Matt Kenseth
Richmond International Raceway
.75-mile track located in Richmond, Va.
NNCS: Crown Royal presents the Jim Stewart 400; Saturday, May 5, 2007
Race Schedule
Saturday, May 5
NNCS: Crown Royal presents the Jim Stewart 400 - 7:00 PM Eastern - FOX/MRN
Friday, May 4
NBS: Circuit City 250 - 7:30 PM Eastern - ESPN2/MRN
FAST FACTS
Matt Kenseth has scored eight top-10 finishes at Richmond in 14 races, which ranks second behind Tony Stewart among all drivers at Richmond since Kenseth’s rookie season in the NEXTEL Cup Series (2000).
Kenseth has scored nine straight top-10 finishes in the Busch Series at Richmond and has 12 total top-10 finishes in 13 Busch Series starts at the .75-mile Virginia oval, including three straight third-place finishes.
Kenseth has completed every lap so far in 2007, one of only two drivers to do so (Jeff Gordon).
Kenseth’s average finish in NEXTEL Cup this season is 8.6, second only to Gordon.
Richmond International Raceway is one of 10 NEXTEL Cup tracks (including North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham) that Kenseth has scored a Cup victory.
Matt Kenseth – NNCS Advance
Team: No. 17 DEWALT Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Robbie Reiser
Chassis: RK-451 Last ran: Phoenix, Apr. 21, finished fifth
Also ran: Bristol, Mar. 25, finished 11th
RK-458 Backup at Martinsville, never ran
Kenseth on racing at Richmond International Raceway:
“I always enjoy racing at Richmond. It’s the ideal short track. It’s wide, fast and smooth; pretty much all of the qualities that you usually don’t associate with short-track racing. The thing I enjoy most of racing there is that you don’t have to ‘move’ someone out of the way in order to pass them. You really don’t have to move someone anywhere, you shouldn’t, but at Bristol and Martinsville, it’s a lot harder to avoid that situation than at Richmond, where there’s plenty of room to set up the pass.
“We ran a lot better than I thought we would at Phoenix in the COT a couple of weeks ago. That’s somewhat promising because the car we used at Phoenix was the car we tested at Richmond just a couple of weeks before that. The Richmond test was good for us and I think we learned some things that are going to help in our performance. Phoenix was definitely a step in the right direction and I hope we can continue that this weekend.”
Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at Richmond International Raceway:
“We’re bringing the same car that we took to Phoenix and did a pretty good job with out there. We had a top-five car but we were just a little off on the final run there which put us fifth for the race. I feel a lot better now about our COT program than I did a month ago, but I’m sure we aren’t the only ones singing that tune. Plus, we still have a little ways to go in order to compete against some of the guys who seem to have this thing figured out. We’re not there yet, but we’re getting closer.”
