Dover: Matt Kenseth preview

Matt Kenseth

FAST FACTS

* Matt Kenseth made his NEXTEL Cup debut at Dover International Speedway in September of 1998 at the age of 26. He substituted for Bill Elliott that day and drove to a sixth place finish.

* Kenseth scored the first pole of his Cup career at Dover in June of 2002.

* By leading a lap in the Coca-Cola 600, Kenseth has now led at least one lap in nine of the series' 12 points races this season.

* Kenseth's seven top-five finishes so far in 2006 is tied for the best in NEXTEL Cup along with Jimmie Johnson.

* Kenseth has led 628 laps in his NBS career at Dover, the most among all active drivers the Busch Series.

* Kenseth's DNF at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the Busch Series was his first DNF in NBS competition since Homestead last November. It also marked the first time Kenseth has failed to finish in the top 10 in 2006.

Kenseth on racing at Dover International Speedway:
"I used to always say Dover was my favorite track. But, ever since I've been saying that, we've had some terrible luck there. Dover is a fun place to run. It's extremely fast and challenging. Tires can make a world of difference there. Dover will always be a special place for me, because I made my Cup debut there. I'll never forget that weekend when I had the opportunity to fill in for Bill Elliott, in his car, back in '98. We won the Busch race on Saturday and were very competitive on Sunday and that's always given me a lot of confidence every time I return to Dover. Hopefully, we can turn our luck around there and keep the momentum we have going this year."

Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing Dover International Speedway:
"Matt ultimately picks the cars that we take to the race track. He likes the one we ran at Darlington and so that's what we're taking. I'm hoping we have a better weekend than last weekend with the handling of the car. Don't get me wrong, I'll take a top five in the 600 every day, but we really chased the handling all evening. But, we've ran well in the past at Dover, so hopefully we can continue that this year."

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