Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

Sharp Aquos 500 - Matt Kenseth Notes

Matt Kenseth
Two-mile California Speedway
Fontana, Calif.

Race Schedule
Sunday, Sept. 2
NNCS: Sharp Aquos 500 - 7:00 PM Eastern - ESPN/MRN

Friday, Aug. 24
NBS: Camping World 300 - 9:30 PM Eastern - ESPN2/MRN

FAST FACTS

By starting at Bristol, Matt Kenseth clinched a spot in the 2007 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup, becoming the first driver to make all four Chases.

Kenseth is the all-time leader in NASCAR wins at California speedway, posting six wins total; four in the Busch Series and two in the Cup Series.

Kenseth swept the February race weekend at the California Speedway by winning the Busch and Cup race. Kenseth has now won the past two February Cup races at the Fontana, Calif. two-mile oval.

In his career, Kenseth has led eight of his 11 Cup races at Fontana for a total of 379 laps, second most all time.

Kenseth’s average finish at the two, two-mile tracks, (California and Michigan) is 10.3; tops among all drivers that have competed in all 28 races at those tracks during that span.

Kenseth will run the R+L Carriers paint scheme for the third time this season in Sunday’s Sharp Aquos 500. In his previous two he has scored finishes of 12th at Charlotte in May and eighth at Daytona in July. The R+L Carriers scheme will run once more at Martinsville in October.

Matt Kenseth – NNCS Advance Team: No. 17 R+L Carriers/DEWALT Ford Fusion Crew Chief: Robbie Reiser Chassis: RK-317 Last outing: Pocono, June ’07 – finished ninth Also: Scored four top fives in ’07 including a win in Fontana, Feb. ’07 RK-340 Last outing: Pocono, August ’07 – finished 14th Also: Served as backup in six races in 2007

Kenseth on racing at California Speedway: “I’m looking forward to going back to California. We’ve usually been pretty strong on that type of track and we’ve had some success there before, so coming off of a disappointing weekend at Bristol, it’s definitely good to be going to a track you feel you can run well at.

“We’re locked into the Chase now and that feels good and all, but we’ve got to start running better and build some momentum. Of course, last year, we had all the momentum in the world heading into the Chase and couldn’t get it done once in the Chase, so momentum isn’t everything. But, we still want to score some good finishes in these next two races and get our cars running the best we can for those final 10 races.

“The fact we’ve now made the Chase for four straight years is a credit to Robbie (Reiser), Chip (Bolin, Engineer), and all of the guys on the team. I feel like year in and year out, we’ve got one of the best teams in the garage, our pit crew always does an awesome job, now it’s up to us to figure out how to make our cars a little bit better so that we can compete for the championship.”

Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at California Speedway: “We’re taking the same car that we won with at California earlier this year and hopefully we’ll have it good enough to compete for the win this time around.

“It’s good to be locked into the Chase, now we just need to go out and win one of these next two and pick up some bonus points before the Chase starts. I think this weekend is a great opportunity, but we have to do everything right because there are a lot of cars running really good right now.

“I’m proud of this team and the job this group does every week. The fact that we’ve made the Chase now for every season is a testament to them. It’s a very close-knit group and they work hard to make sure this team is always a contender.”