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Food City 250 - Matt Kenseth Notes Matt Kenseth / Visine Racing Pre-Race Notes for Bristol Motor Speedway TEAM EFFORT: Matt Kenseth will drive the No. 17 Visine Chevrolet in the Food City 250 instead of teammate Clay Rogers, who was originally scheduled to compete. Rogers will attempt to qualify the car, but Kenseth will take the green flag for the Visine Racing team. Rogers has raced in eight events in his rookie season in the NASCAR Busch Series. TWO TRIPS TO VICTORY LANE: Two of Matt Kenseth's 12 NASCAR Busch Series wins were earned at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee. Earlier this year, Kenseth captured his only win of the 2001 Busch Series season in the Cheez-It 250 at the .533-mile track on March 24. He started from the outside pole and led the final 48 laps. Kenseth's other Bristol victory was claimed in the Food City 250 on Aug. 27, 1999. He led 169 laps during that race. In seven career Busch Series starts at Bristol, Kenseth has recorded three top-three finishes. CHASSIS NO. 8: Matt Kenseth will go for the season sweep at Bristol Friday night in the same car, "Chassis No. 8," that he drove during his Cheez-It 250 win earlier this season. ALL OR NOTHING: Despite winning twice at Bristol, Kenseth's only DNQ of his NASCAR Busch Series career came there last August. TESTING NEWS: Clay Rogers and the Visine Racing team had a 14-hour test session at Bristol on July 31. POINTS STANDINGS: Reiser Enterprises holds the 11th spot in the owners' points standings with 2,617 points through 23 NASCAR Busch Series events. In 2001, Matt Kenseth has tallied eight top-five finishes and one win, resulting in 1,912 points in 14 races. In eight races, Clay Rogers has accumulated 545 points for the Visine Racing team. Because road-course specialist Boris Said finished fourth in the Visine Chevrolet at Watkins Glen, Reiser Enterprises gained an additional 160 points. MATT KENSETH's Comments on bristol: "Bristol's definitely a lot of fun. It's always nice to come back to a track where you've won before. Even though we've won twice at Bristol, we also have been involved in accidents here and there. It's real easy to get in trouble. It's so small that if there's a wreck around you, you're pretty much going to get tangled up in it. Fast pit stops to improve track position will be important. That could include a two-tire stop at some point. We want to be up front in the last 25 laps to give the Visine Racing team a shot at winning both Bristol races in 2001." Crew Chief Russ Strupp's Comments on bristol: "We're taking 'Chassis No. 8' to Bristol. It's the car Matt won with at Bristol in March. It's also the same car that we won with at the fall Bristol race in '99. During the spring 2000 race at Bristol, this car was heading for a real strong finish and a lapped car wrecked us. That's what makes this race so tough. There's no margin for error to get to victory lane. You have to be mentally prepared and ready to fix the car quickly if you get in trouble in the race. Matt's experience and the team's experience at this track will be a benefit to us." Last year's FOOD CITY 250 (Aug. 25, 2000): Matt Kenseth attempted to qualify the Visine Chevrolet during time trials at Bristol, but his lap of 16.037 seconds was not fast enough to make the top-36 qualifiers. Because Kenseth was ranked 11th in the NASCAR Winston Cup points standings at the time, he was not eligible to take a Busch Series provisional. That is the only Busch Series race in Kenseth's career that he has registered a DNQ. Last Race: Driving the same car that he drove to victory twice at California, Matt Kenseth started 13th in the NAPAOnline.com 250 at Michigan International Speedway. Jumping from 13th to the lead pack in a hurry, Kenseth maneuvered around cars ahead of him and took the fifth position from Jeff Green on lap 34. Timely cautions on laps 48 and 82 allowed the Visine Chevrolet to make scheduled pit stops. Both of those pit stops resulted in losing track position, but Kenseth battled back to regain spots. A caution for debris on the track appeared on lap 112, when he was on the move in seventh. The final caution of the race halted Kenseth's momentum and he slipped back in the last few laps to finish 12th. Sponsor Notes: Partners on the Visine Chevrolet for the Food City 250 are BenGay and Cortizone, products produced by Pfizer Consumer Health Care.
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