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Monday July 26th
1999 • Pikes Peak
- DeWALT
RACING NOTES
MATT KENSETH GRABS 7TH AT PIKES
PEAK
RETAKES THE POINT LEAD
Matt Kenseth came away from Pikes Peak with not only a 7th
place finish, his 13th top ten of the season, Kenseth
recaptured the points lead, jumping 24 points ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Matt qualified for the 250-lap race in 7th
spot, and experienced a slight handling condition off the
corners at the beginning of the race. The DeWALT Monte Carlo’s handling
improved after 30 laps, with Kenseth moving into 4th position by lap 38.
Caution flew on the speedway on lap 62 and Matt ducted into the pits for his
first stop of the day. The DeWALT Race Team completed an incredible
four-tire stop, beating every team on pit row. Several cars didn’t pit and
Kenseth resumed the race in 9th spot. It didn’t take long for Matt to work
his way back up the field, cruising in the top five for the next 90 laps,
grabbing second position by lap 153. Matt made his second and final stop of
the day on lap 161 taking on four tires and resumed the race in 12th spot.
Matt worked his way back up to the front, picking off several spots before
the end of the race, taking the checkered flag in 7th position.
With Kenseth’s top ten finish and Dale Jr.’s 36th place finish, Matt
reclaimed the points lead, moving ahead of Dale by 24
points.
-
MATT THOUGHT’S ON PPIR
“We were pretty good most of the race, we
hung around second and third. At the end there we adjusted the car to make
it better and it got ten times worse. We needed to be good at the end and we
weren’t.”
- Little,
Kenseth to share space in new Roush shop
(Nascar Online article)
Monday July 19th
1999 - Myrtle Beach
- DeWALT Racing Notes
KENSETH TAKES 3rd AT THE BEACH;
MAKES BIG DENT IN JR’S POINT LEAD
Matt Kenseth came away from the Myrtle Beach
Speedway with his tenth top five of the season and moved to within 62 points
of championship points leader Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Matt qualified for the 250-lap event in ninth
position, inside the fifth row. Once the green flag dropped,
it didn’t take Kenseth long to make his way to the front. Matt assumed the
top spot on lap 65 and held the lead until lap 100, relinquishing the
position to Randy the entire race, falling back to fifth after his second
pit stop, but rallied back to third before the checkered flag dropped.
Kenseth grabbed 170 points thanks to the third
place finish and his leading a few laps, and gained 77 points
on Dale Jr. in the championship
points race.
- MATT’S THOUGHTS ON MYRTLE
BEACH
“I’m really proud of the entire DeWALT
Race Team. We’ve really struggled at these small racetracks. We had a good
run tonight. The team gave me a car that I thought would maybe have a chance
to win with that first set of tires. But we could just never get the car
back to the way the car performed on that first run. I don’t’ know why.
We led some laps tonight and we haven’t been able to do that at a short
track lately. I’m just real happy to finish third.”
- Kenseth
analytical about Pepsi 400
(Nascar.com
story)
Wednesday July
7th 1999
- Matt was planning on having a
weekend off, looks like plans have changed a bit...
This just in from
Roush Racing:
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Mark Martin underwent surgery
this afternoon to repair a broken tibia plateau in
his left knee which he suffered during an accident
at Daytona International Speedway last Friday during
practice.
The fracture was identified today after Martin
underwent an MRI yesterday. Dr. Chuck Kollmer
performed the arthroscopic surgery in New Smyrna
Beach, Fla., to insert a screw to hold the tibia in
place. Martin will continue to wear a leg brace
following the surgery which will allow him to drive
this weekend.
“Dr. Kollmer assured me that I will be able to
drive this weekend in New Hampshire,” Martin said.
“I’ll be back to see him Monday after the race
to evaluate how long I should wear the brace. Once I
get this taken care of I should be much better since
my wrist and ribs are already feeling better.”
Martin intends to drive the entire race this
weekend, but Matt Kenseth will be standing by in
case Martin cannot complete the race.
Monday July 5th
1999 Milwaukee WI
- A record crowd was on hand for
Sundays race at the Milwaukee Mile, and I don’t think it was because of
the record heat. A hot and humid airmass was in place over Wisconsin,
bringing the heat indices into the mid 100’s. Despite the weather, there
was some great racing to be seen as Casey Atwood grabbed his first Busch
series win by giving Jeff Green a tap on the rear bumper, taking the
checkered flag seconds later. Dale Jr. survived the pain in his chipped
shoulder to come home in 3rd place after starting from the rear of the
field. Dale slammed the turn 1 wall during practice on Saturday and went to
the hospital for a checkup. Dale soon returned to the track but Ron Hornaday
was chosen to qualify the backup car, forcing Jr. to start Sundays race from
the rear.
It was great to see the thousands of Matt Kenseth fans at the track this
weekend, DeWALT Racing shirts could be seen everywhere. Matt tried to put on
a good show for his fans but he had to overcome several problems during the
race. Starting from the 8th
position, Matt quickly moved up to 4th then dropped back a
couple spots where he would ride until the first pit stop. The next sequence
is where all the problems arose. The car was very loose, a vibration
developed in the car and the clutch became welded together. To top off the
mechanical problems, the rear view mirror broke and Matt had to rely on his
spotter to let him know where the traffic was as he slipped back through the
field. The final pit sequence put Matt at the tail end of the lead lap after
make-shift repairs to the mirror were made with duct tape. Robbie came on
the radio to tell Matt that the tread from the right front tire was half
gone, probably from a bad set of tires. They escaped a catastrophe there...
Matt was able to pick up some speed after the last pit stop, passing several
cars but he lacked the track position and time to catch the leaders. Despite
all the problems, Matt brought the #17 DeWALT Tools Chevrolet home in 5th
position, a great team effort.
Matt loses 10 more points to Dale Jr., now 139
off pace.
- Krogh
maintaining condition in Milwaukee hospital
NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division driver Jeff Krogh remained in critical but stable condition Monday at Froedtert
Memorial Lutheran Hospital after suffering injuries in an
accident in practice on Saturday at The Milwaukee Mile. My
thoughts and prayers go out to the Krogh family.
- #17 Busch driver for next year
Robbie Reiser stated Sunday at the Milwaukee
Mile that Matt would be in 20 Busch races in 2000 with Jason Schuler filling
in for the remaining 12. Jason is a good friend and classmate of Matt’s
from Cambridge WI and has competed against Matt at many tracks in Wisconsin.
Jason is currently a top competitor in the Nascar Re/Max Challenge series (ARTGO)
Besides being a great driver, Jason also builds his own race cars and helps
other drivers with their cars.
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