NASCAR Cup

Kenseth to start 250th cup race

KENSETH TO MAKE 250TH CUP START AT TALLADEGA 34-year old Cambridge, Wisconsin native reaches milestone this weekend CONCORD, N.C. - When Matt Kenseth takes the green flag in this Sunday's UAW-Ford 500 at the Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, he will ...

Published: Oct 4, 2006, 9:40 PM

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KENSETH TO MAKE 250TH CUP START AT TALLADEGA
34-year old Cambridge, Wisconsin native reaches milestone this weekend

CONCORD, N.C. - When Matt Kenseth takes the green flag in this Sunday's UAW-Ford 500 at the Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, he will be making the 250th NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series start of his nine-year career.

Kenseth, the 2003 Cup Champion, will become the 76th driver in NASCAR history to reach the milestone. Kenseth broke into the Cup Series in 1998 at Dover International Speedway, where he drove to a sixth-place finish while filling in for Bill Elliott.

Together with crew chief and fellow Wisconsin native, Robbie Reiser, and car sponsor DEWALT, Kenseth made the leap into full-time competition in NASCAR's Cup division in 2000. That year, Kenseth became the only rookie ever to win the Coca-Cola 600, a victory that helped propel him to Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors.

In 2003, Kenseth brought car owner Jack Roush his first Cup Championship by claiming the final championship of the Winston Cup era. Since then, Kenseth has won the 2004 International Race of Champions (IROC) Championship, won the 2004 NEXTEL All-Star Challenge at Lowe's Motor Speedway and is one of only three drivers to have made NASCAR's Chase for the NEXTEL Cup all three seasons.

Currently sitting fourth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Standings, Kenseth is 84 points behind Jeff Burton with seven races to go.

"I had no idea this was number 250 until someone told me," said Kenseth. "You know, we race so much and so often that you really don't have time to think about the races behind you because you're so focused on the race ahead of you. Especially after yesterday, I'm certainly looking forward to next weekend. Of course, 250 really isn't that much if you consider that Mark Martin has over 650 starts and somebody told me that Terry Labonte is closing in on 850. I know I won't be racing that long, but I feel fortunate to be doing what I love to do and it sure beats having to go to work for a living."

-credit: roush racing

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