and the rest of the field over the final 11 circuits, en route to Kenseth’s series leading third top-five finish this season, and sending his interim crew chief, Bolin, off with an 8.75 average finish atop the pit box in four races. Robbie Reiser will return next weekend as the much anticipated Car of Tomorrow debuts in Bristol, Tenn.

“We ran pretty good overall,” said Kenseth. “My DEWALT guys, they’re the best on pit road. They got me all the spots we needed. We just made a little contact on pit road and bent the fender in a little bit, but on the last two runs we just got off. We were really good there about two-thirds of the way through the race, and then we just got off a little and couldn’t quite keep up with it today. But these guys did a great job. We should be in a pretty good spot in the points and it was a fun race today.”

GOING TO BRISTOL. YOUR THOUGHTS: “I think we’re all looking forward to it and kind of anxious about it, running the Car of Tomorrow for the first time. I look forward to going there. We didn’t test bad. It’s a great race track and a lot of great fans always show up there and it’s always in a really exciting atmosphere, so I’m curious to see what it brings.”

NEXT UP:
Food City 500 • Bristol Motor Speedway • March 25

RACE SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Started: 21st • Finished: 3rd

POINTS SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Race Total: 170 points • Season Total: 567 points, Ranked 5th, 62 points behind first

Atlanta Busch & Cup Preview
March 15, 2007

Atlanta Motor Speedway • Hampton, Ga.
Nicorette 300 • Saturday, March 17 • 3pm/e ABC
Kobalt Tools 500 • Sunday, March 18 • 2pm/e Fox

Nextel Cup Chassis — #17 DeWALT Ford Fusion
• Primary — RK-317 (Last ran: Vegas last week, finished 4th; Won Auto Club 500 at Fontana two weeks ago; Also ran Pocono Jul. ’06, finished 14th; All-Star race ’06, finished 11th; ’05 ran Kansas (pole), Texas, & Homestead recording three top fives)
• Backup — RK-340 (Tested Las Vegas in Jan. ’07; Last ran: Pocono, Jun. ’06, finished fifth)

Busch Chassis — #17 Arby’s Ford Fusion
• Primary — RK- 346 (Last raced Charlotte, finished 4th)

 
Matt’s Cup Series summary at Atlanta:

Date	S	F	Laps	Led	Reason
10/29/06	1*	4	325/325	0	Running
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
*Starting order set by points due to inclement weather

  
Matt Kenseth Cup Series totals at Atlanta:

	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Laps Led	Poles
Spring	7	0	2	3	48	0
Fall	7	0	2	4	1	0
Cumulative	14	0	4	7	49	0

Matt Kenseth Busch series summary at Atlanta:

Date	S	F	Laps	Status
03/18/06	4	4	195/195	Running
10/30/04	28	1	208/208	Running
10/25/03	18	2	203/203	Running
03/10/01	18	30	171/203	Engine
03/11/00	1	2	203/203	Running
03/13/99	13	25	187/195	Running
11/07/98	2	4	195/195	Running

 
Matt Kenseth Busch Series totals at Atlanta:

	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles
Cumulative	7	1	5	5	1

 
Matt Kenseth on racing at Atlanta:

Cup: “Atlanta has always been one of my favorite tracks. It’s really fast but has enough room to move around and try to find some different lines around the track. The pavement has aged enough to where your car will start to slide around over the course of a run, which makes tire wear important.

“We’ve come close at Atlanta several times before but we’ve never been able to seal the deal. We’re bringing the same car we drove at Fontana and at Las Vegas. It was real good at Fontana and we managed to scrounge out a top-five finish at Vegas, so hopefully we can muster another top five this weekend.”

Busch: “Atlanta is a track that we have done well at in the past. I think if we can qualify up front and stay up front we should be in for a good finish. Although, that was also the plan last weekend in Vegas and it didn’t quite work out as we planned. Arby’s headquarters is located in Atlanta, so this track is basically in their backyard so we really want to get a good finish for them in their hometown. This is the same car that ran really well at Charlotte and tested well at Vegas so hopefully we can win some more free fries for America.”

Interim Crew Chief Chip Bolin on racing at Atlanta:

“We’re bringing the same car to Atlanta that we raced in Vegas and Fontana. It’s been good to us so far and there no reason to think that we can’t be competitive with it again this weekend. This is actually the same car we used as our work horse in 2005 when we came back to make the Chase.

“The guys did another good job in the pits at Las Vegas, and we were able to work on the car to get it the best we possibly could at the end of the race. Matt did a good job of taking care of the car so that we still had it in tact and in position to sneak out of there with a top five. My hope is that we don’t have to ‘sneak’ out of Atlanta with anything, but rather get Matt towards the front early and have the kind of day that this team is capable of.”

Busch Series Crew Chief Drew Blickensderfer on racing at Atlanta:

“It’s always great to go to a place like Atlanta with a driver like Matt Kenseth. Matt tends to run really well at tracks like this and RK-360 is a car we have had success with in the past and that tested well at Vegas. Atlanta is the location of Arby’s head quarters so the team really wants to get a good finish for them.”

Atlanta Fast Facts

n Matt Kenseth enters this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway riding two consecutive top-five finishes.

n Sunday’s race will mark the fourth with interim crew chief Chip Bolin calling the shots atop the No. 17 pit box. Bolin, who hails from South Carolina with a degree in mechanical engineering from Clemson University, has been the engineer on the No. 17 team since its inception in 1999. Robbie Reiser is slated to return next week at Bristol.

n By finishing fourth last weekend, Las Vegas Motor Speedway statistically became Kenseth’s best track, giving him a 7.6-average finish at Vegas in eight starts.

n By starting the 2007 season with finishes of 27th, 1st, and 4th, Kenseth’s average finish is a 10.6, the fourth best start of his career.

n Kenseth has led at least one lap in each of the first three races of 2007.

n Since the end of 2002, Kenseth has not qualified better than 23rd in eight attempts at Atlanta. Kenseth did start from the pole last fall, but it was due to qualifying being rained out. Despite starting at the front last fall, Kenseth’s average starting position at Atlanta is 23.8.

Las Vegas Nextel Cup recap

n Photos from Las Vegas

No. 17 DEWALT FORD FUSION RECAP
Kenseth slips out of Vegas with another top-five finish

For much of the afternoon it looked as if a top-10 finish in Sunday’s UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 was a far-fetched notion for Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 DEWALT Ford team. The No. 17 team struggled, as much of the field did all weekend, with the harder tire Goodyear brought to the newly configured Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Running as low as 40th at one time in the event, Kenseth, interim crew chief Chip Bolin and the entire team worked to better the car throughout and with only 16 laps to go, found themselves in the ninth position. A decision to stay out on the final caution of the day proved to be the difference at the end, when Kenseth worked his way around the No. 01 on the final lap to steal a fourth-place finish.

A capacity crowd of 156,000 was on hand to watch Kasey Kahne lead the field to the green flag at 1:48 PM Pacific time on a picture-perfect day in the desert. Kenseth started the race in the 37th position, thanks largely to a poor qualifying draw (first), and knew heading in, that it was going to be an uphill battle.

Kenseth displayed some great driving in the early going, avoiding several multi-car accidents that occurred directly in front of him. After a pit stop on lap 20, Kenseth had worked his way up to the 20th position, where he hovered throughout a large part of the afternoon. Kenseth reported the car as being extremely loose getting into the corners for much of the race. The harder tire on the newly paved surface created a lack of “grip” in the corners, which in turn, created a slew of handling woes for all teams and it was evident early that the No. 17 team was not immune.

But, in typical fashion, the No. 17 team labored throughout, adjusting on the car in virtually every way conceivable to help the handling and gradually making the car better. By the mid-way point of the race, Kenseth was running in the 17th position and while the car was better, the track position was not, as Kenseth ran much of the mid portion of the race, trying hard to stay on the lead lap, just several seconds ahead of the leader.

Through a great display of tenacity, the No. 17 team was set up for one final charge towards the front. Kenseth restarted 12th, only 34 laps shy of the finish, and thanks to a series of adjustments from the Bolin-led crew, was as fast as he had been all day. Over the next 18 laps Kenseth worked his way up to the ninth position when the final caution flag of the day was displayed on lap 251.

Bolin and Kenseth agreed to stay out with only 10 laps remaining once the field took the green. It proved to be the correct call as Kenseth restarted fifth and over the final 10 circuits, maneuvered his way around Mark Martin to finish fourth, his fifth straight top-10 finish at Las Vegas.

“We didn’t run good all day, really, but all the DEWALT guys did a great job,” said a smiling Kenseth after the race. “Chip and Chris (Andrews, Engineer) made all the right adjustments and the DEWALT guys got me in and out of the pits quick when we needed to, and made the right calls on track position, too. Overall, it ended up being a great day, but it was really a struggle.”

NOT SPECTACULAR, BUT A SOLID DAY. “The finish was spectacular, the day certainly wasn’t. We didn’t have a very good handling car, really, all day, and kind of got lost at the beginning of the race and didn’t know what to adjust, and Chip and Chris kind of went nuts. The small fuel cells and all the cautions we were able to make a lot of different adjustments during pit stops because we had a lot of pit stops. From hard work and not giving up by the guys we were able to salvage a good finish out of a not-so-good day.”

DID YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH TIRES? “From what I saw the racing wasn’t great j