Pocono II: Matt Kenseth preview
* Matt Kenseth's 14 top-10 finishes in 2007 are the second most of any Cup driver behind points leader Jeff Gordon. During Matt Kenseth's 2003 Championship season, he had posted 15 top-10 finishes at this point in the season.
* Mr. August? Last season Matt Kenseth caught fire in August posting two wins and a second place finish in four races. In 2005, Matt Kenseth posted one win and three top fives in August.
* Matt Kenseth's 11.2-average finish this season ranks second among Cup drivers who have competed in all 20 events. By comparison, Matt Kenseth's average starting position of 21.7 ranks 20th among 29 drivers who have competed in all 20 events.
* Pocono is one of 15 tracks (including North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham) where Matt Kenseth has scored three or more top-five finishes in his career.
* Matt Kenseth has led only 26 laps in 15 races at Pocono, the lowest total number of laps led at any track where Matt Kenseth has nine or more starts.
Kenseth on racing at Pocono Raceway:
"Pocono is a very challenging track for a number of reasons. Primarily because there are three distinctly different turns, and that's the only track we go to like that. The only other tracks with more than two distinctly different turns are road courses. You need a lot of horse power to get down the long straight-a-ways and you'll need a good handling car to carry that momentum through the turns. At least that part is the same as everywhere else. The principal is the same at Pocono as anywhere, you have to get through the center of the turn better than the other guys.
"We'll be looking to bounce back this weekend at Pocono. Yeah, we got a top-10 finish at Indy, but we sure didn't run like a top-10 car. It was pretty frustrating all weekend. We unloaded pretty good, but it just went downhill from there. We had high hopes going into the weekend, and struggling to finish 10th wasn't anywhere near what we had in mind. So, bouncing back at a place like Pocono, which has really been one of our tougher tracks, would go a long ways towards gaining some momentum in this stretch run leading up to the Chase."
Crew Chief Robbie Reiser on racing at Pocono Raceway:
"We're bringing a car that hasn't seen much action over the past year, but it's been to a lot of tracks as the backup. We've put a lot of work into this car since it last ran at Pocono, last June and finished fifth. We think we've made some big improvements, but we really won't know what we've got until we unload on Friday. No matter how many simulations and tests that you run on the car, until it's on the track turning laps with Matt driving it, you can't say for sure what you've got. But, hopefully we've gone the right way on this one.
"Pocono is a tough track to setup for because it's relatively flat and every corner is different. We've seen it come down to fuel mileage in the past, so we've got to do our part to stay on top of pit strategy and the field gets pretty strung out here too. A good stop can be worth four or five positions on the track that aren't that easy to get back. So, like every weekend, we'll have to be on top of our game and take care of everything that we have control over. If we can get the car to turn, I know Matt can get the job done."
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