Matt Kenseth

CONCORD, N.C. (July 8, 2008) - Matt Kenseth returns to the Nationwide Series and the No. 17 Valvoline Ford Fusion this weekend with a new crew chief. Friday’s race at Chicagoland Speedway will be the first outing for Kenseth and 2007 Nationwide Series championship crew chief Pierre Kuettel.

“I’m excited to get back into the Nationwide car this weekend at Chicago,” said Kenseth. This will be my first race with P.K. and I’m looking forward to working with him and seeing what kind of results we can achieve. He had a lot of success with Carl (Edwards) over the past few years, so I hope that experience will translate into a good finish for the Valvoline team this weekend.”

Kuettel led Carl Edwards’ No. 60 team to four Nationwide Series victories and the championship in 2007. In four Nationwide Series starts this season, Kenseth has one win and two top-five finishes.

“Matt’s statistics speak for themselves,” said Kuettel. “He is definitely one of the best drivers this sport has ever seen and I’m thrilled to be working with him. He runs really well at Chicagoland so I’m excited to head there this weekend. I spent some time with him over the past few weeks and listened to how he works on the radio and I think our personalities will work really well together. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Kenseth will also pilot the No. 17 CitiFinancial Ford Fusion later this season at Watkins Glen and Kansas.