Kenseth downplays top status

SCENEDAILY -
09:29AM ET
THURSDAY MARCH 30, 2006 -

Matt Kenseth says it's a bit early in the season to be getting carried away with leading the NASCAR Nextel Cup point standings. Still, the 2003 champ finds it nice to be on top heading into Sunday's DirecTV 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Kenseth's last lead in the Cup point standings came after the March 28, 2004, Bristol race.

"It's a much better start than last season," said Kenseth, who at this point last year was 28th in the point standings, 376 points out of first. "This crew has done a great job building and setting up race cars. We've realistically had a car that ran good enough each week to win. If we could have had a few more breaks we could be sitting here with three or more wins right now, and that's a testament to how good this team is."

In the season's opening five races, the driver of Roush Racing's No. 17 Ford has three top-five finishes and a win. It is those stats, as much as the fact that they've pushed him atop the standing, that Kenseth enjoys.

"Obviously, leading at this point in the season doesn't mean that much," Kenseth said. "But, the fact that this 17 team is competing for wins each week does. The cars have been great and our pit crew continues to be the best out there. It's a long season, but hopefully we can keep running this good and pick up some victories along the way."