Matt Kenseth - Talladega Advance
Talladega Superspeedway
2.66-mile D-shaped oval located in Talladega, Ala.
4-30-06
Matt Kenseth
Team: No. 17 DEWALT Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Robbie Reiser
Chassis: RK-271 – Both Talladega races in ’06; finished 11th & 3rd
RK-218 – Bud Shootout @ Daytona ’06; finished 6th
Kenseth on racing at Talladega Superspeedway:
“Talladega is all about staying out of trouble, getting to the end, and picking the right lane at the right time. Oh yeah, and if you’re in the lead, hope there isn’t a caution with under five to go. I felt last fall we were in good shape. We were leading at the end and had everyone lined up behind us, then the caution came out and bunched everyone back together and we ended up pushing DJ (Jarrett) across for the win.
“Anytime we go to Talladega I know it’s going to be a wild race. There are some things that are out of my control, but I have to make sure that I take care of what I can and get our car to the finish, hopefully with a chance to win.”
Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at Talladega Superspeedway:
“You have to be ready for anything at Talladega. I fell like, especially since we run the small fuel cells, that getting in and out of the pits under a green flag can make or break you. Under caution, you really have to be on your toes on pit road, because when all the lead lap cars come down together, at Talladega, that’s going to be right at 40 cars. So pit road, while it is big and wide, it narrows up in a hurry because everyone comes in together.
“It will be interesting to see if the softer rear bumpers have that big of an effect on the bump drafting. I still think it comes down to the individual driver of knowing when and when not to bump draft. I still think you’ll see it a lot during the race. The drivers will get on the track on Friday and get a feel for it. Everyone should have a pretty good idea of how big of an effect it will have by the end of the two practices on Friday.”
FAST FACTS
Matt Kenseth leads the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup championship point standings for the second time in 2006. Kenseth’s well documented slow 2005 start now in the rear-view mirror, here’s a look at the two seasons to this point by comparison:
Rank Points Wins Top Fives Top 10s
2006 – 1 1218 1 5 5
2005 – 23 875 0 0 1
Kenseth ranks fourth in laps completed (2,096) at Talladega since the beginning of 2000, Kenseth’s rookie season in NEXTEL Cup.
Kenseth’s average starting position at Talladega is 26.9; worst among NEXTEL Cup tracks for Kenseth’s career.
Kenseth’s career average finish at restrictor plate tracks is 19.0, much higher than his career average for all tracks of 15.6.
