Mountain Dew Southern 500 * Darlington Raceway * Sunday, August 31,
2003
Matt Kenseth
Team: No. 17 Roush Racing Ford Taurus
Sponsors: DEWALT/Smirnoff Ice Triple Black
Owner: Jack Roush/Mark Martin
Driver: Matt Kenseth
Crew Chief: Robbie Reiser
Chassis Number: MMR-29 * ran at The Winston
Kenseth on racing at Darlington:
"We used up a test here at Darlington to make sure we don't stumble
going forward from here on out. This is a tough place to race and since
you're really up against the track, the information you get during a
test is very helpful compared to some other places. It's always tough
to find a good handle on things here, but I think we're comfortable
where we're at going into this race."
Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at Darlington:
"I think when it's all said and done this weekend, we'll be glad
we came down here to the test. I thought we gained some valuable tools
to use during the event as far as how much adjustability we can build
into the car on race day."
ROUSH RACING FAST FACTS:
Mark Martin has won once at the Southern 500 on 9/5/93.
Martin has captured two poles at the 'track too tough to
tame' (4/3/89 and 3/22/98).
Martin had one of the cars to beat in the spring race at
Darlington, leading 89 laps in route to a fourth-place finish. A dropped
lug nut late in the race forced Martin to come back into the pits and
ended his shot at the victory.
Martin won a track record seven times at Darlington in the Busch
series.
Martin won a record seven Darlington poles in the Busch Series
as well.
Martin has finished inside the top 10 in 21 of 35 races at
Darlington and inside the top five 14 times.
Matt Kenseth now has 19 top-10 finishes in 24 starts, a
league-leading statistic. He also has ten top-five finishes; tied with
Bobby Labonte's 10 top-five finishes.
Kenseth's 2003 Winston Cup point lead is now 351 points over
second place Dale Earnhardt, Jr. It is the widest margin of the entire
year for Kenseth.
If Matt wins the Mountain Dew Southern 500 event, his
Winston-leader bonus payout would be a record $250,000.
Kenseth has completed all but two laps of competition in the
2003 season.
With Kurt Busch's win at Bristol, only Ryan Newman has won
more Winston Cup races this year. Newman has five and Busch has four.
Busch's crew chief Jimmy Fennig is the winningest active crew
chief in the Winston Cup Series with 24 wins.
Jeff Burton is the most recent driver to have back to back wins
at Darlington in the Winston Cup Series (1999) and Busch Series (2002).
Burton has eight top-five and 12 top-10 finishes at Darlington.
Burton's average finish at Darlington is 9.5.
The No. 99 CITGO Ford will don a red, white and blue MDA paint
scheme in conjunction with the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon. This
will be the third year CITGO and Burton have teamed up on the track for
this great cause.
