NASCAR Cup

Indianapolis: Matt Kenseth preview

FAST FACTS * Matt Kenseth has four top-five finishes in seven starts at Indy, or 57 percent. That is Kenseth's highest percentage of top-five finishes at any track. * Indy is one of 12 tracks (including North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham) ...

Edited: Jul 25, 2007, 2:16 AM

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FAST FACTS

* Matt Kenseth has four top-five finishes in seven starts at Indy, or 57 percent. That is Kenseth's highest percentage of top-five finishes at any track.

* Indy is one of 12 tracks (including North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham) where Kenseth has scored four or more top-five finishes in his career.

* Kenseth's four top-five finishes at Indianapolis Motor Speedway ranks fifth among active Cup drivers at Indy, even though he has six less starts than the four in front of him.

* According to NASCAR's "loop data," Kenseth leads all Cup drivers in the following categories at Indy:
Average Running Position of 5.8
Driver Rating of 114.0
316 Laps in the Top 15

* In 2001's Brickyard 400, Kenseth completed only two laps, the lowest total of laps completed in Kenseth's 275-race Cup career.

Kenseth on racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway:

"Indy ranks right at the top, or close to the top, on races you'd like to win in your career. I think everyone wants to win the Daytona 500, that's the biggest one you want to win. But, certainly the Brickyard is right there with it.

"We've been close a few times and we've been real competitive. Actually a couple of times we've been there we've had some problems, but we've always ran pretty good. I always feel like we'll have a shot when we go there, and it's certainly one we'd like to pull off.

"Indy's different than any other track we go to because it's four 90 degree corners instead of two basically 180 degree corners, so that makes it a lot different. It's definitely narrow and very difficult to run side by side, but yet it's not difficult to pass. If you got your car where it's loose enough then you can do some passing. It's a lot of fun. It's actually a very challenging track, even when you're by yourself, to get that little bit of extra speed out of it is real difficult at Indy. You've got to have it pretty 'hung out' to be able to run fast, which makes it a lot of fun as a driver."

Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway:

"Indy's a real special place for all of us who grew up in the Midwest. It's got a ton of history and when you think about all of the guys that have won there throughout the years it would mean a lot to be able to add our names to that list.

"We're taking the same car that we ran with there last year. It was brand new when we ran it at Indy last year and built specifically with Indy in mind. We tested it there then took it back and were pretty competitive with it. That should give us a pretty good baseline whenever we unload Friday for the two practice sessions. Hopefully we aren't too far off and can zero in on what we need for the race. If we can get it to turn like Matt wants it to turn, then I feel pretty good about our chances on Sunday."

-credit: rfr

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