NH Busch & Cup Preview
June 27, 2007

New Hampshire International Speedway • Loudon, NH
Camping World 200 • Sat., June 30 • 2:30 pm/e ESPN2
LENOX Industrial Tools 300 • Sun., July 1 • 2pm/e TNT

Nextel Cup Chassis — #17 Carhartt/DEWALT Ford Fusion
• Primary — COT RK-451 Last outing, Richmond, May ’07, finished 10th; Also ran Phoenix, Apr. ’07, finished 5th; Bristol, Mar. ’07, finished 11th)
• Backup — COT RK-458 (Backup at Martinsville and Richmond, yet to race)

Busch Chassis — #17 Roush Fenway/F.W. Webb Ford Fusion
• Primary — RK-395 (Last ran Richmond, finished 2nd)

 
Matt’s Cup Series summary at NHIS:

Date	S	F	Laps	Led	Reason
09/17/06	25	10	300/300	1	Running
07/16/06	24	14	308/308	0	Running
09/19/05	4	3	300/300	0	Running
07/17/05	16	10	300/300	0	Running
09/19/04	5	2	300/300	0	Running
07/25/04	31	4	300/300	0	Running
09/14/03	19	7	300/300	7	Running
07/20/03	1	3	300/300	1	Running
09/15/02	17	10	207/207	0	Running
07/21/02	6	33	299/300	77	Running
11/23/01	16	4	300/300	0	Running
07/22/01	21	16	300/300	0	Running
09/17/00	38	17	298/300	0	Running
07/09/00	22	19	272/273	0	Running

 
Matt Kenseth Cup Series totals at NHIS:

	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles	Laps Led
July race	7	0	2	3	0	78
Sept race	7	0	3	6	0	8
Cumulative	14	0	5	9	0	86

Matt Kenseth Busch series summary at NHIS:

Date	S	F	Laps	Status
07/16/05	16	9	201/201	Running
07/24/04	21	1	200/200	Running
07/19/03	25	3	200/200	Running
05/08/99	16	8	200/200	Running
05/09/98	14	16	200/200	Running
05/10/97	25	40	64/200	Running

 
Matt Kenseth Busch Series totals at NHIS:

	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles
Cumulative	6	1	2	4	0

 
Matt Kenseth on racing at NHIS:

• Cup: “Well, the last couple of weeks have been pretty rough for us. At Michigan, I thought we had at least a top-five car, but we got caught up in a wreck. Then last week… well, last week is behind us. It was frustrating to say the least, to spin out twice then run out of gas right before the last lap; Sonoma is always tough for us and it seemed like if it could go wrong, it did last Sunday.

“But, this week is a new week and we’re going to a track that’s been pretty good to us over the years. We really haven’t had too many cars capable of winning at Loudon, but we’ve usually been good enough to run in the top 10 to top 15. This weekend, it’s going to be important for us to get some of the momentum back that we’ve lost in the past couple of weeks.”

• Busch: “This should be a good weekend for us in New Hampshire. I’ve had some success at this track in the past and it will be fun to carry the Roush Fenway Racing logo on the hood of our car. Plus with New Hampshire being so close to Boston we will have a lot of the Fenway people there to support us. I’ve had a few weeks off from Busch racing so it will be good to get back out there and hopefully earn a solid finish.”

Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at NHIS:

“We’re bringing a car that’s performed pretty good so far, but not as good as we’d like it. But, we’ve done some testing since the last time this car has run, plus we’ve had, really about two months of data collecting, whether from testing or actual racing that we feel will help the car.

“After the past two weeks, we need to get out there and hopefully run an uneventful race. It’s funny how this sport works. We had a wreck at Daytona on the last lap, but other than that, we ran the next 13 races, 14 if you count the All-Star race without getting into any trouble on the track. Now, in the past two weeks, we’ve definitely gotten our fill. Hopefully, we’re finished with all of that and can get back to doing what this team does best, and that’s running in the top 10 and competing for wins. New Hampshire is as good of a place as any to get back on track.”

Busch Series Crew Chief Drew Blickensderfer on racing at NHIS:

“The whole team is excited to have Matt back with us this weekend. This is the same car that we took to Richmond and had a real strong run with. We finished second in Richmond, but definitely had a car that could have won. Matt has had success at this track in the past so hopefully we can get the car handling well so Matt has a chance to earn another win a New Hampshire.”

New Hampshire Fast Facts

n Matt Kenseth has an average finish of 10.8 at New Hampshire International Speedway; tops among active NASCAR NEXTEL Cup drivers with three or more starts at the track, and the fifth best track for Kenseth’s career.

n Kenseth’s nine top-10 finishes at NHIS is best among all drivers since 2000, Kenseth’s rookie season.

n Kenseth has completed all but four laps in 14 races at NHIS; 4,084 of 4,088. The third best mark of any driver that has competed in those same 14 events (Mark Martin – 4,086 and Jeff Gordon – 4,085).

n The No. 17 Ford Fusion will carry the Carhartt colors this weekend for the third time in 2007. The Carhartt scheme will run once more at Charlotte in October.

n Kenseth will race in the NASCAR Busch Series at NHIS this weekend for the first time since July, 2005. For his career, Kenseth has raced six times in the NBS at NHIS, chalking up four consecutive top-10 finishes and winning this race in July of 2004.

n Kenseth won Tuesday night’s First Supply All-Star Challenge at Madison International Speedway in Madison, Wis. Kenseth, along with Tony Stewart and Todd Kluever raced in the 100-lap, super late model feature among the regions finest.

Kenseth adds NH Busch race

MATT KENSETH TO DRIVE THE NO. 17 ROUSH FENWAY/F.W. WEBB FORD FUSION IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

CONCORD, N.C. (June 27, 2007) - Matt Kenseth will sport a new paint scheme this weekend in New Hampshire. Combining Roush’s new relationship with Fenway Sports Group and being in the Boston area, the No. 17 Busch Series entry with Matt Kenseth will be the Roush Fenway/F.W. Webb Ford Fusion. The F.W. Webb Company is the largest distributor of plumbing, heating, cooling and piping products in the northeast. Kenseth has competed in six Busch Series races at New Hampshire International Speedway and has one win, two top-five and four top-10 finishes.

“This should be a good weekend for us in New Hampshire. I’ve had some success at this track in the past and it will be fun to carry the Roush Fenway Racing logo on the hood of our car,” Kenseth said. “Plus with New Hampshire being so close to Boston we will have a lot of the Fenway people there to support us. I’ve had a few weeks off from Busch racing so it will be good to get back out there and hopefully earn a solid finish.”

Infineon race recap

No. 17 DEWALT FORD FUSION RECAP
TOUGH DAY AT KENSETH’S TOUGHEST TRACK

If it could go wrong for Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 DEWALT team on Sunday at Infineon Raceway, it pretty much did. Kenseth started 27th but never had a chance to complete the first lap without incident. For the first of two times on the day, Kenseth was spun out by another car, this time coming to treacherous turn 11 to complete lap one. That spin sent him to the back, but Kenseth fought back, using pit strategy to scratch into the top 10. But, on lap 76, Kenseth was hit from behind and spun again, losing 12 positions in the process all the way back to 21st. Then, adding insult to injury, the No. 17 machine, while running in the 24th position, ran out of gas coming to the white flag. He dove onto pit road for an emergency splash of fuel, but it was too late. By the time he emerged from the pits, the race was over, as Kenseth finished 34th, the second car one lap down.

The NEXTEL Cup Series made their first of two stops at a road course on Sunday as Jamie McMurray led the field of 43 cars to the green flag at 2:18 PM Pacific, at the 11-turn Infineon Raceway. Kenseth started 27th on Sunday and he and crew chief Robbie Reiser knew from the beginning that they needed to use strategy to grab a good finish at the track that has been notoriously difficult for the No. 17 team.

The strategy was set, but unfortunately changed before lap one was completed. As the field barreled towards the 180 degree turn 11 for the first time, Kenseth, attempting a pass, dove to the inside of the No. 45 car. But, the No. 45 turned down on Kenseth causing both cars to spin. By the time they got underway again, Kenseth was scored in the 42nd position.

Several stops were made in an attempt to get the No. 17 car drivable. The No. 17 crew went to work and by the time the field took the green flag again, Kenseth was able to soldier on, but with a lot of track position to make up.

After working his way up to the 26th position, Kenseth came to pit road under yellow on lap 28 for four tires and fuel. The strategy, for the moment, appeared to have played into the No. 17 team’s hands. By pitting for tires under caution on lap 28, this allowed Kenseth to pit only for fuel when the first cycle of pit stops began just seven laps later, as teams were beginning to get inside their first fuel window.

The plan worked perfectly. Kenseth pitted on lap 36, under green, but unlike nearly everyone else, he only took fuel. Kenseth cycled in 28th, but as a result of the strategy, cycled out in 19th.

For the next 30 laps, Kenseth was able to hold his position. Caution again flew on lap-67 and the field came to pit road. Kenseth, after taking on four tires and fuel, came out of the pits in the 18th position.

As some cars started to peel off and come to pit road for fuel a few laps after the field took the ensuing green, Kenseth worked his way up to the ninth position. That’s where the No. 17 Fusion was running when on lap 76 Kenseth was run into from behind which sent his Ford spinning for the second time on the afternoon. By the time Kenseth collected his car and righted his ship, he was knocked back to the 21st position.

Kenseth clung to the top 25 over the final 30 laps, but fuel mileage quickly became a major concern. The No. 17 team knew that they would be close to making it, and, had at least one caution flag waved during the final 40 laps, Kenseth would have made it to the end with just enough gas to spare. However, the race ran caution free during the final 40 laps and as Kenseth exited turn 10, heading to white flag, he lost fuel pressure and quickly dove onto pit road.

The No. 17 team tried valiantly to get enough fuel in the car and push it down pit road, but by the time the car fired again the leader had taken the checkered flag before Kenseth could cross the line and therefore was saddled one lap down with a 34th-place finish.

“That was a pretty rough day,” said Kenseth. “After we got hit early, we fought hard to get inside the top 15 but then we got hit again and lost a ton of track position. Of course, none of that really mattered considering we ran out of gas at the end. It was a tough day, and we knew going in it was going to be tough. We’re definitely ready to put this one behind us, get back on an oval, and make up some ground next week.”

RACE SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Started 27th • Finished 34th

POINTS SUMMARY
Race Total: 61 points
Season Total: 2105 points
2044 points, Ranked 4th, 433 points behind first

NEXT UP:
Lennox Industrial Tools 300 • New Hampshire International Speedway • Sun., July 1

Infineon Nextel Cup Preview
June 20, 2007

Infineon Raceway • Sonoma, Calif.
Toyota/Save Mart 350 • Sun., June 24 • 4:30 pm/e TNT

Nextel Cup Chassis — #17 DeWALT Ford Fusion
• Primary — RK-491 (Brand new; has tested)
• Backup — RK-482 (Brand new; has tested)

 
Matt’s Cup Series summary at Sonoma:

Date	S	F	Laps	Led	Reason
06/25/06	9	17	110/110	0	Running
06/26/05	24	11	110/110	0	Running
06/27/04	5	20	110/110	0	Running
06/22/03	4	14	110/110	0	Running
06/23/02	6	39	90/110	0	Running
06/24/01	20	21	112/112	0	Running
06/25/00	38	32	110/112	0	Running

 
Matt Kenseth Cup Series totals at Sonoma:

	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles	Laps Led
Cumulative	7	0	0	0	0	0

 
Matt Kenseth on racing at Sonoma:

“For the longest time I really dreaded coming to a road course, but I guess it’s kind of like anything else, the more you do it, the more comfortable you feel, and I don’t dread it nearly as much as I use to. We’ve gotten a little better with our road-course program, but more importantly, I think I’ve got a better feel for that type of racing as I get more experience.

“The biggest challenge for me is being able to tell Robbie (Reiser) and Chip (Bolin, engineer) how to make the car better. I’d say that’s one of our strengths most of the time, being able to adjust the racecar and keep getting it better. But, for me, it seems a little bit harder on road courses.

“The main thing is track position. We need a good qualifying effort, which, ironically, Sonoma seems to be one of our best tracks in terms of qualifying, which, come to think of it, is kind of backwards from how we are on the ovals. But, this is probably the best I’ve ever felt about our chances at a road course this weekend. Hopefully, we can get a good qualifying spot and keep our track position all day and maybe end up with a top 10.”

Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at Sonoma:

“Everyone will be taking a brand new car this weekend and, while I’m sure most people have tested theirs, it should be interesting on Friday. My thinking is that the same guys that usually run good on road courses will continue to do so, while those that struggle will continue to struggle. I don’t think the new car is going to make that big of a difference where someone who usually runs about mid pack is suddenly going to compete for a win out there. That’s not going to happen.

“It’s all about track position when it comes to road courses. We need a good qualifying position and then it usually comes down to pit strategy and solid stops. Everyone works the pit strategy on road courses backwards, meaning that they figure how many laps they can make on a fuel run and then count the laps backwards from the end to determine the soonest the can pit in order to stay in their window and make it to the end on fuel. The last thing you want to do is have to pit in the last 10 or 15 laps and lose 20 or 30 positions, because there’s always a lot of cars on the lead lap and passing is so hard, there’s no way you’re going to be able to make it up.”

Sonoma Fast Facts

n Matt Kenseth’s DNF (Did Not Finish) at Michigan broke a streak of 44 races in which Kenseth was running at the finish - dating back to Martinsville on April 2, 2006.

n Until Kenseth’s wreck on lap 75 at Michigan, he was the last driver standing in terms of completing every lap in the NEXTEL Cup Series in 2007, completing the first 4,634 laps of the season.

n Kenseth’s 42nd-place finish at Michigan marked only the 12th time in 271 NEXTEL Cup starts that he’s finished 40th or worse. The last time was on April 23, 2005 at Phoenix International Raceway where he finished 42nd.

n Despite the Michigan finish, Kenseth’s average finish in the NEXTEL Cup Series this season is 10.8, third best in the series among drivers who have competed in every race.

n Infineon Raceway is the only track at which Kenseth has yet to score a top-10 finish during his Cup career. He has scored at least one top-10 finish at 22 of 23 tracks (including North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, NC).

n Kenseth’s average finish at Infineon Raceway is 22.0; second only to Homestead-Miami Speedway (22.7) as statistically being his worst track.

n Conversely, Kenseth’s average starting position at Infineon Raceway (15.1) is better than any other track by 1.3 positions.

Michigan race recap

No. 17 CARHARTT/DEWALT FORD FUSION RECAP
LAP-75 WRECK CUTS KENSETH’S PROMISING DAY SHORT

n Photos from Michigan

For the first time since April 2, 2006, in Martinsville, Va., Kenseth and the No. 17 team suffered a DNF (“did not finish”) in Sunday’s Citizens Bank 400 at the Michigan International Speedway. Kenseth looked strong early, working his way up to the eighth position after starting 26th. But on a lap-75 restart Kenseth was collected in a multi-car accident at the beginning of the backstretch. Kenseth’s No. 17 Carhartt/DEWALT Ford Fusion sustained heavy damage to both the right front and right rear of the machine. Forced behind the wall, the No. 17 team went to work on the car, trying to return to the racetrack, but after nearly one hour of work and two failed attempts to return, they finally parked it for the afternoon on lap 159, finishing 42nd.

The capacity crowd on hand enjoyed sunny skies and temperatures nearing 90 degrees as J.J. Yeley led the field to the green flag at 2:15 PM Eastern. Kenseth, flying the Carhartt colors for the second of four times in 2007, started 26th and predictably began making his way to the front.

Although Kenseth reported the car as being loose on exit early in the race, the No. 17 car was gradually making its way forward. By the time the first cycle of green-flag pit stops were in order on lap 36, Kenseth had worked his way into the 16th position. After an excellent stop by the “Killer Bees,” Kenseth cycled out in the 14th position.

That’s where Kenseth remained until the first caution of the day flew on lap 52. Kenseth came to pit road for four tires and adjustments and thanks to a 12.01 second pit stop, picked up two positions to emerge in 12th place.

On the ensuing restart, Kenseth immediately sailed into the top 10 on lap 57. The adjustments seemed to be working and the No. 17 machine was suddenly one of the fastest cars on the track. Ten laps later, Kenseth was running in the eighth position when the caution waved on lap 68.

Once again the pit crew was flawless and picked up three positions on everyone who took four tires on pit road. But, several took two tires or less, which in turn, placed Kenseth back in eight. Still, Kenseth was pleased with the balance of the racecar and the “Two-Mile King” suddenly looked primed to challenge for yet another victory.

But promise turn to catastrophe on the ensuing restart. As the field spilled onto the backstretch, two cars got together directly in front of the No. 17 Ford. Kenseth slowed and began evasive maneuvers, but was run into from behind and turned directly nose first into the outside retaining wall. As the No. 17 slid back across traffic, Kenseth was hit again and in the wreck sustained severe right-side damage, forcing him to the garage.

The Robbie Reiser-led crew worked feverishly to repair the wrecked racecar and after extensive repairs returned Kenseth to the track to try and make as many points as possible. But, the damage proved too great. Kenseth was not going to be able to meet NASCAR’s minimum speed requirement and after two attempts, with no positions to gain on the track, retired for the afternoon on lap 159.

Kenseth ended up finishing 42nd and in the process lost two positions in the championship point standings, falling to fourth. The DNF was Kenseth’s first in 44 races, the longest streak in his career. The finish is also the worst since Kenseth finished 42nd on April 23, 2005 at Phoenix, 79 races ago.

“I’m surprised it’s not wrecked worse, really,” Kenseth said of the racecar. “It took some hard hits there. I guess a couple of cars got together up front from what I heard – I don’t know, I haven’t seen it and I was just coming off the corner there and went two-wide and Martin slowed up a little bit. I just barely got in the back of him and he got a little sideways and I had to get out of the gas. We were both going to be okay and then I got hit from behind, and then everybody just came piling off in there. It’s just one of them things that you get caught up in. I try to stay out of all the wrecks, but you can never miss them all.”

RACE SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Started 26th • Finished 42nd

POINTS SUMMARY
Race Total: 37 points
Season Total: 2007 points
2044 points, Ranked 4th, 348 points behind first

NEXT UP:
Dodge Save Mart 350 • Infineon Raceway • Sun., June 24

Roush Fenway Racing announces new partnership with Aflac
June 15, 2007

Aflac Partners with Roush Fenway Racing to Sponsor NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series Races
Aflac Duck paint scheme to premier July 1

Columbus, Ga. — June 15, 2007 — With a successful acting career in television commercials and even movies, the Aflac Duck has added yet another role to its already impressive repertoire — race-car driving. Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL) today announced that it is partnering with Roush Fenway Racing to sponsor eight NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series races in the 2007 season.

Greg Biffle will drive the No. 16 Aflac Ford for its debut at the NEXTEL Cup race on July 1 at New Hampshire International Speedway for a total of four races. Aflac is also sponsoring four Busch Series races with drivers Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, and Jamie McMurray.

“We look forward to working with a world-class team like Roush Fenway Racing to bring the Aflac brand closer to NASCAR fans,” said Paul S. Amos II, president, Aflac; COO, U.S. Operations. “In addition to uniting with another great brand and working with these exciting drivers, this sponsorship will be a useful platform to build additional awareness of how our products can help consumers in their quest to balance everyday living expenses with out-of-pocket health care costs not covered by their existing major medical insurance.”

Aflac’s Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Jeff Herbert added: “We believe the marketing opportunities that will result as a part of our sponsorship with this great motorsports leader will help grow our business and reach our broad consumer base.”

“I am extremely excited to work with Aflac, with its reputation as a solid, strong business leader and innovative company,” said Jack Roush, Roush Fenway Racing team owner. “Aflac is a welcome addition to our team, and to racing.”

“Aflac is certainly a household name, whether people are familiar with their service or just their commercials,” added NASCAR Driver Biffle. “I’ve been fortunate to have several high profile national sponsors — and now Aflac — that the average race fan is familiar with and has likely had a good experience with their service or product. I know Aflac has been involved with the NASCAR broadcasts but I am excited to debut their paint scheme at New Hampshire next month.”

The paint scheme was unveiled today at Michigan International Speedway and can be viewed at www.aflacracing.com. The Aflac Racing schedule below is also available on the Web site.

Greg Biffle — No. 16 Aflac Ford, NEXTEL Cup Series

• July 1, New Hampshire Int’l Speedway
• July 15, Chicagoland Speedway
• Sept. 2, California Speedway
• Sept. 30, Kansas Speedway

Carl Edwards — No. 60 Aflac Ford, Busch Series

• July 6, Daytona Int’l Speedway

Matt Kenseth — No. 17 Aflac Ford, Busch Series

• Aug. 11, Watkins Glen Int’l

Jamie McMurray — No. 26 Aflac Ford, Busch Series

• Aug. 24, Bristol Motor Speedway
• Sept. 7, Richmond Int’l Raceway

About Aflac
For more than 50 years, Aflac products have given policyholders the opportunity to direct cash where it is needed most when a life-interrupting medical event causes financial challenges. Aflac is the number one provider of guaranteed-renewable insurance in the United States and the number one insurance company in terms of individual insurance policies in force in Japan. Our insurance products provide protection to more than 40 million people worldwide. Aflac has been included in Fortune magazine’s listing of America’s Most Admired Companies for seven consecutive years and in Fortune magazine’s list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for nine consecutive years. Aflac has also been recognized three times by both Fortune magazine’s listing of the Top 50 Employers for Minorities and Working Mother magazine’s listing of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers. Aflac Incorporated is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AFL. To find out more about Aflac, visit www.aflac.com.

Michigan Nextel Cup Preview
June 13, 2007

Michigan International Speedway • Brooklyn, Mich.
Citizens Bank 400 • Sun., June 17 • 2:00 pm/e TNT

Nextel Cup Chassis — #17 Carhartt/DeWALT Ford Fusion
• Primary — RK-323 (Last ran at Charlotte, May ’07, led 50 laps, finished 12th; Won Michigan, Aug. ’06; Won Fontana, Feb. ’06)
• Backup — RK-340 (Tested Las Vegas, Jan. ’07; Last ran: Pocono, Jun. ’06, finished fifth)

 
Matt’s Cup Series summary at Michigan:

Date	S	F	Laps	Led	Reason
08/20/06	3	1	200/200	87	Running
06/18/06	20	13	129/129	0	Running
08/21/05	13	3	200/200	9	Running
06/19/05	21	4	200/200	0	Running
08/22/04	5	8	200/200	0	Running
06/20/04	18	7	200/200	1	Running
08/17/03	33	9	200/200	0	Running
06/15/03	21	4	200/200	0	Running
08/18/02	21	11	200/200	17	Running
06/16/02	20	1	200/200	26	Running
08/19/01	33	4	162/162	0	Running
06/10/01	31	15	200/200	10	Running
08/20/00	28	8	200/200	0	Running
06/11/00	23	17	193/194	0	Running
08/22/99	25	14	200/200	0	Running

 
Matt Kenseth Cup Series totals at Michigan:

	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles	Laps Led
June Race	7	1	3	4	0	27
Aug. Race	8	1	3	6	0	113
Cumulative	15	2	6	10	0	150

 
Matt Kenseth on racing at Michigan:

“I always look forward to racing at Michigan, mainly because of the track. It’s in the Midwest, pretty close to where I grew up. It has three or four grooves, and really, anywhere we go that there’s plenty of room to pass I enjoy racing at. Michigan is one of those tracks. It obviously helps that we’ve ran good there in the past, but I like how you can move around and find a groove that works best for you. There’s a lot of passing and it’s always a good show.

“I feel really good about where we are in the points. We’re about half way to the Chase and sitting pretty good in the points. Hopefully we can keep getting these cars better. We haven’t been as good as some of the guys around us, where we’re able to go out and compete for wins each week, but we have been pretty close. I think we’re improving and hopefully we’ll peak at the right time.”

Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at Michigan:

“We’re going to take the car that won there last fall. It was our workhorse last year, and has only ran at Charlotte this year. We think it’s going to be good, but we really won’t know until we unload. It was one of the better cars on the track in Charlotte, but we didn’t really get a great finish because of the fuel mileage deal at the end of the race. Hopefully, that’s not a factor this weekend, but it seems like at Michigan it usually is.

“Michigan’s been good to us over the years and it’d be a nice to go up there and win this thing. We’ve been close a few times this year, but other than Fontana, we haven’t been able to get one. Roush has always been strong at Michigan and hopefully we’ll continue that this weekend, not just with us, but hopefully everyone has a good run and we come away with some momentum.”

Michigan Fast Facts

n Matt Kenseth is the only driver in the NEXTEL Cup Series that has completed every lap to this point in 2007, a total of 4,559.

n Kenseth’s average finish in the NEXTEL Cup Series this season is 8.5, second only to Jeff Gordon.

n Kenseth’s No. 17 Ford Fusion will carry the Carhartt colors this weekend for the second of four times in 2007. The first time was at Fontana, where Kenseth started 25th and led 133 laps, before scoring his first and only Cup victory to this point of 2007.

n Matt Kenseth’s average finish of 7.9 at Michigan is second best among the 23 tracks that he has raced at in his NEXTEL Cup career, trailing only Las Vegas (7.6).

n Kenseth’s average finish at Michigan, 7.9, is best all-time among drivers with two or more starts at Michigan.

n Since entering the series full time in 2000, no one has completed more laps on two-mile ovals (Michigan & Fontana) than Kenseth who has completed 5,549.

n Since the beginning of 2000, no one has collected more top-five finishes or top-10 finishes on the two, two-mile ovals than Kenseth, who has scored 10 top fives and 17 top 10s in 26 starts.

NASCAR Teleconference with Matt Kenseth
June 12, 2007

DENISE MALOOF: Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the NASCAR NEXTEL teleconference. Our guest today, ahead of Sunday’s Citizen’s Bank 400 at Michigan International Speedway, is Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 DeWALT Ford. Matt currently is in second place in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series standings, and he’s returning to a track where he’s excelled. He won the August 2006 event at Michigan and he had two wins in 23 careers starts there. Matt, welcome.

MATT KENSETH: Thanks.

DENISE MALOOF: Although he’s been impressive, Jeff Gordon’s status as the current standings leader might be kind of overshadowing what is an excellent season to date for your team, as well. Do you feel like you’re right on track right now?

MATT KENSETH: Well, I mean, you always hope to be doing a little bit better, but certainly our car has been great, the car has been really reliable and we’ve been able to complete every lap so far and we’ve had great pit stops. Overall the cars have been pretty competitive, so certainly we haven’t been at the spot where the 24 and the 48 and even 11 and some of them guys have been even as far as a competition standpoint, but we’ve been really consistent, and I think our cars are getting better as the season goes on.

I feel really good about where we’re at. Obviously we’re in a nice position in points and halfway through I think on the way to the Chase. I feel pretty comfortable where we’re at in the points, and we’re just working really hard to get our cars better for the end of the year when it really counts.

DENISE MALOOF: Your team Roush Fenway Racing has an exceptional record at Michigan and you do, too, so I know you’re probably anticipating this weekend.

MATT KENSETH: I really look forward to going to Michigan mainly because of the track. It’s such a great track. There’s three or four grooves out there. And any track that we can go to, where if you’re following somebody and you’re faster than them that you have another option for a group to be able to pass, is always something we look forward to. And obviously we’ve ran pretty good there in the past, too, so that’s part of the reason I look forward to it. It’s just fun a fun track. You move around and try to find a groove that works for your car, and there’s always a lot of passing there and I think it’s always an exciting race.

Q. Going back to last week a little bit, how fun was it for you guys to just go out there and get in the dirt, so to speak, and race with all your buddies with no points on the line and do some old-school racing?

MATT KENSETH: Are you talking about Eldora on Wednesday?

Q. Yeah.

MATT KENSETH: Yes, sir, that was a lot of fun. I really look forward to that all the time. I think that they’re really cool-looking race cars. They’re really fun to drive. They’ve got a lot of power. And I have very limited dirt experience. I ran the Prelude to the Dream the last three years at Eldora, and they were going to modify that trailer track last year, so that’s something I really enjoyed.

It’s real interesting to me to see how much the track changes, how much you’ve got to set the changes on the car and the very limited practice and all that stuff. It’s just something really different, and I think it’s good for you. You learn a lot about the track conditions and stuff like that, so it’s a lot of fun.

Q. There was a quick interview with your son on TV. How involved is he getting into racing?

MATT KENSETH: He’s definitely at this point very interested in racing, that’s for sure. He’s been around in the Legends cars the last couple years and he ran some old cars before that. He just started driving the late model stuff. He just raced last Friday, and I’m trying to get him out this summer to get his feet wet a little bit. Right now he’s definitely fired up about it, that’s for sure.

Q. I’ve compared the numbers from your championship season in 2003 to the numbers that you have this year, and they’re really extremely similar. After the first 14 races you have got one win, six top 5s, 12 top 10s, and so far this year you have one win, six top 5s and 10 top 10s. You won your championship under the old points system, and some say since that happened you only had one win, that NASCAR was bound to change the points system. So my question is, do you think the new points system helps or hurts your chances at another championship?

MATT KENSETH: No, not really. I mean, every season was different. I mean, if you look at how far Jeff Gordon was ahead and really how far he would have been ahead if he wouldn’t have had that Charlotte wreck, basically. You can kind of see why there’s a need for the Chase and to make it more exciting at the end of the year and all that stuff. So obviously if he had that big of a cushion at this point in the year, if he still had this three months from now, obviously, he’d probably end up shopping all in one place and would be playing a little bit more conservative. It spices things up at the end of the year.

I really think that your opportunity, if you’re with a competitive team, to win a championship, is much — I don’t know want to use the word easier, but you certainly have a better chance, I think, than with the old system. With the old system if you had a flat tire at Martinsville in April that was just — and lost 20 spots, that was just as big a penalty as having a flat tire and losing 20 spots at Homestead, where that’s not really the case anymore; you know, if you can make the top 12 and hopefully with the new seeding system win some races, you all have a shot in the last ten races. Really the first ones aren’t as important, but certainly you can have a couple mulligans and still have a shot at the championship if you can get everything right for the last ten races.

Q. I know you’re a big Green Bay fan so I was wondering what you thought of not getting Randy Moss this year?

MATT KENSETH: Well, you know, I’m a fan. You know, I’m not an insider, so I don’t know what all was done or said with that or whatever, so I mean, obviously from watching from a fan standpoint, Randy Moss was a great talent, but obviously when things aren’t going right, in the past anyway, he’s been a distraction and probably not a help for the team. But certainly when he was on his game at Minnesota and was playing hard and doing all that stuff, he’s arguably one of the best receivers in the league. Obviously it would be cool to have that and have a deep threat for Favre. But like I said, I’m not an insider and they’re really trying to build the team through the draft and build with some young players and they showed some promise at the end of last year, so I’m looking forward to the season.

Q. I know that Mark Martin holds you in high regard, and I wondered how life has changed for you professionally knowing you don’t have him in the camp to go to whenever you need a little piece of advice.

MATT KENSETH: It really hasn’t changed at all, to be honest with you. If I need a piece of advice I still call him. More so than just sharing information or doing teammate stuff, we’ve become good friends. He’s been a mentor of mine. But after probably the first year or two and after working together a little bit in the Busch Series and all that stuff, more of his advice and help and all that stuff is more on, you know, everyday stuff that he can still help me with, without being a teammate, whether it’s business stuff or the right thing to do on the track, off the track, driving style-wise or etiquette-wise or whatever it could be, still try to model myself a lot after his driving style and some of the things that he does and doesn’t do. I’ve never called him since he’s left and he’s not answered the phone or not called me back or whatever. So he’s still real easy to get a hold of, and he’s always around whenever I need some advice.

Q. How frustrating has it been not getting that Ford to Victory Lane just as yet?

MATT KENSETH: Well, we’ve had ours at Victory Lane, so that part has been good. We’ve been able to win a race, but certainly we’d love to win more. You always want to win more. There’s been some races where we’ve been competitive enough with everything where I think we’re ready to win. There’s been a lot of races where we’ve been off a little bit, but we’ve still been able to get some good finishes. Certainly we realize there’s a little work to do to be a contender for a win every week, like the 24 and some of them guys, and we’re working hard at getting our cars better.

Q. What’s the biggest thing that you’ve noticed since the Roush merger with Fenway, or can you even tell the difference? What’s it been like for your team?

MATT KENSETH: To be totally honest with you, I can’t tell the difference. A little bit of a change. And we know that John Henry has come in there as half owner of the team and all that, but from my standpoint, from a competition standpoint, there really hasn’t been a change. We’ve still got all the stuff we need to go racing with. We still build the same amount of cars and do the same things. So really from my standpoint so far nothing has changed, but it’s still early in the game and I know we’ve got a lot of big plans to make things better on the marketing side and the sponsorship side. But the stuff I worry about, the competition side, hasn’t changed at all.

Q. You’ve been highly successful at Michigan with the current car. How do you perceive the Car of Tomorrow running there when it does?

MATT KENSETH: I don’t think it’ll be much different than everywhere else. Obviously the car has been frustrating. Everybody has their driving style, and I can’t stand it when my car pushes into another car and it’s really hard to pass when your car doesn’t turn. We struggle to make ours turn. I will say that for whatever reason that Darlington and Dover, we were a little bit better, a little bit more competitive. The faster the cars go the better they seem to handle, for whatever reason.

You know, everybody is kind of saying we’ve got to keep working at it, try to make them turn better. They’re just naturally a really tight car. They built them, for whatever reason. They built them so they’re really, really aero tight. They have a lot of rear grip and not a lot of front grip, and that’s something we’ve got to work hard on, to make them so anybody can drive them, try to make them real comfortable and real tight, and that’s been a problem for some of us to get them to turn good enough.

Q. It was touched on a little earlier about how good MIS has been to the Roush camp. What’s been the reason behind that? Why do you think you guys perform so well there?

MATT KENSETH: Well, I think it all probably starts with Mark Martin and Jeff Burton. They’ve always done really well there, and some of that’s probably translated to us back in earlier years. But it’s just a big wide open track where kind of everything matters. You’ve got to have good engines, you’ve got to have a lot of downforce, good pit stops. Everything has to be right there. But I think if you run good at the mile and a half tracks you’ll run good at Michigan and California. I don’t know exactly why, but it’s been a decent track for us and we’ve been able to get our cars to get around there pretty good.

Q. Is this a place where maybe Roush has an advantage over the Hendrick guys, or Ford has an advantage over Chevrolet?

MATT KENSETH: No, I don’t think so. I think every track is a little bit different and a little bit unique. Certainly we’ve been able to do better as a group and Roush has been able to do better at Michigan and California than maybe some of the other groups, but I’m not so sure that we have an advantage going into the weekend. Hopefully we’ll be a little closer to them, but I don’t think we have any kind of an advantage.

Q. With New Hampshire coming up here in the next couple weeks, do you foresee any difference in the racing with the Car of Tomorrow there?

MATT KENSETH: Where is that?

Q. New Hampshire.

MATT KENSETH: (Laughing) I don’t know, not really, I guess. We’ve been to Milwaukee and tested it just a little bit. I don’t really foresee it being much different than any other Car of Tomorrow races. I think it’ll be the same thing at a track like that, just working on trying to make the front end turn somehow. I think the cars are going to be real tight there like they’ve been at Richmond and Martinsville and stuff like that. I think we’ll be working really hard at getting the front ends to get any grip.

Certainly, for whatever reason, if you can get them side by side they’ve put on pretty competitive races and they’ve been able to run side by side a little bit easier than our current cars. It seems like the guy at the bottom doesn’t get as loose, as you do with the current car, but I think some of that is because some of the cars are way too tight by themselves. I don’t see the racing being much different. It seems like Phoenix, some of them tracks, the racing has been good and it has been close and competitive and fun to watch, so hopefully we can get our car to turn a little better and get up there with those league guys.

Q. Has it been a challenge switching week to week between the two cars?

MATT KENSETH: Probably more for the team than what it is for me. It’s tough, the cars take totally different setups and actually different parts and components. So I mean, reloading, just the little things, reloading your crash carts and your parts on your team and your A frames, all that stuff is different than our standard stuff, so just having all that stuff ready and having two sets of cars done and painted into the wind tunnel and testing them and all that stuff has been a big workload for the team. But I don’t really notice that much difference getting in and out of them. It doesn’t take you long to adapt.

Q. Just curious, I know when you come to the various tracks there’s always busy times getting ready for qualifying; practice, of course race day itself, but I have to imagine there’s always a little bit of downtime, and what do you do to chill out and relax during your down times?

MATT KENSETH: Well, it depends where you’re at. There’s some tracks where we haven’t done as much, but there’s sometimes where I bring a motorcycle with. And if we don’t have a Busch race I may go for a motorcycle ride and kind of explore the area a little bit or something like that. Honestly, most of the time I sit in the motor home and watch TV or play Madden Football on my PlayStation. That’s one of my favorite hobbies, or sit in the motor home and read or whatever. Especially if there’s a Busch race it’s hard to leave the track, there’s so many people there and so much traffic and it’s always busy everywhere around there, so it’s tough to get in and out of there very much. Most weekends, especially this year so far, we’ve been running the Busch Car and it’s been fairly busy.

Q. This weekend probably not so much. Are you going to be heading out of town to run the Busch race?

MATT KENSETH: No, I’m not going to be around, but I think the last practice isn’t over until 2 on Saturday and then there’s a track race. My son and my dad will be coming to the race, which they try to come every year for Father’s Day, so it’ll be nice to have all three of us there, and I’m looking forward to spending some time with them.

Q. Outside the car you often display an unrivaled personality. Your team is highly productive over time and they seemed to be sometimes considered quiet contenders by some fans, and others are surprised by your consistent results. Do you think your steady personality influences this impression, and do you hope some continue to underestimate your team?

MATT KENSETH: To be honest with you, I missed most of what you said there. If you’re talking about our team being consistent or not getting the recognition that maybe some of the other teams get, I think that we’ve looked at like that for whatever reason. I don’t really know why. Some guys obviously like to see themselves on TV more than others, but I definitely don’t shy away from it, either. Being, I think, the underdog and not having all the attention in the past has been an advantage for us. I think it still is. I think sometimes when not just the driver but the team and everybody gets a ton of media all the time and a ton of coverage and all that, I think actually expectations go up and it puts pressure on the guy and takes some of the focus from our driving. Certainly if we can just work on race cars and concentrate on that, I think that’s an advantage.

Q. Is it possible to explain the productive makeup of your team, being so consistent over time?

MATT KENSETH: Can you repeat that?

Q. Is it possible to explain the productive makeup of your team that makes the consistency?

MATT KENSETH: Well, I think it starts at the top, which is Robby. I think Robby Reiser has always done a great job of picking out the right people. He’s always had a unique way about getting people. And really, most of the people that we’ve ever had a problem with or lost or whatever has been people that we got another way. So he’s always went and got young guys or guys that haven’t really been in the sport, maybe from a different state, off a late model team or maybe off a Truck team or something like that, and that’s usually worked out great. Usually when he’s gone after people that have been with other Cup teams and stuff like that, it hasn’t worked out as well.

I think if you’re the one or our team is the one or whatever, giving the people the opportunity to get into the sport or giving them the opportunity to be with their first Cup team or something like that, it seems like you’re able to get them to be more loyal to the car, to do a great job, and that’s kind of way he’s gone about picking our team out. And we’ve been real fortunate to keep the basic group together for a long, long time. It’s a great group of guys. They work really hard, they’re passionate about what they do and take a lot of pride in their work.

Q. I wanted to find out about the NASCAR testing schedule and the possibility of it being changed. What would you like to see it changed into?

MATT KENSETH: Well, you know, the less testing we do, the better. Since they opened it back up, that’s going to be very, very difficult on everybody. People have found — not really a way around it; people have went and tested and went to these non-NASCAR-sanctioned tracks and done that and made it work. So I kind of like Jack’s idea, if you have an entry blank where you’re signing off that the cars has not been — the cars or you or the driver or the team or whatever has not been to any racetrack and done any track testing, I think that would be a great thing. I think that the way NASCAR does the tests where everybody can be at the same track three or four times a year or whatever it may be, I think it’s fine. I think that’s more than enough. I think if you open it up, it’s just going to cost a lot more money and you’re going to be a lot busier.

I mean, everybody going to a road course and testing and doing that kind of stuff is kind of natural. We’ve never raced COTs on road courses; there is no tests. You know everybody is going to a local road course and just shake their car down, and all that is fine, but certainly to open it up to tracks in order to — and start buying tires and testing them ourselves and doing all that stuff, in this day and age would be very, very expensive.

DENISE MALOOF: Matt, thanks for joining us today. We appreciate your time. Good luck this Sunday.

FastScripts by ASAP Sports

Pocono race recap

No. 17 DEWALT FORD FUSION RECAP
KENSETH FINISHES 9th IN RAIN-SHORTENED POCONO 500; MOVES UP TO SECOND IN THE POINTS

For the fourth time in the past six weeks, rain postponed the start of NEXTEL Cup racing. But unlike the previous three times, Sunday’s Pocono 500 got underway on the same day, just a few hours late. Matt Kenseth struggled with the car’s handling in both practice sessions, which resulted in a 24th starting position. Handling problems plagued the team throughout the day, but could not keep them from earning their 10th top-10 finish of the year. Jeff Gordon won the rain shortened Pocono 500, which lasted only 106 of the scheduled 200 laps, while Kenseth finished ninth. With his 13th straight top-15 finish, Kenseth moved into second in the championship point standings.

Ryan Newman finally led the field to the green flag at 5:05 PM Eastern on Sunday, three hours later than scheduled, in front of a packed crowd who stuck around throughout the rain delay. Kenseth wasted no time making his move to the front, moving from 24th to 18th on the first lap.

The No. 17 DEWALT Ford Fusion was not handling quite as well as Kenseth needed it to, but he was able to break into the top 15 by lap 18. While running 14th on lap 24, Kenseth came down pit road under green for an air pressure adjustment, four tires, and fuel. The “Killer Bees” were able to gain two spots, leaving Kenseth riding 12th after the field cycled through stops on lap 29.

The adjustments seemed to help the handling, but it wasn’t quite the answer the No. 17 team was looking for. The car was a little loose off turn three, good through turn one, but the front just wasn’t working well enough to gain much ground on the leaders. Kenseth was able to move up to 11th and hold onto that position until the first caution of the day came on lap 48. Kenseth came over the radio under caution and said “the longer we run the worse we get,” which was not exactly what the team wanted to hear, but they came up with a solution.

A lightning fast four-tires-and fuel pit stop on lap 49 moved Kenseth up to ninth for the green flag restart on lap 53. Every little adjustment seemed to improve the handling, but they just couldn’t seem to find the exact set up they needed. This time around Kenseth needed more grip in the front tires. He returned to pit road on lap 64, while running 10th, for right-side tires only and started making his way through the field.

Kenseth broke into the top-five on lap 84 and was sitting in the fourth position for what would be the team’s final pit stop on lap 90, just 10 laps shy of the halfway mark. The “Killer Bees” completed a four-tire stop in just 12.53 seconds under green flag conditions.

On lap 98, a bolt of lightning could be seen in turn one and was quickly followed by some loud thunder. By lap 102 it was raining in turn one, on lap 103 the caution came out, and on lap 106 NASCAR parked the field on pit road. Shortly after stopping the field NASCAR realized there would be no way to dry the track and finish in the daylight. Since Pocono has no lights for night racing, and they were already halfway, NASCAR called the race. Gordon went on to win the rain-shortened event while Kenseth finished ninth. Kenseth second consecutive top-10 finish moved him up one spot in the point standings to second, now 421 points ahead of 12th, the cut-off point for the Chase.

“Our car was much better than it was yesterday,” said Kenseth. “We were off just a little, but were much better than I thought we would be. We don’t run particularly well here, but we were pretty much a top-10 car. I don’t think we could have moved up much if the race had continued, those guys in front of us seem to have there cars handling a little better than ours.”

RACE SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Started 24th • Finished 9th* (Rain shortened)

POINTS SUMMARY
Race Total: 138 points
Season Total: 2007 points
Ranked 2nd, 242 points behind first

NEXT UP:
Citizens Bank 400 • Michigan International Speedway • Sunday, June 17

Pocono Nextel Cup Preview
June 6, 2007

Pocono Raceway • Long Pond, Pa.
Pocono 500 • Sun., June 10 • 1:30 pm/e TNT

Nextel Cup Chassis — #17 DeWALT Ford Fusion
• Primary — RK-317 (Last ran at Texas, Apr. ’07, finished 2nd; Won at Fontana, Feb. ’07; Yet to finish worse than fourth in four races in 2007)
• Backup — RK-340 (Tested Las Vegas, Jan. ’07; Last ran Pocono, Jun. ’06, finished fifth)

 
Matt’s Cup Series summary at Pocono:

Date	S	F	Laps	Led	Reason
07/23/06	11	14	200/200	0	Running
06/11/06	25	5	200/200	3	Running
07/24/05	30	36	195/203	0	Running
06/12/05	10	32	197/201	0	Running
08/1/04	15	8	200/200	0	Running
06/13/04	15	21	200/200	5	Running
07/27/03	9	13	200/200	2	Running
06/08/03	25	3	200/200	10	Running
07/28/02	22	8	175/175	0	Running
06/9/02	4	35	161/200	3	Running
07/29/01	24	14	200/200	3	Running
06/17/01	31	6	200/200	0	Running
07/23/00	24	5	200/200	0	Running
06/19/00	29	14	200/200	0	Running

 
Matt Kenseth Cup Series totals at Pocono:

	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles	Laps Led
June Race	7	0	2	3	0	21
July Race	7	0	1	3	0	5
Cumulative	14	0	3	6	0	26

 
Matt Kenseth on racing at Pocono:

“Pocono is a very challenging track and one that we haven’t had too much success at. It’s definitely unique. The three different corners present a unique challenge that you aren’t going to find anywhere else except on a road course.

“We’re taking a car that’s had a lot of success this year and hopefully that will translate into a good finish this weekend. But, just because it’s ran good on mile-and-a-half tracks and at Fontana doesn’t really mean it’s going to be that good at Pocono. I hope so, but we’ll have to wait until Friday to see how good it’s going to be there.

“It’s a busy and short week this week, racing on Monday and then turning around and racing at Eldora on Wednesday night. We have a couple other things going on this week, so it’s going to be extremely busy, but Eldora should be a good time. It’ll be fun watching everybody race on dirt. I’m not too good at it, but I’ll be real curious to see how (Juan Pablo) Montoya does, since he’s probably never even seen a dirt track before Wednesday. That should be interesting.”

Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at Pocono:

“The car we’re taking this week has been a good one for us this year. It actually ran Pocono last July, but didn’t do as good as we hoped. We think we’ve got some things figured out and hopefully we’ll have a better result this weekend. This is actually the car than ran a lot for us down the stretch in 2005.

“We’ve put ourselves in a pretty good spot in the points right now, but we’re only halfway to the Chase and can’t let off by any means. We’re still playing catch up a little with some of our cars, but we can see that we’re gaining on them. Hopefully we can keep this up, keep working hard and keep getting better as the season goes along.”

Pocono Fast Facts

n Matt Kenseth is the only driver in the NEXTEL Cup Series that has completed every lap to this point in 2007, a total of 4,453.

n Kenseth’s average finish in the NEXTEL Cup Series this season is 8.5, second only to Jeff Gordon.

n Kenseth’s 8.5 average finish this year, makes 2007 tops among that category, so far. By comparison, Kenseth averaged a 9.8 finish in 2006 and a 10.2 finish in 2003, when he won the championship. For his career, Kenseth’s average finish is 14.7.

n Pocono is one of 15 tracks (including North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham) where Kenseth has scored three or more top-five finishes in his career.

n Kenseth has led only 26 laps in 14 races at Pocono, the lowest total number of laps led at any track where Kenseth has eight or more starts.

n Kenseth will be one of the featured drivers this week on DirecTV’s HotPass.

Dover Nextel Cup recap

No. 17 DEWALT FORD FUSION RECAP
KENSETH GRABS TOUGH TOP-FIVE FINISH AT DOVER

Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 DEWALT team did what they do best on Monday at Dover, work hard in the pits, race hard on the track, and get the best finish possible with the car they have. It’s the formula that keeps this team a championship contender every year. Kenseth started 17th and fought a “tight center, loose off” condition throughout the afternoon, but in the end, pit strategy, adjustments, great driving and, of course, top-flight pit stops kept the No. 17 in the top 10 all afternoon. Kenseth entered the pits for the final time with 42 laps to go in the ninth position, but thanks to a great stop, exited sixth and drove on to finish fifth, his sixth top five of the season.

For the third time this season, rain finished first on the scheduled race day, postponing the event one day later. When the field, led by Ryan Newman, took the green at 12:14 PM on Monday, a slightly dwindled crowd enjoyed partly-cloudy skies and warm temperatures.

Kenseth started 17th but immediately began marching towards the top 10, but two laps before the scheduled “competition caution” came out on lap 25, he reported the car as being extremely tight in the middle of the turn and loose off; a condition that Kenseth and the No. 17 team have become familiar with while running NASCAR’s new “Car of Tomorrow.” The “Killer Bees” went to work making adjustments and picking up spots on pit road. By lap 40, Kenseth had cracked the top 10 for the first time on the afternoon.

In the first half of the race, the pattern stayed the same for Kenseth and company. At the beginning of a run on new tires, Kenseth was as fast as anyone and consistently moved up several positions, but as each run wore on, Kenseth inevitably lost those hard-earned positions as his car grew increasingly tight. But, thanks to some phenomenal stops by the crew, Kenseth gained track position every time he came to pit road, even when making major adjustments to the car.

Kenseth picked up three spots during a stop on lap 67 and emerged in the eighth position. He made his way up to fifth by lap 82, but the familiar pattern held true and Kenseth began to slide back through the field. By the time Kenseth had the opportunity to come to pit road again on lap 137, he had fallen back to the 12th position. Thus was the pattern throughout the first 300 laps of the race.

After the field took the ensuing restart on lap 141, the track remained green until the caution flew again on lap 270. During the 129-lap green flag run, all but 11 cars went one or more laps down and by lap 270 Kenseth was running in the seventh position.

During the final 130 laps, Kenseth worked hard just to remain in the top 10 and was having little success at moving forward, all the while fighting the same handling issues. The final caution flag flew on lap 356 and Kenseth, running in the ninth position, headed to pit road for the last stop of the day. The top five cars stayed out on the track and after a 12.13-second stop by the crew, Kenseth beat everyone off of pit road to restart sixth.

Over the final 40 laps, Kenseth raced up as high as fourth before holding on to finish fifth. The top-five finish was Kenseth’s sixth top-five of the season and his fifth top-five at Dover, marking it his third straight top-10 finish at the “Monster Mile.” The winner of the race, Martin Truex Jr. notched the first win of his NEXTEL Cup career.

“We really ran terrible,” Kenseth said after the race. “We just had great pit stops. We worked on it all day and never really got it better, but we had a decent qualifying position and just great pit stops which kept us in the hunt for our DEWALT Fusion.”

DID YOU NOTICE A DIFFERENCE WITH THE CAR OF TOMORROW, OR WAS IT THE SAME TYPICAL DOVER? “I thought it was worse, at least for me, personally; some guys got it to work. But it was just so tight all the time you could never make it to turn and if you’ve got the steering wheel cranked to the left and it won’t turn, there’s not a lot you can do as a driver to help out. But we did the best we could today. Congratulations to Martin Truex and that team. That’s pretty awesome that he got his first win here.”

RACE SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Started 17th • Finished 5th

POINTS SUMMARY
Race Total: 155 points
Season Total: 1869 points
Ranked 3rd, 190 points behind first

NEXT UP:
Pocono 500 • Pocono Raceway • Sunday, June 10