Matt Kenseth Advance
Darlington Raceway, May 12-13
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series: Dodge Charger 500
Matt Kenseth
Team: No. 17 DEWALT Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Robbie Reiser
Chassis: RK-267 Last ran in Atlanta, Mar. ’06; finished 13th
RK-280 Tested at Charlotte, last ran Michigan, Jun. ’06; finished 4th
Kenseth on racing at Darlington Raceway:
“Darlington is kind of like our Lambeau field. There’s a lot of history there and it’s one of the places everyone wants to win at before they retire. Personally, I think the track is pretty cool. It’s definitely unique. The track is so abrasive that your tires give up really fast. Darlington definitely rewards those drivers who can take care of their equipment. Fresh tires make a huge difference there. You saw that at the end of the Cup race last year when Newman was out front with worn tires on a green-white-checkered finish and the guys with fresh tires just blew right past him.”
Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing Darlington Raceway:
“We’re bringing a car to Darlington that ran real good in Atlanta earlier this year. We had some tire issues there but nothing that isn’t correctable. Tire strategy isn’t that big of a factor at Darlington because tires mean so much you have to take four or you’re a sitting duck. There’s not much of a decision on whether to take two tires or no tires, you need to take four every time. We’ll be looking to turn our Darlington luck around this weekend. The past few races there haven’t gone as planned to say the least, but we’ve been running pretty good lately and this team has a lot of confidence going in.”
Fast Facts
Matt Kenseth has an average starting position of 13.4 this season. That’s by far the best of his NEXTEL Cup career since he began racing full time in the series in 2000, beating his next best average starting position of 17.02 in 2005.
Kenseth is one of only two drivers (Jimmie Johnson) that has remained inside the top four in the NEXTEL Cup point standings since Fontana, the second race of the season.
Kenseth’s 38th place finish at Richmond last weekend was his worst finish since finishing 42nd at Phoenix, Apr. ’05.
Kenseth’s Busch Series record at Darlington is brilliant. In 11 starts he has recorded two victories, seven top fives, ten top 10s, never finished worse than 12th, and has completed every lap in all 11 races (1617 of 1617).
