Kenseth Accepts Raybestos Rookie of the Year at No. 17 Shop

CONCORD, NC - Raybestos Brakes presented 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year, Matt Kenseth, with the honor of top rookie for the first campaign of the 21st century at Roush Racing's No. 17 shop in Concord in front of a group of motorsports media.

In addition to a $50,000 award and a specially commissioned piece of artwork commemorating Kenseth's remarkable season that will be presented at the Winston Cup banquet next month, Kenseth was presented with a Raybestos ROY leather jacket.

Kenseth's 2000 season was by far the best of the rookie class. He finished highest among the rookies in countless statistical categories including, but not limited to, position in the championship points (14th), average finishing position (19.0), number of top-10s (11), and number rookie of the race awards (17 out of 34 races).

Kenseth, crew chief Robbie Reiser and team owner Jack Roush commended the entire DEWALT team for the complete team effort that it took to win the Rookie of the Year.

"I want thank each and every one of these guys," Reiser said. "Matt, Jack and I stood up there today to accept the award, but we played only a small role. Every member of the crew, every fabricator and every person in the shop and offices helped us win this award. It was their dedication, hard work and focus that allowed us to put competitive cars on the track every week. It's something we'll be proud of for a long time."

"Mark Martin had a great deal of confidence in Matt," Roush said. "Three years ago, I didn't even know who Matt Kenseth was. With the help of Robbie Reiser coming through the Busch Series Matt prepared himself for Winston Cup. Mark saw potential in Matt and we're glad we were able to sign him and help him along the way. I congratulate this team on job well done. It was a total team effort and I'm proud of them for figuring out how best to run their race team and for winning the Rookie of the Year."

"It's a real honor to accept this award," Kenseth said. "To come out on top of this great group of rookies, is really special. Dale Jr. is a great racecar driver who beat us in Busch the last two years and I knew he'd be tough again this year. He had some bad luck during the middle part of the season that helped us get ahead. You're going to see him win many more races and championships in the future. Dave Blaney came on strong at the end of the year and the rest of the guys, Stacy Compton, Mike Bliss and Scott Pruett, all have bright careers ahead of them. To finish ahead of that caliber of talent says a lot about the commitment and talent of this race team."

Kenseth will be attending the Winston Cup banquet at the Waldorf in New York City and will accept the Rookie of the Year award on stage on December 8th.