Matt Kenseth

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Matt Kenseth
Matt Kenseth
status active
NASCAR Cup Series statistics
Best placement 1st - (2003)
Starts Victories Poles Top 10
665 39 20th 328
NASCAR Xfinity Series Statistics
Best placement 2nd - (1998)
Starts Victories Poles Top 10
288 29 17th 202
Data status: end of season 2018

Matthew Roy Kenseth (born March 10, 1972 in Cambridge , Wisconsin ) is an American NASCAR racing driver in the Sprint Cup and the Nationwide Series . In the Sprint Cup, he drove the # 17 Ford Fusion from Roush Fenway Racing . For the 2013 season, Kenseth moved to Joe Gibbs Racing , where he drove the number 20 Toyota Camry until 2017. In the 2003 season, he became champion of the Sprint Cup, which at the time was still called the Winston Cup.

Career

Early years

Kenseth had an agreement with his father, Roy, that Roy would buy a car and compete in car races while Matt would work on the car until he was old enough to race himself. He started touring car racing in 1988 at the age of 16 and won his third race. His career began at Columbus 151 Speedway and Jefferson Speedway near Cambridge , Wisconsin . After graduating from Cambridge High School, Kentseth worked for four years in the sales and distribution of parts for Lefthander Chassis, a chassis manufacturer for so-called "late model" racing cars south of Wisconsin, Illinois .

Kenseth made a name for himself when he competed for Mike Butz with the number 8 in the Late Models on various racetracks in Wisconsin and beat nationally known drivers such as Dick Trickle and Robbie Reiser . In 1994 he won the Slinger Nationals at the Slinger Super Speedway . In 1994 and 1995 he also won the track championship at the Wisconsin International Raceway . The track championship at Madison International Speedway was also one of his successes, including the 1994 track championship for the Late Models ahead of Robbie Reiser. Kenseth had his last workshop in Wisconsin at Gerry Gunderman's American Speed ​​Association , where Alan Kulwicki had his last workshop before he switched to NASCAR. Kenseth chose to compete in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup in the 1996 season and nearly won the championship as a rookie .

Busch Series

In 1996, Kenseth also made his debut in the Busch Series at Lowe's Motor Speedway . During the season he shared the car with its owner Carl Wegner. In the 1997 season, Tim Bender and his crew chief and car owner Robbie Reiser gave the cockpit to his former rival Matt Kenseth. The combination Reiser-Kenseth turned out to be successful and resulted in a second and a third place in the championship. His number 17 racing car was first sponsored by Kraft , then Lycos, and finally DeWalt .

Sprint Cup

Matt Kenseth's car in the 2004 season
Racing car in the 2007 Busch Series
Cup racing car from 2007
Cup racing car of the 2008 season

Kenseth made his Sprint Cup debut in the 1998 season, when the series was still called the Winston Cup , at Dover International Speedway . He replaced Bill Elliott , who was at his father's funeral that day and was therefore unable to run. Kenseth finished sixth in what was the third best debut for a driver in NASCAR at the time.

In the 2000 season, Kenseth's entire team moved to the organization of Roush Racing , with whose support he won the Rookie of the Year ranking ahead of Dale Earnhardt junior . This season he won the Coca-Cola 600 , the longest race in the series, at Lowe's Motor Speedway, something no other newcomer has done before him. Kenseth finished the season 14th in the championship with four top-five and eleven top-10 results. In the following season he improved by one place in the championship and was 13th with four top five and nine top 10 results. His pit crew around Robbie Reiser also won the "Unocal 76 World Pit Crew Competition". In 2002 he won five races and achieved a pole position , due to a lack of consistency, Kenseth was eighth in the championship. His team won the second "Unocal 76 World Pit Crew Competition".

In the 2003 season, Kenseth dominated the championship and led almost the entire season on the points table. In the end, he secured the championship and became the final Winston Cup champion before the series name and format changed. Kenseth was the second driver from Wisconsin alongside Alan Kulwicki to achieve the title in NASCAR's top racing series and fourth from the north after Bill Rexford , Kulwicki and defending champion Tony Stewart . The basis for winning the title was in particular the series of 25 top 10 results. However, there was also criticism due to the conservative driving style that Kenseth displayed to win the championship. He won only one race during the season, which is said to have led to the introduction of the Chase for the Nextel Cup .

In the 2004 season, Kenseth won the International Race of Champions (IROC) championship. He also qualified for the Chase for the Nextel Cup and ultimately finished eighth in the Nextel Cup, the successor to the Winston Cup.

In the 2005 season Kenseth started with relatively poor results. Due to a strong phase in the middle of the season, he improved from 24th place after the 14th race to eighth place after the 26th race and thus qualified again for the Chase for the Nextel Cup. At the end of the season, he finished seventh in the championship.

At the start of the 2006 season he was early in the season opener, the Daytona 500 , in the lead, but spun after contact with Tony Stewart and fell two laps back. After a race to catch up, he finished the race in 15th place. In the next race at California Speedway , he was luckier and won. After the eighth race at the Phoenix International Raceway , he was the leader in the championship. He scored another victory in the spring races in Dover and in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway . At the end of the season, Kenseth only had to admit defeat to Jimmie Johnson and finished second in the championship.

In the second race of the 2007 season , Kenseth repeated his success from the previous year and won the Auto Club 500 on California Speedway. By the Citizens Bank 400 at Michigan International Speedway , where he was knocked out by Ryan Newman , Kenseth had finished in the top 15 for 13 consecutive races. He ended the season with a win at the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway , the last race before the series was renamed Sprint Cup, and fourth in the championship.

The year 2009 got off to a strong start. On February 15, he won the Daytona 500, which was shortened with rain . A week later, he won the Auto Club 500 . In 2012 he was able to repeat the success and again won the Daytona 500, which was only played on Monday with a day delay.

From 2013 and 2017, Kenseth drove the Toyota Camry with starting number 20 for Joe Gibbs Racing . For the 2018 season he announced that he would take a break at the end of 2017. In April, however, he announced that he would be racing again for his old Roush team with starting number 6.

Victories

Winston Cup / Nextel Cup / Sprint Cup

2000

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2009

2012

2013

2015

Web links

Commons : Matt Kenseth  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Dave Kallmann: Title tracks: Kulwicki, Kenseth: two roads to top . Milwaukee Journal Sentinel . November 6, 2003. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved July 25, 2007.
  2. ↑ Kenseth announces retirement at the end of the season Motorsport Total.de , November 4, 2017
  3. ↑ Matt Kenseth makes a comeback at Roush Motorsport Total.de , April 25, 2017
personal data
SURNAME Kenseth, Matt
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kenseth, Matthew Roy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American NASCAR racing driver
DATE OF BIRTH March 10, 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH Cambridge , Wisconsin