During his first 10 seasons behind the wheel of the No. 17 DEWALT Ford, Wisconsin native Matt Kenseth earned Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors in 2000, became one of only two drivers to qualify for the “Chase for the Cup” in each of its first five seasons, captured an International Race of Champions title in 2004, visited victory lane in the Cup Series on 16 occasions, scored 162 top-10 finishes and took home NASCAR’s largest prize, the NASCAR Cup title in 2003.
Ten seasons later the competitive fire still burns deep, as Kenseth embarks on his second decade of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing, with the same focus, determination and drive that made him Roush Fenway Racing’s first Cup champion.
The No. 17 team will have a new leader on top of the pit box in ’09, with Drew Blickensderfer taking over the crew chief duties. Blickensderfer, who helped lead Carl Edwards to seven Nationwide wins in the last 19 races and a second-place finish in the points in 2008, will take over for Chip Bolin. Bolin, who has been with the team since its inception, will return to his previous post as team engineer, where he was instrumental in the 2003 championship.
Born and raised in Cambridge, Wisc., Kenseth began his racing career at the age of 16, winning his first feature event in only his third race. By the age of 19, Kenseth was racing against the likes of Dick Trickle, Ted Musgrave and Rich Bickle in the Wisconsin late model ranks. With a win in LaCrosse, Wisc., Kenseth set a new record for being the youngest winner in ARTGO Challenge Series history, a distinction previously held by his future teammate Mark Martin.
Kenseth took the Wisconsin racing ranks by storm in the early ‘90s, winning races and track titles at venues all across Wisconsin, becoming the youngest driver to ever win the prestigious Miller Genuine Draft National championships in 1994.
Following another Wisconsin track title in 1995 and successful runs in NASCAR All Pro Series (1995), the Hooters Series (1996) and the ASA Series (1997), Kenseth got a fateful call in 1997 from a fellow Wisconsin racer, Robbie Reiser, who asked Kenseth to drive for his team in the NASCAR Busch Series.
The Kenseth-Reiser tandem debuted on April 19, 1997 at Nashville Speedway, finishing 11th. Kenseth went on to capture two top-five and seven top-10 finishes in 21 starts and finished second in the Rookie of the Year battle.
In 1998, Kenseth’s first full Busch Series season, he finished second in the championship points with three wins. He also made his Cup debut, substituting for Bill Elliott in the McDonald’s Ford at Dover in September. The young Kenseth drove to an impressive sixth-place finish in his first run with NASCAR’s elite.
Kenseth finished third in the Nationwide Series points in 1999. He also made five Cup starts in the No. 17 DEWALT Ford.
In 2000, Kenseth and the No. 17 team went full-time Cup racing. He won his first career Cup race at the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and earned four top-five and 11 top-10 finishes. For his efforts he was named the 2000 Raybestos Rookie of the Year.
The team finished strong in 2001, with three top-five finishes in the last six races. In addition, the No. 17 pit crew set a world record in winning the Unocal 76/ Rockingham World Pit Crew Competition, besting 24 other teams for the honor.
In 2002, Kenseth registered a series-best five victories, and finished eighth in the final point standings. The No. 17 crew won its second straight Unocal 76/Rockingham World Pit Crew Competition with another world record, conducting a full pit stop in 16.81 seconds.
Kenseth, Reiser and Roush Racing made it all click in 2003 as the No. 17 DEWALT Tools Ford team won the final Winston-era Cup Championship with a record-setting performance. Kenseth’s consistency kept the rest of the field at bay with a series-best 23 top-10 finishes and 11 top-five finishes. Kenseth led the championship point standings for a record-breaking 34 straight weeks en route to Roush Racing’s first-ever Cup title.
Kenseth and the team picked up where they left off, winning two of the first three races in 2004. Kenseth qualified for the inaugural Chase for the Nextel Cup and finished eighth in the final standings. In addition, he followed up his 2003 Cup title by capturing the prestigious International Race of Champions (IROC) title, winning two of the series’ four events.
The 2005 season is most remembered for the terrific surge that saw Kenseth charge from 24th in the points in mid-June – a staggering 320 points out of 10th – to clinching his second birth in the Chase for the Cup just 12 weeks later. During that stretch, the No. 17 DEWALT Ford led 626 laps, scored six top-five finishes and a victory to clinch a spot in the 10-car ‘playoff.’ The team would finish the season seventh.
Kenseth won four times in the Cup car in ’06, including back-to-back victories in August at Michigan and Bristol. He become the first driver since Dale Earnhardt to win back-to-back Bristol night races and he became one of only three drivers to make the Chase for the Cup in each of its first three season. Kenseth entered the 2006 10-race Chase ‘playoff’ atop the point standings and went on to finish second in the final standings; 56 points outside of first. Along the way he set career highs for top-five finishes (15), laps led (1,132) and average finish (9.8).
Kenseth would once again qualify for the Chase in 2007; making him only one of two drivers to accomplish the feat in the first four seasons of the format’s existence. He ran virtually the entire ‘regular’ season inside the top five, before hitting a string of tough luck early in the Chase. Still, the team responded with a string of five straight top-five finishes to end the season, culminating in a victory in the season final at Homestead. Kenseth finished the season fourth in the Sprint Cup point standings and his 624 laps led in the Chase were the most of any driver.
In 2008 Kenseth once again secured his place in the NASCAR Chase for the Cup, running to 20 top-10 finishes and an 11th-place finish in the point standings. He also made his 300th Cup start at Phoenix in April.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT MATT AND TO JOIN HIS OFFICIAL FAN CLUB, PLEASE VISIT WWW.MATTKENSETH.COM.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
2008
* Nine top-five finishes
* 20 top-10 finishes
* Qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup; one of only two drivers to do so each year of the format’s existence
* Made 300th career Sprint Cup start at Phoenix in April
* Scored 24th career Nationwide victory at Atlanta in March
2007
* Two wins (Fontana, Homestead)
* 13 top-five finishes
* 22 top-10 finishes
* Finished fourth in NEXTEL Cup championship point standings
* Led 912 laps, the third most in his career.
* Became one of two drivers to qualify for the season-ending Chase in each of its first four seasons.
* Two Busch Series wins (Fontana, Texas)
* Finished 10th in the Nationwide Series championship point standings, despite missing 11 events, his highest finish in the Nationwide Series since 1999.
2006
* Four wins (Fontana, Dover, Michigan, Bristol)
* Career best, 15 top-five finishes
* 21 top-10 finishes
* Career best, 9.8 average finish
* Career best, 14.6 average start
* Finished second in NEXTEL Cup championship point standings
* Led career high 1132 laps
* Won once (Daytona oval) and finished second in the IROC Series Championship
* Three Busch Series wins (Bristol, Phoenix, Homestead)
* Scored 18 top-10 finishes in 21 starts in the Nationwide Series
2005
* One win (Bristol)
* Won two poles (Bristol, Kansas)
* 12 top-five finishes
* 17 top-10 finishes
* Finished seventh in NEXTEL Cup championship point standings
* One Busch Series win (Darlington)
* Scored 12 top-10 finishes in 15 starts in the Nationwide Series
2004
* Two wins (Rockingham, Las Vegas)
* Eight top-five finishes
* 16 top-10 finishes
* Finished eighth in NEXTEL Cup championship point standings
* Won two of four IROC events and picked up IROC Series Championship
* Three Busch Series wins (Texas, Loudon, Atlanta)
* Scored 11 top-10 finishes in 16 starts in the Nationwide Series
2003
* NASCAR Winston Cup Champion, the final champion of the “Winston era”
* One win (Las Vegas)
* 11 top-five finishes
* Career best, 25 top-10 finishes
* Two Busch Series wins (Fontana, Charlotte)
* Scored nine top-10 finishes in 14 starts in the Nationwide Series
2002
* Five wins (Rockingham, Texas, Michigan, Richmond, Phoenix)
* Won one pole (Dover)
* 11 top-five finishes
* 19 top-10 finishes
* No.17 DEWALT crew won World Pit Crew Competition (2nd consecutive year)
* Finished eighth in Cup championship point standings
2001
* Four top-five finishes
* Nine top-10 finishes
* No.17 DEWALT crew won World Pit Crew Competition
* Finished 13th in Cup championship point standings
* One Busch Series win (Bristol)
* Scored 14 top-10 finishes in 23 starts in the Nationwide Series
2000
* Winston Cup Raybestos Rookie of the Year
* One win (Charlotte), 18th career start
* Four top-five finishes
* 11 top-10 finishes
* Finished 14th in Winston Cup championship point standings
* Four Busch Series wins (Daytona, Fontana, Dover, Charlotte)
* Scored 17 top-10 finishes in 20 starts in the Nationwide Series
1999
* Started five Cup races with Roush Racing and DEWALT
* Four Busch Series wins (Darlington, Nazareth, Fontana, Bristol)
* Two poles in Busch Series.
* Finished third in Busch Series championship point standings
* Partnered with DEWALT Industrial Tools in the Nationwide Series.
1998
* Three Busch Series wins (Rockingham, Pikes Peak, Dover)
* Scored 17 top-five finishes and 23 top-10 finishes
* Made Cup Series debut at Dover and finished sixth
* Finished second in Nationwide Series championship point standings
1997
* Joined Reiser Enterprises in April
* Two third-place finishes in the Nationwide Series (Dover, Fontana)
* Finished second in Busch Series, Rookie of the Year race with only 21 starts
* Finished second in ASA Series points prior to moving to Reiser Enterprises
1996
* Made Busch Series debut at Charlotte in May
* Finished third in the Hooters Pro Cup Series with one win
