Bristol Motor Speedway, August 25th – 28th
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series: Sharpie 500, 7:30PM, August 28
Matt Kenseth
Team: No. 17 DEWALT Ford Taurus
Owner: Jack Roush/Mark Martin
Crew Chief: Robbie Reiser
Chassis: MMR-10 (finished 10th at Bristol in the spring)
Matt Kenseth on racing at Bristol Motor Speedway:
“Bristol has been the scene of some great runs for us lately, but I don’t want to jinx us. We’ve been lucky not to get caught up in any trouble in the last few races—even though we’ve come pretty close on occasion. Bristol is a place where you have to keep your focus as sharp as possible and there are a lot of factors going against you. It’s hot, it’s loud, it’s crowded and it’s tough mentally to stay on your toes for 500 laps. I think in my personal opinion that it’s probably the most demanding race overall in the season. I feel good about where we are in the points, so that’s at least one pressure we won’t have to deal with—we just want to go out there and get the best finish we possibly can.”
Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at Bristol Motor Speedway:
“We’ve got a great chassis this week. We need to qualify up front if we can. I know we don’t always get that checked off of our list during the weekend, but it would help things at a place like Bristol. I’m pretty proud of the crew right now. With the exception of the jack breaking on pit road last week, all of their stops were in the 13-second range and that’s where we need them to be.”
Fast Facts
Matt Kenseth finished eighth at Michigan one week ago. It was his 14th top-ten finish in 23 starts so far this year. Kenseth is one of four drivers who have remained the top-10 all year long.
Kenseth remains in fifth place in the point standings, now 236 points out of first place. Kenseth has spent 58 straight weeks inside the “NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Top 10”—the longest active streak.
In nine starts at Bristol, Matt Kenseth has four top-fives, five top-tens (including five straight of sixth place or better) and seven top-15 finishes.
