DeWALT Racing Notes of Interest

Matt Kenseth and the DEWALT Team tested at Indianapolis on July 17 & 18 in preparation for the Brickyard 400.

Matt Kenseth has just a few more race weekends left with only one race to compete in. Kenseth will step back into his Robbie Reiser owned Busch Series car at Michigan on August 19, racing all of the remaining conjunction events this season, except Bristol. Kenseth will not be competing in any Truck Series races in 2000.

What did Matt do on his weekend off? Went home to Wisconsin, making a stop at Home Depot in Madison on Wednesday, July 26 for his sponsor DEWALT Tools.

Matt Kenseth’s Thoughts on the Brickyard

“Indianapolis may be a track that we struggle at a little. It’s a one grove track and very difficult to pass and very flat. It’s going to be a challenge. I am looking forward to going there, but I think it’s going to be a challenge for us to run up front at Indy.”

Matt’s thoughts on his performance thus far this season

“The beginning of the year toward the first third we were pretty fast but not very consistent. The one thing I’ve really worked hard on since Rockingham and Atlanta is to be consistent. We have improved over the last few months, finishing regularly in the top twenty, we just haven’t been as fast as we needed to be.”

NASCAR Winston Cup Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings

1 Matt Kenseth	227
2 Dale Earnhardt Jr.	206
3 Dave Blaney	150
4 Stacy Compton	142

NASCAR Winston Cup Drivers Point Standings

1 Bobby Labonte	2825
2 Dale Jarrett	2772
3 Dale Earnhardt	2718
4 Jeff Burton	2624
5 Rusty Wallace	2557
6 Tony Stewart	2540
7 Ward Burton	2535
8 Jeff Gordon	2519
9 Mark Martin	2487
10 Ricky Rudd	2468
12 Matt Kenseth	2228 (-240 from 10th, -597 from 1st)
14 Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2068

NHIS RACE REPORT

Matt Kenseth and the DEWALT Racing Ford started the thatlook.com 300 in 22nd position.

Things were looking good for the DEWALT Team at the inception of the 300 lap race until problems unfolded on lap 30. Matt was running in 19th position, when he began to feel the clutch slipping. Kenseth pitted under the second caution flag of the day to investigate the problem. The team decided to cut the clutch line and continue the race without the clutch rather than deal with it slipping all day. That seemed to solve the problem and Matt resumed racing in 40th spot. Kenseth began making up some ground, climbing to 14th position before the red flag was thrown for rain. The race was restarted and Matt fell back in the field due to his starter not working, costing valuable time in the pits. Kenseth fell back to 30th spot, but worked his way up to 19th when the race was halted again for rain, this time permanently. Kenseth maintains 12th place position in the driver point standings and now leads Dale Jr. by 14 points in the rookie race.

“The car handled really good, but we had a master cylinder or something go out in the clutch system and didn’t have a clutch the whole race. When we pitted we had good pit stops, but I couldn’t get out of the pits because the starter didn’t work either. We had to try to push start it and just lost a whole bunch of time. We had a good car, we got up to 13th or 14th at one time, but could never get track position after that. I think we had a top-10 car, we just didn’t show it with our finish.”

Honorary Race Day Crew Member

The honorary crew member at New Hampshire International Speedway was Paul Zannoni of Pelham, NH. Paul is a valued customer at Home Depot in Nashua, NH.

NASCAR Winston Cup Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings

1 Matt Kenseth	218
2 Dale Earnhardt Jr.	204
3 Dave Blaney	147
4 Stacy Compton	142
5 Scott Pruett	121

NASCAR Winston Cup Drivers Point Standings

1 Bobby Labonte	2670
2 Dale Earnhardt	2625
3 Dale Jarrett	2602
4 Ward Burton	2456
5 Tony Stewart	2455
6 Mark Martin	2453
7 Jeff Burton	2449
8 Ricky Rudd	2419
9 Rusty Wallace	2377
10 Jeff Gordon	2348
12 Matt Kenseth	2073
14 Dale Earnhardt Jr.	1944

DAYTONA RACE REPORT

Matt Kenseth qualified for his first night race at Daytona in 22nd spot, making the field in the first round qualifying session. The car was working well and the crew seemed pleased until the Friday morning practice session. Kenseth was a victim of circumstances, becoming tangled in an accident about an hour into the practice. Matt took the brunt of the mess and was forced to go to a back up car for the race. Kenseth had to start the event in the rear of the field because he was racing a car he did not qualify.

The race began and Matt was running strong. Kenseth ran in the top twenty most of the race, getting as high as 10th after a 2 tire stop on lap 106. Matt just missed an accident on lap 114, involving Bill Elliott, but came away unscathed. Kenseth was riding in 28th spot on lap 153, when caution flew with just 7 laps to go. Matt pitted for fresh tires and grabbed eight positions before the checkered flag dropped. Kenseth finished in 20th spot and was the top finishing rookie.

“I was a little close when Elliott flipped over there. I think he might have gone over my hood just about. It was kind of an uneventful night for us beside that. The DEWALT guys did a good job and got me good track position. They did a good job getting this backup car together. It was fairly fast, but without having the morning practice and only having happy hour we kind of missed on the setup and we were just pushing terribly. It was a good call to get four tires there at the end because we gained a few positions back.”

Honorary Race Day Crew Member

The honorary crew member at Daytona International Speedway was Mike Cornelius of New Smyrna Beach, FL. Mike is the Field Operations Manager for Tri-City Electric.

NASCAR Winston Cup Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings

1 Matt Kenseth	213
2 Dale Earnhardt Jr.	198
3 Dave Blaney	142
4 Stacy Compton	137
5 Scott Pruett	113

NASCAR Winston Cup Drivers Point Standings

1 Bobby Labonte	2527
2 Dale Earnhardt	2475
3 Dale Jarrett	2451
4 Ward Burton	2347
5 Jeff Burton	2314
6 Ricky Rudd	2285
7 Mark Martin	2283
8 Tony Stewart	2270
9 Rusty Wallace	2259
10 Jeff Gordon	2193
12 Matt Kenseth	1967
14 Dale Earnhardt Jr.	1844