NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series: Coca-Cola 600, Lowe's Motor Speedway, May 30, 2004
Matt Kenseth
Team: No. 17 Smirnoff Ice Ford Taurus
Owner: Jack Roush/Mark Martin
Crew Chief: Robbie Reiser
Chassis: #19 (won the All-Star event last week)
Matt Kenseth on racing at Lowe's Motor Speedway:
"It's just difficult and I enjoy long races. I like how you start during the day and the track is real snotty and mean and nasty and slippery, and as you go on at night your car takes such a dramatic change and you just have to stay on top of it. I mean, you make a million pit stops and you get to adjust on your car all night long and it's just a really fun event for me to try to figure out what the track is going to be like in the beginning and what you have to give up in the beginning of the race to be good at the end of the race. It's fun to figure that out and try to wrestle the car and get frustrated with it, but then be happy with it at the end because the track changed for you. Just to try to figure that out and go through a unique race like that where the conditions change so much to me is a lot of fun."
Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at Lowe's Motor Speedway:
"We're bringing the same car. I told the guys to turn it around and get this thing ready for the 600all I'm changing is the paint scheme."
Fast Facts
Matt Kenseth won the NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge last Saturday night with a thrilling pass for the lead on lap 87 of 90. Kenseth won $1,044,000 for the victory.
Kenseth remains fourth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings. He is 126 points out of first place. Kenseth has spent 47 straight weeks inside the "NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Top 10"the longest active streak.
This week marks the debut of the No. 17 Smirnoff Ice Ford and their primary sponsorship, which will run in five other events in 2004: July 3rd at Daytona, July 25th at NHIS, August 8th at the Brickyard, September 5th at Richmond and October 3rd at Talladega.
Matt Kenseth won his first ever Cup race at Lowe's Motor Speedway as a rookie in the Coca-Cola 600. It happened in 2000.
In 13 starts at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Kenseth has two wins, five top-fives and eight top-10 finishes.
