Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 DeWalt Power Tools Fusion, has been very consistent so far this season, producing seven top-five finishes and eight top-10s through the first 12 races, and is in second place in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings. Kenseth has seven top-10s in 14 career starts at Dover.

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 DeWalt Power Tools Fusion – YOU HAVE SEVEN TOP-FIVES A THIRD OF THE WAY THROUGH THE SEASON. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE TEAM’S SUCCESS UP TO THIS POINT? “It’s been great. You always look at things that they could be better, but I know they sure could be a lot worse. It’s been a great start. We’ve had real good competitive cars almost every week. There’s been a few races we haven’t run that great, but most of the time we’ve had real competitive cars. We’ve had a couple problems and not finished, but mostly we’ve had good cars and good luck.”

BESIDES SIMPLY RUNNING WELL, ARE THERE ANY OTHER FACTORS THAT GO INTO THE CONSISTENCY THIS TEAM HAS SHOWN THIS SEASON? “There’s a lot of factors: Preparation, things haven’t fallen off the cars; not running over something and getting flat tires; not getting caught up in people’s wrecks. There’s a lot of stuff. You’re out there racing with 43 cars, 500 miles a week, so there’s a lot of things that can definitely go wrong, and to collect points and get good finishes you need them to go right.”

IS THERE ANYTHING SPECIFICALLY THAT YOU CAN POINT TO THAT’S DIFFERENT THROUGH THE FIRST 12 RACES OF THIS YEAR AND THE FIRST 12 RACES OF LAST YEAR? (THROUGH 12 RACES IN 2005, KENSETH WAS OUTSIDE OF THE TOP 20 IN POINTS.) “A lot of things, a lot of things that I just talked about. Last year we didn’t run as well, so certainly we’ve been doing a better job of getting cars running better this year. Also, we haven’t had as many silly things go wrong – flat tires, breaking parts and that kind of thing.”

ON DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY. “They’re all difficult. This is a difficult track, but it’s a fun track. It’s got a lot of banking and you go real fast. So, it’s a track that I’ve always really enjoyed.”

HAS YOUR APPROACH TO THIS TRACK CHANGED OVER THE YEARS? “Not really. I should probably try to change it a little bit because it seems like I have more trouble here than most – right-front tires, stuff like that. It’s a track that I really enjoy. You can run real fast.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THREE FAVORITE TRACKS? “Probably Atlanta, Rockingham and here – even though we don’t race at Rockingham anymore. Those are probably my three favorites.”

ON RACING WHEN INJURED. “I think you race the same all the time. If you crash running a 30-flat or you crash running at a 30.50 it’s not going to make any difference as far as getting hurt. I mean that one or two miles an hour is not going to matter. Usually, you’re always the best off running as hard as you can and try to run up front. You’ve got less chance, I think, of being in a wreck or getting in trouble.”

DIFFERENT RACING STRATEGY WHEN A DRIVER IS INJURED? “The most points possible is trying to win, and I think you go out each week and try to win, lead races. I don’t think there’s really a different strategy.”

ON RICKY RUDD WORKING AS A RELIEF DRIVER FOR THE NO. 20 CAR THIS WEEKEND. “It’s happened before. One time Bobby Labonte broke his shoulder – he started the race, I filled in for him and finished the race. It’s part of it, but we don’t see it that often with people getting hurt and people getting out of the car, but that’s always a risk you take being out there.”