Kenseth content to pile up laps, points for title
Interesting... last night on Wind Tunnel he said he'd also rather win races too! I doubt that he is "content" to just pile up points. Every driver wants to win races or they wouldn't be racing.
By Seth Livingstone
USA Today
In NASCAR, it's easy to play the blame game.
Blame the opponent, blame the weather, blame the officials.
Don't like NASCAR's Chase for the Nextel Cup? Blame Matt Kenseth.
Kenseth was so consistently good in 2003 that he removed all drama from the season climax back when NASCAR's championship was known as the Winston Cup.
Although he proved himself a worthy champion by accumulating 25 top-10 finishes, Kenseth won only one race that season. Critics noted that Ryan Newman, who won eight races, never got a sniff at the title, finishing sixth in points.
Pressured to deliver a TV format that could deliver a thrilling conclusion each year and place more emphasis on wins, NASCAR changed its system. The Chase was born.
"The runaway championship, some speculate, may have contributed to the Chase for the Cup," team owner Jack Roush said. "It might have been a reason. But, I think we just were at a point in the advancement and development of the sport that it was time for a revision in the rules to make the end of the year more exciting."
But don't think for a Milwaukee minute that the favorite son of Cambridge, near Madison, hasn't always been about winning.
Just ask crew chief Robbie Reiser, who came to know Kenseth as a hard-charging rival long before they began working together in 1997.
By 1998, Kenseth and Reiser were running full time, winning three races, posting 17 top-fives and finishing second in the Busch standings. It was also in '98 that Kenseth made his first Cup start, filling in for Bill Elliott at Dover International Speedway the week Elliott's father died. Kenseth finished sixth in his debut.
In the early 1990s, Kenseth and Reiser had become synonymous with success on the small tracks near Kenseth's home, about 20 minutes southeast of Madison.
"Robbie was more established. I was a pretty young driver and probably not the smartest driver, so we definitely clashed a few times," Kenseth said. "I know this. It's a lot more fun to be on his team than racing against him."
"I was the points leader going into the last race of the short-track series in a race at Madison," Reiser recalls. "Matt passed me to win the race. I finished second, but I still won the points championship."
Everybody went home happy.
How ironic that a decade later, Kenseth would rewrite NASCAR history by winning on points.
Roush said it's silly to single out Kenseth for NASCAR's decision to alter its rules. Change was inevitable.
"2003 was an odd year," Roush said. "It was the fifth year since the last time we'd had a revision to the Taurus. From 1997 to 2003, NASCAR brought some new templates that slowed the car down. That meant the car wasn't very good. Matt did a very exceptional job to be consistent enough and stay out of harm's way."
So what would be sweeter — to win another Cup championship or make it to victory lane more than any of his rivals?
"A championship's better," Kenseth said. "It's really hard to win races. But there are 36 of them every year. There's only one championship. I think winning the championship is the ultimate goal for everyone in this garage. The list of champions — that's a pretty cool list to get on."
If there's one difference between Matt Kenseth, 2003 champion, and Matt Kenseth, 2006 contender, it's his cars are more capable of winning every week.
"We've had a lot of positives — cars capable of winning five races in a row and the pit crew's been awesome, better than anyone else on pit road," Kenseth said.
"Better than '03? Yeah. It's different — '03 was a season-long deal, some people had problems and we ran real consistent. Our performance and the way everything is running is definitely better. I feel our team is operating at a higher level now."
By Seth Livingstone
USA Today
In NASCAR, it's easy to play the blame game.
Blame the opponent, blame the weather, blame the officials.
Don't like NASCAR's Chase for the Nextel Cup? Blame Matt Kenseth.
Kenseth was so consistently good in 2003 that he removed all drama from the season climax back when NASCAR's championship was known as the Winston Cup.
Although he proved himself a worthy champion by accumulating 25 top-10 finishes, Kenseth won only one race that season. Critics noted that Ryan Newman, who won eight races, never got a sniff at the title, finishing sixth in points.
Pressured to deliver a TV format that could deliver a thrilling conclusion each year and place more emphasis on wins, NASCAR changed its system. The Chase was born.
"The runaway championship, some speculate, may have contributed to the Chase for the Cup," team owner Jack Roush said. "It might have been a reason. But, I think we just were at a point in the advancement and development of the sport that it was time for a revision in the rules to make the end of the year more exciting."
But don't think for a Milwaukee minute that the favorite son of Cambridge, near Madison, hasn't always been about winning.
Just ask crew chief Robbie Reiser, who came to know Kenseth as a hard-charging rival long before they began working together in 1997.
By 1998, Kenseth and Reiser were running full time, winning three races, posting 17 top-fives and finishing second in the Busch standings. It was also in '98 that Kenseth made his first Cup start, filling in for Bill Elliott at Dover International Speedway the week Elliott's father died. Kenseth finished sixth in his debut.
In the early 1990s, Kenseth and Reiser had become synonymous with success on the small tracks near Kenseth's home, about 20 minutes southeast of Madison.
"Robbie was more established. I was a pretty young driver and probably not the smartest driver, so we definitely clashed a few times," Kenseth said. "I know this. It's a lot more fun to be on his team than racing against him."
"I was the points leader going into the last race of the short-track series in a race at Madison," Reiser recalls. "Matt passed me to win the race. I finished second, but I still won the points championship."
Everybody went home happy.
How ironic that a decade later, Kenseth would rewrite NASCAR history by winning on points.
Roush said it's silly to single out Kenseth for NASCAR's decision to alter its rules. Change was inevitable.
"2003 was an odd year," Roush said. "It was the fifth year since the last time we'd had a revision to the Taurus. From 1997 to 2003, NASCAR brought some new templates that slowed the car down. That meant the car wasn't very good. Matt did a very exceptional job to be consistent enough and stay out of harm's way."
So what would be sweeter — to win another Cup championship or make it to victory lane more than any of his rivals?
"A championship's better," Kenseth said. "It's really hard to win races. But there are 36 of them every year. There's only one championship. I think winning the championship is the ultimate goal for everyone in this garage. The list of champions — that's a pretty cool list to get on."
If there's one difference between Matt Kenseth, 2003 champion, and Matt Kenseth, 2006 contender, it's his cars are more capable of winning every week.
"We've had a lot of positives — cars capable of winning five races in a row and the pit crew's been awesome, better than anyone else on pit road," Kenseth said.
"Better than '03? Yeah. It's different — '03 was a season-long deal, some people had problems and we ran real consistent. Our performance and the way everything is running is definitely better. I feel our team is operating at a higher level now."
posted by at 4/17/2006 03:20:00 PM
2 Comments:
Fine, I put up an Elliott Sadler post and YOU DON'T even comment. I see, you were too invoved with Easter. Ahhhh Easter, tastes like chicken.
I guess Ms. Clance is going on a trip. I told her to bring you and me back some t-shirts, LOL
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