Kenseth sends longtime crew chief off with a win
Matt Kenseth didn’t provide much drama in winning Sunday’s Ford 400, but he did provide a large dose of emotion.
His victory in the Nextel Cup season finale allowed him to send his longtime — and only — crew chief, Robbie Reiser, out on a heck of a high.
“It’s cool to go out with a win,” Matt Kenseth said. “I’m going to miss working with him on Sundays.”
Reiser announced a couple of weeks ago that he would climb down off the pit box after seven seasons to become the general manager of Roush Fenway Racing.
The normally staid Reiser looked tearful after his driver took the checkered flag. It was Matt Kenseth’s and Reiser’s 16th victory together.
“I’m not a real emotional guy,” Reiser said. “I enjoy racing. I love to race. My dad brought me up that way. It’s who I am, I’m a racer.”
Reiser certainly put one heck of car under Matt Kenseth at Homestead-Miami Speedway Sunday. It led 214 of the race’s 267 laps. At times, it allowed Matt Kenseth to drive off to leads of 10 seconds or more.
The victory allowed Matt Kenseth to move up two spots — from sixth to fourth — in the final series standings.
It did not allow him to engage in wild celebration.
“I have a great race team,” he said. “I really feel like I let these guys down. We lost a lot of close races this year, so it feels great to win one and win a close one.”
Kurt Busch finished second, .8 of a second back.
He said he wishes the race would have been just a bit longer.
“I felt we had a legitimate shot at chasing Matt down,” Busch said. “He was the car to beat, and we were the challenger and we just came up a bit short.”
Clint Bowyer finished third in points but suffered through a tough final race. He broke a tail pipe and spent considerable time in the pits and in the garages. He was credited with a 39th-place finish.
“It was a successful year for us,” Bowyer said. “We had a lot of fun and learned a lot.”
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