Matt Kenseth Advance
Daytona International Speedway
Feb. 11-19 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
Daytona 500
Matt Kenseth
Team: No. 17 DEWALT Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Robbie Reiser
Chassis: RK-327 (Daytona 500) – tested @ DIS in Feb.
RK-218 (Shootout) – brand new, never been tested
Kenseth on racing at Daytona International Speedway:
“Daytona is big for a lot of different reasons. The prestige of the race (500) and the track itself, with all of the history that’s involved with Daytona, means a great deal. For this DEWALT team, we’d like to finish well; unlike last year where we had a problem, finished poorly and dug ourselves a big hole in the standings right out of the gate. As for the race itself, you approach it as any restrictor-plate race. Take care of your equipment, stay out of trouble the best you possibly can, hang with the lead pack, and at the end, get as many positions as you can. If everything goes as planned, then you’ll have an opportunity to race for the win.”
Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at Daytona International Speedway:
“There’s so much that happens at Daytona that you cannot control, so you have to make sure that you take care of what you can control. Handling does play a pretty big role at Daytona, unlike Talladega, so we need to make sure we give Matt the best handling racecar we possibly can. The new Ford Fusion seemed to work real well in the draft, but we really won’t know for sure until we start running in packs of 20 cars or so. Fortunately we get to run the Bud Shootout and the Gatorade Duel which will help give us a good read on how the car will react in those situations.”
FAST FACTS
Matt Kenseth will compete in the 2006 Crown Royal IROC Series, the third time he has taken part in the series, winning the IROC Championship in 2004.
In his two previous IROC starts at Daytona, Kenseth finished third and fourth.
Kenseth has finished 6th the past two seasons in the Gatorade Duel, both marking the best of his career.
Kenseth gained entry into the Bud Shootout by winning poles in 2005, first at Bristol Motor Speedway in August and at Kansas Speedway in October. This will mark Kenseth’s second Bud Shootout.
By finishing 42nd in the 2005 Daytona 500, Kenseth & the No. 17 DEWALT team snapped a 71 consecutive race streak in which they had been inside the top-10 in the Championship Points Standings, dating back to the 2003 Daytona 500.
