NASCAR Cup

Kenseth - Ford Interview

This Week in Ford Racing - Matt Kenseth

Edited: Jun 1, 2018, 1:00 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion, is sixth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings and has two wins this season after taking the checkered flag at Dover. Kenseth, who registered his first NSCS win in the 2000 Coca-Cola 600, spoke about that night and how he feels about the longest race of the season.

YOUR FIRST CUP WIN WAS THE COCA-COLA 600 IN 2000. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT THAT NIGHT? “I remember almost everything about that race, to be honest with you. That’s one which will hopefully never fall out of my head. There was a lot of neat stuff. I think Dale Jr. won the All-Star Race the week before and he dominated the whole 600 and kind of got behind at the end with a set of tires or a change they made and it kind of opened the door for a few of the rest of us to have a shot at it. I think Dale Jr. had the dominant car that night. They got behind on their last pit stop or adjustment or set of tires and that opened the door for Bobby Labonte and me to race for the win. I was able to run Bobby down with I don’t know how many laps to go, but there weren’t a lot to go. We had a really good battle and I was able to pass him for the win. There was a rain delay in that race. It was really long and it was just a really cool race to be able to win, especially for your first one.”

Post-race press conference: race winner Matt Kenseth, Roush Fenway Racing Ford

Photo by: Ashley Dickerson, ASP Inc.

WHAT DID THAT DO FOR YOU FROM A CONFIDENCE STANDPOINT AS A ROOKIE IN THE SERIES? WAS THAT A SPRINGBOARD? “I thought it was. We went to Dover and ran second or third and then from there the wheels fell off for about a year-and-a-half (laughing) until 2002. I think 2001 was probably one of our worst years because we weren’t very competitive as an organization, so it was nice to get that first win because there was a pretty good dry spell in between the next one, and then 2002 was a good year for us.”

YOU HAVE FOUR STRAIGHT TOP 10 FINISHES AT CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY GOING INTO THE 600. HOW DO FEEL ABOUT THIS TRACK IN GENERAL? “I feel like since they’ve paved it we’ve actually struggled a little bit at times. There have been times we’ve run really well and then there have been times where we struggled, but the 600 is probably my favorite event of the season. It’s obviously the longest race of the year and a lot of things go on, but I look forward to that. I think a lot of times we excel in the longer races, maybe more so than the shorter ones, so I look forward to that.”

DAVID PEARSON WAS INDUCTED INTO THE NASCAR HALL OF FAME ON MONDAY. YOUR DRIVING STYLE HAS BEEN COMPARED TO HIM BY SOME. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU? “That’s quite a compliment. I don’t think I’ll ever accomplish what he has, that’s for sure, but it’s quite a compliment to be mentioned in the same breath because David Pearson is certainly one of the best this sport has ever seen.”

WHAT’S THE MOST DIFFICULT THING ABOUT RACING THE 600? “Just how long it is, I guess, and the changes the track goes through for adjustments. As competitive as it is today, you have to be good enough in the beginning to not get a lap down and be really fast at the end when the track is totally different than the beginning of the race. That’s always the challenge – to balance that out to be good at the beginning and the end.”

Everybody’s stuff is more durable than it has ever been ...

Matt Kenseth

DOES IT FEEL LIKE THE LONGEST RACE OF THE SEASON FROM INSIDE THE CAR? “It depends how your day is going, honestly. If your day is going really well and you’re running it front, it maybe doesn’t feel as long. If you’re really struggling and you’re down a lap or two and you’re really battling your car, it can feel really long, so it really depends on the day. I’ve been in them before where it just seems like forever and I’ve been in them before when it doesn’t seem much different than a 400 or 500-mile race.”

CAN YOU HAVE A STRATEGY FOR THAT RACE? “You need to be there the last 100 miles and not break or not wreck. Everybody’s stuff is more durable than it has ever been and there are more cars that finish these races than there ever used to be. The competitive level is tough, so it really isn’t a lot different for me than a 500 or 400-mile race. I think you really want to be in at least the top 15 the whole race, especially at the beginning to make sure you don’t get lapped or if you have a problem you get too far behind. I think you’re gonna be racing pretty hard the whole time, really.”

-source: ford racing

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article NASCAR Inducts Second Hall of Fame Class

Next article Johnson - NASCAR Teleconference

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Spy shots of 2027 NASCAR Ford Mustang testing at Charlotte, but what's different?

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Charlotte II

54 min

Spy shots of 2027 NASCAR Ford Mustang testing at Charlotte, but what's different?

Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1 1 h

Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda

Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign

Indy NXT

IndL Indy NXT 3 h

Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign

GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance

WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 3 h

GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts