Dover, DE (June 2, 2012) – Dover International Speedway is one of the few concrete high-banked tracks on NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series circuit, but “The Monster Mile” is driver Matt Kenseth’s favorite track, and rightfully so. Statistically speaking, the one-mile track is a place where Kenseth has achieved many successful finishes after making his Cup series debut at the track back in 1998. Kenseth won last year’s FedEx 400, and entering the weekend at Dover, he and the No. 17 Best Buy team look to defend their title on Sunday.
NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series teams had two practice sessions on Friday which allowed teams just under three hours of on-track time to shake down their cars. Kenseth and his Best Buy team worked on both race and qualifying set-ups during the first practice session, and then used the final practice to try out various race set-ups for Sunday.
Qualifying for the Cup Series teams began at 12:10pm on Saturday, and Kenseth was the 34th driver to take to the track for his qualifying effort. The No. 17 Best Buy Ford posted a fast lap time of 22.787 seconds (157.985 mph) earning the fifth starting spot for Sunday’s FedEx 400.
“Our speed was okay but we just have kind of been struggling a little bit with it,” commented Kenseth after his qualifying effort. “We don’t have our Best Buy Ford quite right for balance. I feel like I got everything there was to get, but we just have to keep looking to get our stuff improved a little bit here. I feel like this is one of our better tracks but we are just kind of missing something a little bit this weekend.”
The FedEx 400 at Dover International Speedway will be televised on Sunday, June 3rd starting at 1:00pm EST on FOX, with radio coverage presented by the Motor Racing Network (MRN).
