Robbie Reiser on racing at Homestead-Miami Raceway

“I have a feeling we’re going to have a good weekend and make up for some of the finishes we haven’t had lately. The pit crew is on their ‘A’ game right now and I think we have a great car and we had a great test. We’d like to go out on top this year.”

Fast Facts:

• Kenseth finished 20th at Darlington Raceway one week ago. He has 16 top-10 finishes in 35 starts in 2004. Kenseth has now been inside the NASCAR Top-10 for 70 straight weeks — the longest active streak.

• Kenseth moved up one spot in the point chase rankings to eighth place heading into this final week.

• This week, the team will bring chassis No. 36 to Homestead-Miami Speedway — this is a brand new car and was tested at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 2–3rd.

• Kenseth’s best finish at Homestead is a 21st place effort, coming in his rookie season.

• Matt Kenseth will also be running in the Busch Grand National race Saturday in the No. 17 Bayer Ford Taurus

	Position	Points	Behind	Starts	Wins	Top-5’s	Top-10’s	Winnings
Matt Kenseth	8th	5963	-383	35	2	8	16	$6,119,690

DARLINGTON, SC (November 14, 2004) — Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 DEWALT Tools team finished 20th in the final running of the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. The Labor Day Classic was moved to this date earlier last year and it was decided it would finish under the lights for the first time in history. Kenseth’s day was both up and down — he ran as high as fifth and as low as 31st throughout the 367-laps in a race, which lasted almost five hours.

Rolling off the starting grid from the ninth position by virtue of the qualifying session being rained out, the car seemed to be hesitant to get off to a good start. Kenseth reported by lap 10 that the car was too loose and this fact became very evident seven laps later as he had to make a miraculous save coming off of turn four as the car kicked out sideways underneath him. He moved up to eighth by lap 32, but gave a few positions back as his tires wore down. When it came time to pit, the team had to come in about five laps earlier than planned for four new tires on lap 52. The team made a track bar adjustment and Kenseth returned to the race in 31st position.

When the pit cycle had completed, he was back up to fifteenth place with a better handling race car. By lap 63, he was eighth and a couple of laps later, he was running just outside the top-five in sixth place. “I’m still loose off of two but I can get off four really good,” he radioed to crew chief Robbie Reiser. At the end of this run, his tires began to fade again and he slipped back to ninth place before his second pit stop of the day — which the crew completed in 13.20-seconds for four tires. He took the lap 87 restart from the seventh position. He held serve and only fell back one spot on this run until the next caution flag waved on lap 119.

Telling the crew that the car needed to turn better, Kenseth brought the No. 17 DEWALT Tools Ford down pit road and the crew performed another lightning 13.52 second stop — this time earning him two spots on the track as he restarted in 5th on lap 124. It would be the bright spot of the day.

As this particular run wore on, the No. 17 DEWALT Tools Ford seemed to wear out. At least the tires were wearing because Kenseth began to backslide. He lost a total of 13 positions before the crew would get a chance to get the car right again. On a lap 194 caution, they got their chance. “It won’t turn in a 40-acre field,” said a frustrated Kenseth. Robbie Reiser elected to keep Matt Kenseth out on the race track in an effort to have him lead a lap and get five valuable bonus points — which he achieved on lap 197. Because they were now the last car on the lead lap, the team took their time on the pit stop and checked all of the right side of the car — which had made some minor contact with the wall at some point.

Kenseth restarted from the 17th position on lap 203 and the team elevator seemed to go back up again. Kenseth was moving underneath cars and out-horse powering them down the front straights. He moved as high as 12th by lap 240, but something about the chassis seemed to be just out of tune for most of the day as his progress was halted.

On lap 250, the team stopped after a caution flag and made a chassis adjustment along with four tires, sending Kenseth out to restart 12th on lap 253. Kenseth could not do much as the chassis continued to be too loose and he backslid on this particular run…ending up 22nd by lap 298 of the event. Following the quick succession of a “short pit” strategy on lap 295 coupled with an untimely caution just six laps later, Kenseth dropped a lap down to the field.

Despite starting up front twice, he was unable to be in position to capitalize on getting his lap back for the remainder of the race — via the “Lucky Dog” rule. The day ended quietly for Kenseth as he brought the No. 17 DEWALT Tools Ford home in 20th place overall. Afterward, Kenseth didn’t have much to say to reporters, but both he and Robbie thanked the crew for their hard work all day long on pit road.

Matt Kenseth jumped a spot to eighth in the 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Chase for the Championship, now 383 points out of first — but tied with ninth place Elliott Sadler. The points have now been updated and the current standings are as follows:

1. Kurt Busch	6346
2. Jimmie Johnson	6328
3. Jeff Gordon	6325
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.	6274
5. Mark Martin	6264
6. Tony Stewart	6161
7. Ryan Newman	6102
8. Matt Kenseth	5963
9. Elliott Sadler	5963
10. Jeremy Mayfield	5942

Next week, the tenth and final event for the Chase Contenders gets underway at Homestead-Miami Speedway — where Kenseth was crowned the 2003 Champion last year. This year, Kenseth has two teammates within striking distance of the sport’s ultimate prize. Hopefully, he will pass his crown onto one of them next Sunday.

DARLINGTON, SC (November 13th, 2004) — After qualifying was rained out on Friday, the No. 9 Pennzoil Ford was forced to start 32nd on the field for the running of the Bi-Lo 200 at Darlington Raceway. Crew Chief Tony Liberati had a premonition to share with driver Matt Kenseth prior to the race. In the pre-race driver’s meeting, NASCAR officials stated that they would throw a competition yellow flag period on lap 40 of the 147-lap event so that teams could check tire wear and adjust on their cars, having forfeited their practice sessions on Friday as well. “I bet we’re in the top-ten by that caution,” said Liberati.

Rolling off the starting grid from 32nd, Kenseth clearly had his work cut out for him. But forget about any mandatory cautions. There were no less than four of them prior to the scheduled one! The first occurred on lap 2 of the event as three cars got together in turn one. Darlington’s tight corners made for some serious mistakes early on by many competitors. Caution periods also followed on lap 13, a lap 16 restart and lap 26 of the event. “Boy, we sure are getting a lot of racing done out here,” mused Kenseth from behind the wheel. Nonetheless, he was edging forward on the leader board. He cracked the top-20 running order on lap 17 and moved into 15th place on lap 29. The car was a little loose off the corners, but in much better shape than the other teams.

The NASCAR Busch officials moved the mandatory caution flag back to lap 50, but Kenseth wouldn’t have needed the extra assistance anyway. Just as Liberati predicted, the No. 9 Pennzoil car made it into the top-10 on lap 45 — five laps sooner than needed.

When the mandatory caution waved on lap 50, Kenseth made his first pit stop of the day for desperately needed tires. They completed a four-tire stop with air pressure adjustments and pulled the left rear rubber from the car to tighten up the car in the turns. Kenseth restarted in 11th, as four cars at the front of the field did not pit. After two quick caution periods, the teams finally got going in a mistake-free manner on lap 63, where Kenseth had moved into ninth overall.

From there, he began to make some serious movement towards the front, inching past competitors as their tires wore out. He moved into eighth on lap 66, seventh on lap 71, and then sixth on lap 73 of the event. “I’m still a little too loose,” radioed Kenseth. “I need more side bite in the corners,” he added. A lap 99 caution would give them the chance to make the changes for the final 50-lap shootout.

On lap 101, Kenseth brought the No. 9 Pennzoil Ford down pit lane for a four-tire change. The crew had their best stop of the day (a 14.33-second stop) and Kenseth was able to line up fourth on the restart on lap 104.

He was third by lap 105 and moved into a race-high second place on lap 106. He held the spot for several laps, stalking then leader Jamie McMurray — who held a three second advantage on the field at the time.

By lap 116, the tires began to wear out and the other cars began to catch Kenseth. He fell to third on lap 117 and fourth on lap 119 and it became clear that he wouldn’t’ challenge for the win after all. Kenseth still remained hard at it behind the wheel, hoping to coax some life out of the No. 9 Pennzoil Ford. “It’s almost like there’s no downforce on worn tires,” he reported. “It’s just sliding around out here,” he added.

Kenseth did fall back two more spots in the closing laps, but his valiant effort gained him his first top-five finish in the No. 9 Pennzoil Ford. As the race ended, Kenseth spoke with reporters about his day.

“I think we had a great day as a team on this Pennzoil car,” said Kenseth. “The guys on pit road did their job and I wish our car had just been a little bit better, but we’ve had some great runs in this car and I’m proud of this whole team,” he added.

CONCORD, NC (November 3rd, 2004) — Matt Kenseth will make his final of three starts in the No. 9 Pennzoil Ford this Saturday afternoon at Darlington Raceway. Kenseth has been in contention for the win in two of his three starts this year — at Las Vegas and Kansas.

During the Las Vegas event, Kenseth at one point held a nine-second advantage over the second place car with under 20 laps to go. A quick caution and a jumbled restart led to damage on the car and Kenseth finished sixth.

At Kansas, Kenseth had another good run going, reaching as high as third place before being spun out coming off of turn two at the massive two-mile track. The car was too damaged to return to the event.

The No. 9 Pennzoil team, led by crew chief Tony “Rambo” Liberati, will be looking for redemption come Saturday at Darlington — one of the toughest tracks on the circuit. “This is a track they say is too tough to tame and that may be true, but I’ve seen Kenseth come pretty close,” says Liberati. “Hopefully this weekend, we’ll get our win together. Everyone has said we do a pretty good job in these races … I always ask them where my trophies are,” he added.

Hopefully, Matt Kenseth and the No. 9 Pennzoil Team will capture one this weekend.

Date	S	F	Laps	Status	Money
03/21/04	15	31	289/293	Running	$102,358
08/31/03	6	14	367/367	Running	$75,720
03/16/03	12	8	293/293	Running	$69,440
09/01/02	9	37	325/367	Running	$61,000
03/17/02	34	8	293/293	Running	$70,365
09/02/01	28	23	365/367	Accident	$50,025
03/18/01	30	17	292/293	Running	$43,640
09/03/00	24	33	286/328	Running	$41,465
03/19/00	16	6	293/293	Running	$47,575
09/05/99	31	37	145/270	Accident	$25,531

  

Totals	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles
Spring Race	5	0	0	3	0
Fall Race	5	0	0	0	0
Cumulative	10	0	0	3	0

Matt Kenseth on racing at Darlington Raceway:

“Darlington is such a great track and I really like driving it — a win would be very special here because there is no place on the circuit where the track plays a bigger factor in the outcome of how you race. I think we’ve got a great car for Sunday — it’s one of our newer ones, but I’m also going to be running the Pennzoil car and that will give me some additional laps to consider setup information. And this is a place you can use as much of that as possible.”

Robbie Reiser on racing at Darlington Raceway:

“I think as a team we went out and had a great day last week, even though we didn’t get the finish. The guys performed great all day long on the stops and I was satisfied with how the car responded to our changes. I think this will be another opportunity for the guys to shine and maybe we can get us one this weekend.”

Fast Facts:

• Kenseth finished 36th at Phoenix International Raceway one week ago. He has 16 top-10 finishes in 34 starts in 2004. Kenseth has now been inside the NASCAR Top-10 for 69 straight weeks — the longest active streak.

• This week, the team will bring chassis No. 39 to Darlington Raceway — the same car the team used at the second Dover race in September of this year.

• Kenseth has nine starts at Darlington with three top-ten finishes.

• Matt Kenseth will also be running in the Busch Grand National race Saturday in the No. 9 Pennzoil Ford Taurus. It is his final of three events in the Pennzoil Ford in 2004. In the Busch Series, Matt has a remarkable 8 top-10’s in nine starts, including one win.

Matt Kenseth in the NEXTEL Cup Series at Darlington Raceway

Driver	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top-5’s	Top-10’s
Matt Kenseth	9	0	0	0	3

Matt Kenseth in the Busch Series at Darlington Raceway

Driver	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top-5’s	Top-10’s
Matt Kenseth	9	0	1	5	8

2004 Point Standings

	Position	Points	Behind	Starts	Wins	Top-5’s	Top-10’s	Winnings
Matt Kenseth	9th	5,855	-336	34	2	9	16	$5,843,395

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Darlington Busch series Pre-Race Notes
BI-LO 200
Saturday, November 13; 1:00 p.m. EDT
Darlington Raceway, Darlington, S.C.

Kenseth makes his third start in the #9 Pennzoil car

Roush Racing driver Matt Kenseth will make his third start in the No. 9 Pennzoil Ford Taurus on Saturday, November 13th at Darlington Raceway.

Kenseth is no stranger to success in the Busch Grand National Series. Since 1996, Kenseth has made 160 total starts, with 17 victories and 8 career pole positions. He finished runner-up for the championship in 1998 and third in the championship chase in 1999, his last full year on the Busch Grand National circuit. In the 2004 season, Matt Kenseth has 13 starts, three wins, seven top-five and nine top-ten finishes.

Notable Notes

The No. 9 Pennzoil Ford will mark Matt Kenseth’s 161st start in the Busch Grand National Series. The chassis number is 71 — it was previously used here at Darlington in the Spring race (by Jeff Burton) and finished in second place behind teammate Greg Biffle.

The No. 9 Pennzoil Ford Taurus is crew chiefed by Tony “Rambo” Liberati. Crew members include front tire changer Adam Taylor, front tire carrier Andy Brown, Jackman Jeff Merkel, rear tire carrier Bobby Sada, rear tire changer Jimmy Bowles, Gasman Donnie Ratledge and Catch can John Gibbon.

Matt Kenseth on Darlington Raceway:

“I’m really glad I’m getting an opportunity to run the Busch race here at Darlington for Pennzoil I think we’ve got a great car and we’ve run well enough to win a race for them both times this year, so maybe the third time will be a charm for us. I’ve had a lot of success running here on Saturdays and I hope to continue that this week — it’d be great to go out with a win for Pennzoil here.”

Tony Liberati on Darlington Raceway:

“I like to say that we don’t come to the race track to run second and I really mean that. With Matt behind the wheel, we can only stop ourselves. He’s a hell of a driver and can get the job done and I think he’s going to outlast a lot of the competition in this race before it’s over. Our guys on pit wall are pumped up right now and we’re ready to get in Victory Lane.”

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Disappointment in the desert:
Kenseth relegated to 36th place finish at Phoenix
November 3, 2004

PHOENIX, AZ (November 7th, 2004) — Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 DEWALT Tools Racing Team did not find the finish they were hoping for during the running of the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. A mechanical failure for the second week in a row cost the team a shot at a respectable finish and handed them a 36th place effort and their third DNF of the 2004 season.

Rolling off the starting grid from the 16th place, Kenseth made some serious progress to the front of the field, notching his first lap from inside the top-ten running order on lap 30 of the 312-lap event. The chassis was not without its woes, however, as both the center was tight in the corners and Kenseth was burning up the right front tire up off the corners. Kenseth was as high as eighth place on lap 70, following a pass of teammate Kurt Busch.

There were a lot of crashes all day long, but time and time again, Kenseth found the solution to get by the accidents — even the close ones. Following a lap 77 pit stop in 13.82-seconds, Kenseth restarted in seventh place on lap 80.

Two laps later, he cracked the top-five running order for the first time all afternoon. On lap 103, Kenseth radioed in with a shock … they left rear tire had thrown a tread and disintegrated before the 70,000 assembled fans. Kenseth was up to fifth following the normal pit stop to change two tires at once on two separate pit stops — with the impetus to avoid going a lap down. Once again he restarted the event from the eighth position, but the leaders had plans of their own. Intense racing took part at the front of the field all day long.

Then, a brief rain shower came on lap 109, delaying the race for around 25 minutes. When the race restarted, Kenseth found himself as the third car about to go a lap down in 23rd position. He would have to hustle — and he didn’t disappoint. Steady progress was the name of the game as there wasn’t much give and take between the competitors all day long. On a lap 128 pit stop following a caution, Kenseth again took four fresh tires, and this time the pit crew busted off a 12.62-second stop, one of the fastest of the year.

Kenseth restarted in 19th on lap 132, but made quick progress up to the 13th position by lap 137. When the next caution flag came out on lap 142, Robbie Reiser kept Matt Kenseth out on the track and the No. 17 DEWALT Tools Ford cracked the top-five running order for the first time all day on the lap 149 restart.

On this particular run, Kenseth had enough fuel and was determined to make a run at leading a lap for the team. He got fourth place on lap 166. He took over third from teammate Greg Biffle and then grabbed second place by lap 207. “The car is awesome, but I’m abusing the heck out of the tires,” he reported. Reiser wisely kept Kenseth out on the track long enough to lead several laps (203-207) before bringing him down pit road for a full fuel stop — and hopefully enough to make it the rest of the way on the track.

The team pitted on lap 224, went back to action for one lap and then the caution came out, trapping Kenseth one lap down to the leaders. Fortunately, he was also the “Lucky Dog” recipient at the time.

Kenseth would pit two more times from the cockpit of the No. 17 DEWALT Tools Ford. “I’m loose on this set of tires, “ he radioed. On lap 243, Kenseth restarted the race from the 21st position after what would be his final stop of the day. After getting past the bottleneck of lapped cars on his inside, he briefly set sail, gaining several positions in just over seven laps. By lap 256, he was running in the 14th position and looking for more.

Sadly, it would be another 20 laps before Kenseth radioed that a mechanical failure seemed to be creeping into the No. 17 DEWALT Tools Ford. He hung on valiantly, hoping to coax the car into at least a finish to avoid a DNF, but it wasn’t to be. The car officially retired from the race and went behind the wall with just over 40 laps remaining in the 312-lap event.

Afterward, Kenseth had a brief but to the point comment to reporters before leaving the track.

We just broke. We just broke something in the motor. I don’t know why or what, we just broke something.”

Matt Kenseth remained in ninth place in the 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Chase for the Championship, now 336 points out of first. The points have now been updated and the current standings are as follows:

1. Kurt Busch	6191
2. Jeff Gordon	6150
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.	6144
4. Jimmie Johnson	6143
5. Mark Martin	6089
6. Tony Stewart	6049
7. Ryan Newman	6041
8. Elliott Sadler	5869
9. Matt Kenseth	5855
10. Jeremy Mayfield	5836

Next week, the ninth of the ten final events for the Chase Contenders gets underway at Darlington Raceway — where Kenseth and the No. 17 DEWALT Team tested just two weeks ago.

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Kenseth finishes with a Top-10 in inaugural Waste Management team effort
November 6, 2004

PHOENIX, AZ (November 6, 2004) — Matt Kenseth made a successful debut in the No. 17 Waste Management Ford Taurus debut, coming home eighth in the Basha’s Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. The team never ran outside of the top-ten all day long, however on long runs, the chassis tightened up too much to make progress into the top-five running order at the finish.

Rolling off the starting grid from the 17th position, the 43 cars hadn’t made two complete laps before the first caution flag of the day waved as one of the cars threw a tire tread heading into turn one. After regrouping, Kenseth motored through the lap eight restart from the 17th position once again. After cracking the top-15 running order by lap 12, Kenseth radioed, “The car is surprisingly really good.” He added that the car was turning awesome in the corners and if anything, he was just a tad on the loose side. The early success of the car came as a bit of a surprise to Kenseth because the track had proven quite slick a couple of hours prior to the race when he completed the 45-minute happy hour session in the Cup Series.

On the team’s first pit stop of the day, which occurred on lap 35, the team changed the air pressure in the left side tires, hoping to tighten up the chassis. He restarted 11th, but moved into the top-10 for good on lap 46 of the 200-lap event. His forward progress continued as he picked up ninth place on lap 50 and eighth place on lap 52.

On lap 53, the caution flag again flew, but the team elected not to come down pit road and mess up their fuel strategy for later in the race. All of the lead cars did the same. “The middle of the corner is starting to tighten up,” Kenseth radioed. “It’s making me tight off the corner as well,” he added. He restarted eighth on lap 58. Just eight laps later, there was another caution but the team stayed out once again.

After the subsequent restart, Kenseth passed Roush teammate Mark Martin in the No. 9 Pennzoil car — marking the start of a terrific battle between the two for the remainder of the race. He was still running in eighth on lap 89 when he radioed that he was really getting tight and needed the car to be freed up on the next pit stop. He slipped back to ninth as Martin passed him back, but the Waste Management team got the opportunity to pit for the necessary changes on lap 100 — also the halfway point of the event. The pit crew changed four tires and made a chassis adjustment in 15.50-seconds, which retained their position for the lap 102 restart.

On this run, the No. 17 Waste Management Ford came alive as good as it would get for the remainder of the day. Kenseth was able to pull down and pass cars on the inside coming off of the corners and the progress showed on the leader board. He was eighth place on lap 107, then seventh on lap 110. By lap 118, he scooted into sixth overall in the running order.

The only real worrisome moment of the day occurred on lap 120 as the No. 72 car, many laps down at the time, got into Kenseth’s car, slightly damaging the right front fender, but making a big difference in the cockpit. “He got me pretty good,” radioed Kenseth. “It’s pushing like a truck now,” he added. The irony of the truck comparison probably escaped the team, but Kenseth held serve on the track for many more laps in sixth. He fell back to eighth place by lap 132 as Mark Martin passed him again on the frontstretch. “It’s gotten so loose that it’s really difficult to drive,” he radioed. The skies had also begun to cloud up and change the composition of the tires and the racetrack.

Kenseth brought the No. 17 Waste Management Ford Taurus down pit road on lap 150 following a caution for his final set of tires for the day. He also asked for two rounds of wedge down in the right rear spring of the car. He gave up position on the track for the extensive changes and restarted from 11th place on lap 152. Two laps later, he was back in the top-10 running order.

The remaining forty laps were a bit frustrating as he had difficulty completing the passes that he set up on the straightaways. Sixth through ninth place were running virtually nose-to-tail at the time. There were two separate cautions in the final 13 laps of the race as cars running behind Kenseth were scrambling for positions. Kenseth kept the No. 17 Waste Management car on a rail as the laps wound down. He was never challenged for position despite the addition of a “Green/White/Checkered” finish following a late caution. He brought the car home in eighth place after completing an additional three laps to run the total to 203.

Afterward, he offered congratulations to his crew.

“Thanks a lot guys — that was a great effort,” he stated. “We worked on it and made it as good as we could at the end there and I appreciate it,” he added. And so the inaugural Waste Management effort will be logged as a top-10 finish, something the team will look to continue as they head into 2005 and fourteen additional races.

Welcome, Waste Management … and enjoy the ride!

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Matt Kenseth makes Waste Management Busch team debut at Phoenix
November 3, 2004

CONCORD, NC (November 3, 2004) — Matt Kenseth will make his debut in the No. 17 Waste Management Ford Taurus this weekend in the Busch Grand National event on November 6th at Phoenix International Raceway. He will also run the car in fourteen select events in the 2005 season.

Kenseth’s participation with the brand new sponsor headlines a concentrated diversity effort for Waste Management’s team sponsorship which also includes Craftsman Truck driver Bill Lester in the No. 22 Toyota Tundra. Along with the top Waste Management executives, they have all scheduled an 8:30 a.m. press conference in the infield media center to unveil their 2005 program.

Waste Management executives scheduled to attend include CEO David Steiner, Vice-President of Ethics and Diversity Carlton Yearwood and Vice-President of Marketing Curt Knapp. Roush Racing Chief Diversity Officer Sam Belnavis will offer remarks and Mike Helton, the President of NASCAR, is also scheduled to offer his input on the successful pairings.

Sponsorship is a critical ingredient to any successful racing program and the 55,000 employees of Waste Management across North America wholeheartedly support the exciting new partnership with both Roush Racing and Bill Davis Racing.

“Matt Kenseth is a great fit for our company because he is a champion and leader in the sport,” said David Steiner, CEO of Waste Management. “His professionalism, attention to detail and integrity is what we see in and expect from Waste Management’s employees,” he added.

“I’m pretty excited to kick off this program,” said defending Nextel Cup Champion Matt Kenseth. “Just like my DEWALT Tools team, Waste Management remains committed to the team values, communication, safety and performance excellence on the job,” he added.

“In the last two years, I’ve gotten to know many of the employees, customers and guests nationwide that work for Waste Management on a daily basis through their hospitality program and I’m really looking forward to representing each and every one of them on Saturday afternoons next year.

These folks who work for Waste Management spend hours driving powerful vehicles and so do I,” he added.

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Phoenix Pre-Race Notes
Checker Auto Parts 500
Sunday, November 7; 3:00 p.m. EDT
Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, Ariz.

 

Matt Kenseth at Phoenix International Raceway:

Date	S	F	Laps	Status	Money
11/02/03	37	6	312/312	Running	$86,000
11/10/02	28	1	312/312	Running	$211,895
10/28/01	38	4	312/312	Running	$97,960
11/05/00	12	42	53/312	Accident	$45,700

  

Totals	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles
Fall Race	4	1	2	3	0
Cumulative	4	1	2	3	0

Matt Kenseth on racing at Phoenix:

"Phoenix is a track that’s always been pretty good to us as a team — certainly the finishes show it, but it’s still a tricky place sometimes. The track can change a lot during the race and you have to have a lot of adjustability built into the car in order to get through the different stages in the day. I like the chassis we’re taking here, it ran really good for us at Richmond and I think we could have won that race. We’ll try to get it this week because I think we still have a win left in this team before the season is over and the points will just take care of themselves.”

Robbie Reiser on racing at Phoenix International Raceway:

“We have us a great car this weekend and I think the over-the-wall guys are coming together with some good stops in practice. We need to have a good Sunday because we’re not used to running the way we’re running, but I think we’re still a dangerous team, we just need to prove again here before the end of the year.”

Fast Facts:

• Kenseth finished 41st at Atlanta Motor Speedway one week ago. He has 16 top-10 finishes in 33 starts in 2004. Kenseth has now been inside the NASCAR Top-10 for 68 straight weeks — the longest active streak.

• This week, the team will bring chassis No. 23 to Phoenix International Raceway — the same car the team used at the second Richmond race in September of this year. It finished 28th, but led 60 laps before a pit miscue put the team down two laps.

• Kenseth has four starts at Phoenix with one win (2002), two top-fives and three top-tens.

• Last week at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kenseth won the Busch Series race (his third this year), then went out and won the final IROC Race (his second out of four), handing him the 2004 Crown Royal IROC Championship and a $1 million payday.

• This week marks the debut of the No. 17 Waste Management Ford in the Busch Series for driver Matt Kenseth. He will race this car in 14 events in 2005.

Matt Kenseth in the NEXTEL Cup Series at Phoenix International Raceway

Driver	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top-5’s	Top-10’s
Matt Kenseth	4	0	1	2	3

Matt Kenseth in the Busch Series at Phoenix International Raceway

Driver	Starts	Poles	Wins	Top-5’s	Top-10’s
Matt Kenseth	4	0	0	0	2

2004 Point Standings

	Position	Points	Behind	Starts	Wins	Top-5’s	Top-10’s	Winnings
Matt Kenseth	9th	5,795	-257	33	2	9	16	$5,741,492

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Phoenix Busch series Pre-Race Notes
Bashas’ Supermarkets 200
Saturday, November 6; 3:30 p.m. EDT
Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, Ariz.

Kenseth debuts the No. 17 Waste Management Ford Taurus

Roush Racing driver Matt Kenseth will make his first start in the No. 17 Waste Management Ford Taurus on Saturday, November 6th at Phoenix International Raceway. Last year’s Winston Cup Champion will be competing in 14 select events for the Roush Racing/Waste Management Ford in 2005.

Kenseth is no stranger to success in the Busch Grand National Series. Since 1996, Kenseth has made 159 total starts, with 17 victories and 8 career pole positions. He finished runner-up for the championship in 1998 and third in the championship chase in 1999, his last full year on the Busch Grand National circuit. In the 2004 season, Matt Kenseth has 13 starts, three wins, seven top-five and eight top-ten finishes.

Notable Notes:

• The Waste Management sponsored car will mark Matt Kenseth’s 160th start in the Busch Grand National Series. The chassis number is 44 — and it’s a brand new chassis from the Roush Busch shop in Mooresville, NC.

• Crew Chief Charles “Cully” Barraclough heads the Waste Management racing team. Car Chief is Richie Davis. The rest of the over-the-wall guys are as follows:

Front tire carrier: Heath Cherry
Front tire changer: Andy Ward
Rear tire carrier: Will Smith
Rear tire changer: Mike Smith
Gasman: Benjy Grubbs
Catchcan: John Eicher

Matt Kenseth on Phoenix International Raceway:

“I’m really excited about getting to run this new car for our new sponsors, Waste Management. I’ve been doing hospitality for them all year and everyone involved with their program has a lot of enthusiasm for this debut. I want to get them a victory in their first race and I think Phoenix is a track where this can happen for us. We have to run a smart race, keep up with the changes and do our best as a team. I guess you could say that Roush Racing and Waste Management have the exact same goals.”

Cully Barraclough on Phoenix International Raceway:

“This is a winning race team and I think we’re capable of getting the job done any time we get on the track. Like Matt, I’m pretty excited about this new deal. I know those folks at Waste Management are really pumped up about watching how well we do on Saturday. I can say right now that we’ll be bringing our ‘A Game’.”

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