Matt Kenseth
One-mile Phoenix International Raceway
Avondale, Ariz.
Race Schedule
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series: Checker Auto Parts 500
Sunday, November 11
3:00 PM Eastern - ABC/MRN
NASCAR Busch Series: Arizona.Travel 200
Saturday, November 10
4:00 PM Eastern - ESPN2/MRN
FAST FACTS
Matt Kenseth’s second-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway last Sunday marked the fourth time in five consecutive Cup races at Texas, where he has finished in the top three.
Kenseth’s second-place finish marked the 140th top-10 finish of his career in 290 starts (48%). It’s the 20th top 10 for Kenseth in the 2007 Cup Series, making it the second consecutive year Kenseth has reach 20 top 10s in Cup.
With the second-place finish at Texas, Kenseth has now strung together three straight top-five finishes; the second time he has done so this season. The first time being: Fontana (1st), Las Vegas (4th), and Atlanta (3rd) during Feb. and Mar.
Kenseth’s average finish during the Chase at PIR is 27.0; ranking ninth among all Chase tracks.
For the third time in 2007, Kenseth’s No. 17 Ford Fusion will be painted black with the DEWALT NANO Technology paint scheme. Kenseth will also run the scheme at Homestead in the season finale.
Matt Kenseth – NNCS ADVANCE
Team: No. 17 DEWALT NANO Technology Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Robbie Reiser
Chassis: RK-475 Only previous outing: Richmond, Sept. ’07 – finished 14th
RK-458 Has served as a backup in six races, yet to see action
Kenseth on racing at Phoenix International Raceway:
“I’ve always enjoyed racing at Phoenix and we’ve had some success there in the past. We weren’t too bad there in the spring and I think we should be able to compete this weekend. Hopefully we’ll continue to make up some ground with the COT and continue the momentum we’ve gained the past three weeks. We’ve only got two more chances to get a win and with the way our cars have performed down the stretch, it would be a shame not to pick up a win here at the end.
“Texas was a tough one to take, but, looking back on it, it was a pretty good finish for us. We never really had a top-five car until the end of the race. Robbie and the guys did a great job working on the car all day. We weren’t too good with the sun out, but once it went down our car was pretty fast. We were probably a third-place car but got the track position we needed there at the end. I don’t think I could’ve done anything different that would’ve helped us win the race besides wrecking, and that’s never a good option.”
Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at Phoenix International Raceway:
“We’re taking the same car we took to Richmond and we’ve done a good bit of work to it since then. With the way we’ve ran the last two times out with the COT, we’ll be hoping for the same sort of performance this weekend. We were probably good enough to win at Dover but had engine troubles then we ran fifth at Martinsville, which is practically like a win for us at that place. We finished fifth out in Phoenix in the spring so I’d say, with the way we’re running, expectations are pretty high heading out there.
“I can’t say enough about how this team has performed of late. We had a string of terrible luck and got pretty far down in the points and we were really out of the Chase before it got started. But, they didn’t hang their head and feel sorry for themselves, they’ve fought back and we’ve put together a nice little streak in the past three races. We’ve had cars capable of wining the last two weeks and came up a little bit short, but as long as we keep getting ourselves in position to win, then we’ll get one of these before too long.”
