Kenseth Bristol II preview

Kenseth Bracing for Bristol Under the Lights

Sharpie 500
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol, TN #August 25, 2001

DEWALT Racing Sharpie 500 Preview
Matt Kenseth's NASCAR Winston Cup Series Performance Summary at Bristol:

Date: 3/25/01
Start: 24
Finish:14
Laps: 500/500
Money: $57,340
Status: Running

Date: 3/26/00
Start: 22
Finish: 12
Laps: 500/500
Money: $42,165
Status: Running

Date: 8/26/00
Start: 22
Finish: 39
Laps: 376/500
Money: $35,575
Status: Overheating

Matt Kenseth's thoughts on going back to Bristol:

You finished a season high 4th last weekend in Michigan. What was the key ingredient to the success? "We had the perfect car, and great stops on pit road all day. If the rain did not come, we would have had a chance to win the race. We certainly need that run to show ourselves we could come from the back and win one."

How important is qualifying at Bristol?
"Qualifying is very important at Bristol because it's the only track left on the circuit with a backstretch pit. If you don't qualify in the front you pit on the back and it's a huge disadvantage because every time you come in the pits you give away 10 spots. Qualifying well at Bristol is probably more important than any other track this year."

Were you satisfied with the test session at Bristol?
"The test went pretty good. We didn't run as well as we wanted to in qualifying trim but we were pretty decent in race trim. It was okay."

With NASCAR not allowing teams to use bump stops, is this going to throw a wrench into the setup?
"I think Bristol is going to be a lot different this time around since they made a rule that we could not run bump stops and spring rubbers. You have to run a lot of spring to keep the car off the ground at Bristol without a bump stop. We are kind of starting over as far as the setup goes, but we will get to run a more conventional setup like we used to."

Crew Chief Robbie Reiser's thoughts on Bristol:
"We definitely need to qualify on the front stretch this race. We are taking car 13. It doesn't take long to go a lap down at Bristol. We tested there about two weeks ago and ran about 100 laps during the day. Hopefully that will help us out when we qualify."

Spotter Mike Calinoff's thoughts on Bristol:
"Bristol is about as tough as it gets. You need to be watching your car and all four corners at the same time. By the time you say, 'trouble,' it could be too late. I still love the place!"

Notes of Interest:

Testing at Bristol...
Kenseth and the team spent Tuesday, August 14th at Bristol Motor Speedway testing for the Sharpie 500.

Stat tidbit...
The fourth place finish at Michigan was the first top-5 for the DEWALT team since July of 2000 at Pocono.

Appearance...
On Thursday, August 23rd, Kenseth will be in DEWALT country, as he will appear at the Orgill Show at the Convention Center in Baltimore from 2:30-4:30pm.

New Product Car...
DEWALT is proud of their New Products Paint Scheme. The paint scheme will be featured on the track through the Dover race. The design is an integration of the new product line and the paint schemes submitted through the DEWALT 2002 Paint Scheme contest. The winners were Robert Williams Lutherville, MD, and Brian Grossman of Cincinnati, OH.

Today the DEWALT Power Tools line consists of over 200 electric power tools and over 800 accessories including: drills and hammer drills; screwdrivers; circular, chop, miter, table, reciprocating, and jig saws; planers; impact wrenches; die, angle, and bench grinders; shears; nibblers; sanders; laminate trimmers; routers, and plate joiners. This year will be an exciting time for DEWALT as it offers its largest product launch ever -- even greater than the initial product line introduction.

-DeWalt-