Matt Kenseth improving after slow Chase start
Roush Fenway Racing’s Matt Kenseth isn’t where he wants to be in the standings for NASCAR’s 2008 Chase For The Sprint Cup, but at least he appears to be headed in the right direction.
After a dismal 40th-place finish in the Chase opener at New Hampshire on Sept. 14, Kenseth has posted consecutive outcomes of second and fifth in his last two outings at Dover and Kansas City.
Those results have moved the 2003 Cup champion from last among the 12 Chase drivers following New Hampshire to ninth entering Sunday’s Amp Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
So while Kenseth may not have points on his side – he still trails leader Jimmie Johnson by 192 - he does appear to have momentum.
“We have made a lot of improvements over the last two races,”
said Kenseth, who led a combined 185 laps between Dover and Kansas City. “Our cars have been really fast, and we’ve been able to lead laps and race up front. But we’ve also made some mistakes that have cost us a lot. With [seven] races to go in the Chase and being so far behind from New Hampshire, you just can’t afford to have any mistakes. We’ll just take it one week at a time, dig hard each week and try to get ’em.”
Unfortunately for Kenseth, Talladega isn’t traditionally fertile ground to make up ground. In 17 starts at the high-speed venue, he has just three top-five and six top-10 finishes. He has rarely been in serious contention for wins.
“For me, the racing at Talladega isn’t my most favorite,”
crew chief Chip Bolin said. “I just hope we can make it to the end without trouble and get a solid top-10 finish. If you have a fast car, you can make your own luck at Daytona, because the faster cars will work their way to the front and be able to stay out of trouble. And that was the case at Daytona in July. We had a good car and were able to run up front and get a really good finish.”
“Talladega, on the other hand is pretty much a case of 43 cars riding around hoping no one will wreck you because the handling of the car is a non-issue. So, basically we’ll unload and hope for the best and wait and see what happens in the race.”
Steering clear of the potential carnage will be key if Kenseth is to improve his Talladega resume and keep momentum on his side moving forward.
“It’s hard to say what the race will be like this time,”
he said. “Everyone’s made a lot of progress, so really it’s anyone’s race. My hopes for the Dewalt team are to make sure we’re there at the end to get a good finish.”
