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KENSETH WINS AT DOVER!
MATT KENSETH
NO. 17 CROWN ROYAL FORD FUSION
2009 DAYTONA 500 CHAMPION
Born: March 10, 1972
Wife: Katie
Children: Ross, Kaylin & Grace
Hometown: Cambridge, WI
Resides: Mooresville, NC
Sprint Cup Career Stats:
Starts: 400 Wins: 18 Top 5s: 101
Top 10s: 189 Poles: 4
Matt Kenseth’s 2009 victory in the famed Daytona 500 not only added another major accolade to the driver’s already rich portfolio, it made the
Cambridge, WI native one of only five drivers in NASCAR history to win a Cup Championship, the Raybestos Rookie Award and the Daytona 500;
placing him in the elite company of Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, David Pearson and Richard Petty.
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In addition, during his 13-year Sprint Cup career, Kenseth boasts an International Race of Champions (IROC) title in
2004 and he is one of only two drivers to make the “Chase for the NASCAR Cup” in each of its first five seasons. Kenseth has visited victory
lane in the Cup Series on 18 occasions, scored 101 top-five finishes, 189 top-10 finishes, four poles, and he took home the 2003 Sprint Cup
Championship, to become Roush Fenway’s first Cup Champion.
Kenseth has also collected 25 wins in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series, along with 16 poles.
Born and raised in Cambridge, Kenseth began his racing career at the age of 16, winning his first feature event in only his third race.
By the age of 19, Kenseth was racing against the likes of Dick Trickle, Ted Musgrave and Rich Bickle in the Wisconsin late model ranks.
With a win in LaCrosse, Wisc., Kenseth set a new record for being the youngest winner in ARTGO Challenge Series history, a distinction
previously held by his future teammate Mark Martin.
Kenseth took the Wisconsin racing ranks by storm in the early ‘90s, winning races and track titles at venues all across Wisconsin,
becoming the youngest driver to ever win the prestigious Miller Genuine Draft National championships in 1994.
Following another Wisconsin track title in 1995, successful runs in NASCAR All Pro Series (1995), the Hooters Series (1996) and the
ASA Series (1997), Kenseth got a fateful call in 1997 from a fellow Wisconsin racer, Robbie Reiser, who asked Kenseth to drive for his team in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
The Kenseth-Reiser tandem debuted on April 19, 1997 at Nashville Speedway, finishing 11th. Kenseth went on to capture two top-five and seven top-10 finishes in
21 starts and finished second in the Rookie of the Year battle.
In 1998, Kenseth’s first full Nationwide Series season, he finished second in the championship points with three wins. He also made his Cup debut, substituting for
Bill Elliott in the McDonald’s Ford at Dover in September. The young Kenseth drove to an impressive sixth-place finish in his first run with NASCAR’s elite.
Kenseth finished third in the Nationwide Series points in 1999. He also made five Cup starts in the No. 17 DEWALT Ford.
In 2000, Kenseth and the No. 17 team went full-time Cup racing. He won his first career Cup race at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and earned four top-five
and 11 top-10 finishes. For his efforts, he was named the 2000 Raybestos Rookie of the Year.
The team finished strong in 2001, with three top-five finishes in the last six races. In addition, the No. 17 pit crew set a world record in winning the Unocal 76/ Rockingham
World Pit Crew Competition, besting 24 other teams for the honor.
In 2002, Kenseth registered a series-best five victories, and finished eighth in the final point standings. The No. 17 crew won its second straight Unocal 76/Rockingham
World Pit Crew Competition with another world record, conducting a full pit stop in 16.81 seconds.
Kenseth, Reiser and Roush Fenway Racing made it all click in 2003 as the No. 17 DEWALT Tools Ford team won the final Winston-era Cup Championship with a
record-setting performance. Kenseth’s consistency kept the rest of the field at bay with a series-best 23 top-10 finishes and 11 top-five finishes. Kenseth led the championship
point standings for a record-breaking 34 straight weeks en route to Roush Fenway Racing’s first-ever Cup title.
Kenseth and the team picked up where they left off, winning two of the first three races in 2004. Kenseth qualified for the inaugural Chase for the Nextel Cup and finished
eighth in the final standings. In addition, he followed up his 2003 Cup title by capturing the prestigious International Race of Champions (IROC) title, winning two of the
series’ four events.
The 2005 season is most remembered for the terrific surge that saw Kenseth charge from 24th in the points in mid-June – a staggering 320 points out of 10th – to clinching
his second birth in the Chase for the Cup just 12 weeks later. During that stretch, the No. 17 DEWALT Ford led 626 laps, scored six top-five finishes and a victory to clinch a
spot in the 10-car ‘playoff.’ The team would finish the season seventh.
Kenseth won four times in the Cup car in ’06, including back-to-back victories in August at Michigan and Bristol. He become the first driver since Dale Earnhardt to win
back-to-back Bristol night races and he became one of only three drivers to make the Chase for the Cup in each of its first three season. Kenseth entered the 2006 10-race
Chase ‘playoff’ atop the point standings and went on to finish second in the final standings; 56 points outside of first. Along the way he set career highs for top-five finishes (15),
laps led (1,132) and average finish (9.8).
Kenseth would once again qualify for the Chase in 2007; making him only one of two drivers to accomplish the feat in the first four seasons of the format’s existence. He ran
virtually the entire ‘regular’ season inside the top five, before hitting a string of tough luck early in the Chase. Still, the team responded with a string of five straight top-five finishes
to end the season, culminating in a victory in the season finale at Homestead. Kenseth finished the season fourth in the Sprint Cup point standings and his 624 laps led in the
Chase were the most of any driver.
In 2008 Kenseth once again secured his place in the NASCAR Chase for the Cup, running to 20 top-10 finishes and an 11th-place finish in the point standings. He also made his
300th Cup start at Phoenix in April.
In 2009 Kenseth began the season with back-to-back victories, winning NASCAR’s version of the Super Bowl - the Daytona 500 - and followed that up with a win the next week
at California Speedway. However, the team would struggle down the stretch, narrowly missing the “Chase for the Cup” for the first time in its six year existence. In fact, Kenseth
became the first driver in Chase history to hold a qualifying position for the Chase each of the first 25 weeks of the season without qualifying for the Chase. In addition to the two
wins, Kenseth earned his fourth career Cup pole, qualifying first at Darlington in May. He won his 25th Nationwide race at Darlington that same weekend and earned Nationwide
poles at Richmond and Texas.
The 2010 season began with a new primary sponsorship from Crown Royal for Kenseth on the No. 17 Ford. Kenseth and his team were eager to turn their results around
although the team started the season off with some strong runs, especially a second-place finish at Atlanta in March, by mid-season, the team was searching for better performance.
Kenseth and veteran crew chief, Jimmy Fennig, were reunited in late June and the pair was able to steer the team back into the fold. Kenseth earned a berth in the Chase and
found himself challenging for the win at Texas in November. Kenseth and his Crown Royal Ford finished inside the top ten in five of his final eight starts of 2010. Kenseth finished
the 2010 Sprint Cup season fifth in the driver point standings.
2011 will once again find Kenseth paired up with Fennig on the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford as the pair is eager to pick up where they left off at the end of last year.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
2010
• Six top-five finishes
• 15 top-10 finishes
• Qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup finishing fifth in the points
• Made 400th career Sprint Cup series start at Homestead in November
• Finished runner-up twice for the season at both Atlanta (March) and Texas (November)
2009
• Two wins (Daytona 500 and Fontana)
• Posted seven top five and 12 top-10 finishes
• Captured fourth career Cup pole in May at Darlington
• Won his 25th career Nationwide Race in May at Darlington
2008
• Nine top-five finishes
• 20 top-10 finishes
• Qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup; one of only two drivers to do so each year of the format’s existence
• Made 300th career Sprint Cup series start at Phoenix in April
• Scored 24th career Nationwide victory at Atlanta in March
2007
• Two wins (Fontana, Homestead)
• 13 top-five finishes
• 22 top-10 finishes
• Finished fourth in Cup championship point standings
• Led 912 laps, the third most in his career
• Became one of two drivers to qualify for the season-ending Chase in each of its first four seasons
• Two Nationwide Series wins (Fontana, Texas)
• Finished 10th in the Nationwide Series championship point standings, despite missing 11 events; his highest finish in the Nationwide Series since 1999
2006
• Four wins (Fontana, Dover, Michigan, Bristol)
• Career best, 15 top-five finishes
• 21 top-10 finishes
• Career best, 9.8 average finish
• Career best, 14.6 average start
• Finished second in Sprint Cup championship point standings
• Led career high 1132 laps
• Won once (Daytona oval) and finished second in the IROC Series Championship
• Three Nationwide Series wins (Bristol, Phoenix, Homestead)
• Scored 18 top-10 finishes in 21 starts in the Nationwide Series
2005
• One win (Bristol)
• Won two poles (Bristol, Kansas)
• 12 top-five finishes
• 17 top-10 finishes
• Finished seventh in Sprint Cup championship point standings
• One Nationwide Series win (Darlington)
• Scored 12 top-10 finishes in 15 starts in the Nationwide Series
2004
• Two wins (Rockingham, Las Vegas)
• Eight top-five finishes
• 16 top-10 finishes
• Finished eighth in Sprint Cup championship point standings
• Won two of four IROC events and picked up IROC Series Championship
• Three Nationwide Series wins (Texas, Loudon, Atlanta)
• Scored 11 top-10 finishes in 16 starts in the Nationwide Series
2003
• NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion, the final champion of the “Winston Era”
• One win (Las Vegas)
• 11 top-five finishes
• Career best, 25 top-10 finishes
• Two Nationwide Series wins (Fontana, Charlotte)
• Scored nine top-10 finishes in 14 starts in the Nationwide Series
2002
• Five wins (Rockingham, Texas, Michigan, Richmond, Phoenix)
• Won one pole (Dover)
• 11 top-five finishes
• 19 top-10 finishes
• No.17 DEWALT crew won World Pit Crew Competition (2nd consecutive year)
• Finished eighth in Cup championship point standings
2001
• Four top-five finishes
• Nine top-10 finishes
• No.17 DEWALT crew won World Pit Crew Competition
• Finished 13th in Cup championship point standings
• One Nationwide Series win (Bristol)
• Scored 14 top-10 finishes in 23 starts in the Nationwide Series
2000
• Sprint Cup Raybestos Rookie of the Year
• One win (Charlotte), 18th career start
• Four top-five finishes
• 11 top-10 finishes
• Finished 14th in Cup championship point standings
• Four Nationwide Series wins (Daytona, Fontana, Dover, Charlotte)
• Scored 17 top-10 finishes in 20 starts in the Nationwide Series
1999
• Started five Cup races with Roush Racing and DEWALT
• Four Nationwide Series wins (Darlington, Nazareth, Fontana, Bristol)
• Two poles in Nationwide Series
• Finished third in Nationwide Series championship point standings
• Partnered with DEWALT Industrial Tools in the Nationwide Series
1998
• Three Nationwide Series wins (Rockingham, Pikes Peak, Dover)
• Scored 17 top-five finishes and 23 top-10 finishes
• Made Cup Series debut at Dover and finished sixth
• Finished second in Nationwide Series championship point standings
1997
• Joined Reiser Enterprises in April
• Two third-place finishes in the Nationwide Series (Dover, Fontana)
• Finished second in Nationwide Series (then Busch Series), Rookie of the Year race with only 21 starts
• Finished second in ASA Series points prior to moving to Reiser Enterprises
1996
• Made Nationwide Series debut at Charlotte in May
• Finished third in the Hooters Pro Cup Series with one win
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