DISH NETWORK® SIGNS UP AS A SPONSOR FOR ROUSH FENWAY RACING FOR SECOND SEASON

Roush Fenway Racing today announced DISH Network has signed on as a sponsor in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

DISH Network will have a team representative and serve as a primary sponsor in 15 Sprint Cup Races in 2008, alternating between three Roush Fenway drivers. Greg Biffle will drive the No. 16 DISH Network Ford Fusion in 11 Sprint Cup races, Carl Edwards will drive the No. 99 Ford in three races, and Matt Kenseth will race the No. 17 Ford in one race. The DISH Network team of drivers will be dubbed the “DISH Network AllStars.”

“DISH Network has been a tremendous partner to Roush Fenway Racing,” said team owner Jack Roush. “We shared several successes last season including two Nationwide Series wins with Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth. I look for similar success this season in the Sprint Cup series with the 15 DISH Network entries.”

“DISH Network is thrilled to sponsor such an elite racing team for a second consecutive year,” said Carl Vogel, vice chairman for DISH Network. “The DISH Network AllStars saw four wins and eight top-five finishes last year between our Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup races, and we’re confident we can bring that positive momentum into 2008, while continuing to communicate DISH Network’s superiority in HD and DVRs.”

The DISH Network AllStars first race is Sunday, Feb. 24 featuring the 2007 Nationwide Series champion Carl Edwards.

No. 17 DEWALT FORD FUSION RECAP:
KENSETH FINDS MORE BAD LUCK AT DAYTONA

Photos from Daytona

RACE SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Started: 28th • Finished: 36th

POINTS SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Race Total: 60 points • Season Total: 60 points; ranked 35th, 130 points behind first

Three consecutive Daytona 500s have come and gone and left Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 DEWALT team wondering what might have been.

The excruciating consistency is that in each event Kenseth has been wrecked while running inside the top 10. On Sunday, Kenseth ran inside the top 10 from lap 34 to lap 160, leading on one occasion and spending much of that time inside the top five. It appeared as if Kenseth had another shot of competing for the win in The Great American Race. But after 160 laps of accident-free racing at Daytona, Kenseth was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. On lap 161, Kenseth was riding in the outside lane in the 10th position coming off turn four when suddenly the car underneath him slid up the racetrack and directly into the left front of the No. 17 sending both cars into the wall. The damage was severe enough to send Kenseth behind the wall. By the time he returned to the track he was six laps down, able only to limp home in the 36th position.

The 50th running of the Daytona 500 got underway at 3:41 p.m. Eastern under partly cloudy skies and a near-perfect temperature. The sellout crowd witnessed 2007 Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson lead the field to the green flag. Kenseth rolled off in the 28th position, but didn’t stay there long.

By lap six, Kenseth had climbed inside the top 20 and was working the heavy traffic, a product of restrictor-plate racing, on his way to the front. Kenseth reported the car as being a little bit loose on entry and exit of the corners, but overall “not bad” compared to the rest of the competition.

Kenseth cracked the top 10 on lap 34, just before the first cycle of green-flag pit stops. After the “Killer Bees” turned out a 12.96-second stop with four tires, fuel, and an adjustment, Kenseth cycled back on the track in the sixth position.

The field settled in early and sorted out to single-file racing around most of the track. Kenseth’s Ford Fusion was handling well enough for him to methodically make his advance, and by lap 41 he was running in the fifth position. After another stellar pit stop on lap 74, Kenseth was up to fourth when the first caution flag of the afternoon occurred for debris on lap 80.

During the caution, Kenseth pitted for two tires in order to keep track position and during the next run made his advance to the front complete. After reporting the car as being bad loose in the high lane, Kenseth moved down to the low lane and made a ton of progress. After dropping back to 10th on lap 97, Kenseth charged up through the pack in the low lane and on lap 108, with the help of teammate Greg Biffle, moved to the front and led his first lap of the season.

After another green-flag pit cycle, NASCAR threw a caution for debris on the racetrack on lap 151. Kenseth pitted under caution and after another excellent stop by the No. 17 crew returned to the track, two positions better, in the fifth spot.

The field restarted on lap 156. When Kenseth’s teammate Greg Biffle was shuffled out of line and to the high side while leading, Kenseth went high to help him out. But before Kenseth could get to him disaster struck.
After exiting turn four on lap 161, the car directly underneath Kenseth slid up the racetrack and smashed into the left front of the No. 17 machine, pinning it to the outside retaining wall. Kenseth was able to keep moving, but immediately took the heavily damaged Ford to the garage for repairs.

Then No. 17 crew worked frantically to repair the fenders and suspension, and after resetting the toe (wheel alignment), sent Kenseth back onto the racetrack, six laps down in the 37th position.

Over the final 30 laps, Kenseth was able to avoid any further damage, pick up one position on the track, and bring the car home with a 36th-place finish. It was another promising run cut short in The Great American Race. The event was won by Ryan Newman.

“We had a very competitive car today,” said Kenseth. “I don’t think we were as good as the guys at the very front, but we could hang in there. The guys on pit road did an excellent job as always and Chip (Bolin) was making the right adjustments and getting the car better as the race went on. It’s just unfortunate what happened. I was just riding in the high lane, trying to give Greg (Biffle) some help and suddenly the 6 car just went straight like I wasn’t even there, and that ended our day. It’s a shame because we had car capable of getting a top-five finish, and I thought we were running a good race, but there’s not much you can do when that kind of thing happens.”

NEXT UP:
Auto Club 500 • California Speedway (2 miles) • Sunday, Feb. 24

Matt to race for Free Fries in 2008
February 16, 2008

Kenseth races for FREE ARBY’S FRIES again in ’08

Free curly fries are back up for grabs when Matt Kenseth makes it into victory lane this 2008 NASCAR season. Beginning with the NASCAR season openers at Daytona International Speedway on February 16 and 17, every time Matt Kenseth wins a race in either the Sprint Cup or Nationwide series, Arby’s will celebrate by giving away free medium Curly Fries the Monday — called “Matt’s Monday” — following the race weekend.

Customers will need to bring in a printed copy of the official race results from a newspaper or web site, or a free fry coupon from arbys.com, to participating Arby’s on “Matt’s Monday” to receive their free order of medium curly fries.

“I was able to win free curly fries for America three times last year, and I’m going to be racing hard to top that this season,” said Kenseth. “Arby’s is a great partner and we’re glad to have them back on board this year.”

“Matt is a true champion and we’re proud to be part of the Roush Fenway team again,” said Chris Kuehn, senior vice president of national marketing for Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc. “We know he’ll bring home the victories for all of those loyal NASCAR fans hungry for some curly fries.”

Arby’s “Matt’s Monday” free Curly Fry give away is valid only on the Mondays following a race won by Matt Kenseth, limited to one order per person with coupon, while supplies last, is not valid with any other offer, and is available at participating Arby’s locations.

Arby’s is a sponsor of Kenseth’s No. 17 Ford Fusion NASCAR Nationwide Series entry.

Daytona N’wide post-race quotes
February 16, 2008

MATT KENSETH
No. 17 Kraft/Ritz Ford Fusion
Finished 5th, Qualified 14th

“It was a good race, we made it through without wrecking anybody. It was pretty cool and I’m excited about it.”

DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING TODAY THAT CAN HELP YOU TOMORROW?
“No, not really anymore, but it never hurts to be on track. It’s a whole different car, different aero package and tires, so there’s not much that you can transfer.”

AT THE WHITE FLAG, YOU WERE IN THE TOP 10, BY THE TIME THE CHECKERED CAME, YOU MOVED UP TO FIFTH. CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE SHUFFLE?
“Well, my car was kind of tight in one and two all day, so I found my line and stuck to it and a lot of guys bailed out and went to the bottom. We got a good push from that 41 [Bryan Clauson] car and got back up there.”

ARE YOU PLEASED WITH THE RESULT?
“I’m really pleased. Our car wasn’t that great most of the day, we made some adjustment and got a decent finish.”

Daytona Nationwide recap
February 16, 2008

No. 17 RITZ FORD FUSION RECAP:
KENSETH 5th IN NATIONWIDE OPENER AT DAYTONA

RACE SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Started: 14th • Finished: 5th

NASCAR Nationwide racing kicked off the season in Saturday’s Camping World 300 from Daytona International Speedway. NASCAR welcomed Nationwide as the new series sponsor and Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 team had the support of Kraft Foods and Ritz Crackers on their Ford Fusion. Kenseth managed to qualify 14th out of the 53 competitors attempting to participate in the season opening event. The solid qualifying effort was overshadowed by handling problems throughout the entire race. The team constantly made adjustments throughout the race and Kenseth earned a fifth-place finish.

Kenseth quickly began to move forward through the field from his 14th-place qualifying position despite fighting with the handling on his No. 17 Ritz Ford. Kenseth broke his way into the top 10 just three laps into the 120-lap event. Unfortunately the No. 17 was not handling anywhere near as well as Kenseth needed it to be. He reported back to crew chief Drew Blickensderfer that the car had “no grip,” needed to turn better and felt like he was lacking front down force.

Kenseth maintained his track position, drafting with the rest of the field and staying in the top 15 until he could pit for changes to his car. By lap 31 the race had remained caution free which led to the start of green flag pit stops. Kenseth came down pit road under green on lap 37 for four tires, fuel, track bar adjustment and an air pressure adjustment. Kenseth cycled thru green flag stops and wound up in the 11th position with a car that was still really tight.

The first caution of the day came on lap 55 while Kenseth was in the 11th position. Crew chief Drew Blickensderfer decided to pit under caution and work on the handling for Kenseth. Kenseth came down pit road for four tires, fuel, an air pressure adjustment and a rubber in the right rear. The team struggled getting the rubber in the right rear and came down pit road again while the field was still under caution to make sure the rubber was securely in place and to make sure the right front fender was clear of the tire.

Kenseth was scored in the 22nd position when the field returned to green flag racing on lap 58. The car was still way to tight and Kenseth couldn’t gain any track position. He decided to ride it out where he was and wait for the big wreck to happen since he had no idea how the handling had gotten worse with the adjustments the team had made. The answer came a few laps later when a team a few pit stalls down returned the rubber which the team had put in the right rear. The rubber must have popped out after the last pit stop and was the reason the handling had gone downhill so fast.

The second caution came on lap 78 while Kenseth was struggling to stay in the top 20. They were all ready running at the tail end of the leaders, so they pitted for four tires, fuel, a track bar adjustment and to put the rubber back in the right rear. They took their time and made sure the car was full of fuel so they would run to the end and the rubber was securely in place. Kenseth restarted 20th on lap 81 and began to work his way through the field.

With the right rear rubber securely in position Kenseth was able to break into the top 10 with 13 laps remaining. The car was still handling tight, but was more manageable than earlier in the race. Kenseth partnered up with teammate Greg Biffle and made a run toward the front. Despite struggling with handling Kenseth was able to earn a fifth-place finish.

“It was a good race,” said Kenseth. “We made it through without wrecking anybody. It was pretty cool and I’m excited about it. My car was kind of tight in one and two all day, so I found my line and stuck to it and a lot of guys bailed out and went to the bottom. We got a good push from that 41 [Bryan Clauson] car and got back up there. I’m really pleased. Our car wasn’t that great most of the day, but we made some adjustment and got a decent finish.”

NEXT UP IN NATIONWIDE SERIES:
Nicorette 300 • Atlanta Motor Speedway • Saturday, March 8

Friday media visit transcript
February 15, 2008

Following is the transcript from Matt Kenseth’s media question & answer session that took place before practice on Friday afternoon behind the No. 17 DEWALT transporter at Daytona International Speedway.

Kenseth finished the one-hour practice session on Friday with a fast-lap time of 47.614 seconds, good enough for 15th fastest of the 43 cars in the session.

WHAT’S THE BIG STORY GOING TO BE ON SUNDAY?
“I don’t know. I suppose it will be the same as it’s been the last four months — is Dale Jr. gonna win the Daytona 500 with his new team. I imagine that’s the story that will be the most covered.”

WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE RACES YESTERDAY AND WHAT DO YOU NEED TO WORK ON FOR SUNDAY?
“Our team, we’ve just got to work on handling. We were a little off on that. We had pretty good speed. I thought the cars drafted good and I thought the races were pretty good, but we just have to keep working on how to get ours to handle a little better.”

HARVICK LED ONLY FOUR LAPS LAST YEAR, SO DOES IT CONFIRM THE THEORY THAT THIS RACE DOESN’T START UNTIL THERE ARE 20 TO GO?
“Not really. I think the race is happening the whole time, it’s just that with this type of racing with drafting and whether you have people pushing you or helping you or what lane you’re in — all that stuff comes into play here and Talladega and it really doesn’t come into play at any other race track, so you just don’t really know what’s gonna happen until the end, especially if there’s a late caution and you get everybody bunched up.”

DO YOU HAVE TO RUN UP FRONT EARLY TO PROVE TO OTHERS THAT THEY CAN WORK WITH YOU ALL DAY?
“If you go off of what you just said about last year’s race, I would say no. But I do think that it does help to be in the front. A lot of times, people draft with certain guys because they’re good at it and because they run up front or whatever. But you’re gonna draft with cars that your car runs fast with and vice versa. They’re not gonna want to run with you if your car is slow and they’re not running with you and maybe they didn’t see you all day. So I think you want to be up front and you want to try to get with some different cars and see how your car handles with their cars and how fast they’ll run.”

IS IT SILLY TO BE SETTING UP A GIBBS-HENDRICK SHOWDOWN ALREADY?
“Well, not really. We have tested throughout the winter and they’ve run the shootout and the Gatorade races yesterday, so from what I see on the track, Dale Jr. is real good, the Hendrick cars are good and the Gibbs cars are unbelievably strong. Really, from sitting back and watching, unless some other people really get their stuff going, I really think it’s gonna be somebody out of those couple groups unless something weird happens.”

DO YOU SEE A DIFFERENCE IN THE POWER OF THE TOYOTAS?
“I don’t know if it’s power, but the Gibbs cars are always strong anyway and then when they hooked up with Toyota this winter, I think that was somebody that everybody thought they were gonna be strong. When you put Kyle Busch in one of them cars, a guy who can make any car go fast it seems like, and when you get the three of those guys that’s a really strong team. Yesterday, when we ran around Kyle in the 150, it was unbelievable how fast his car was. I mean, it made our whole line go faster, so they’re pretty tough.”

ARE YOU SURPRISED WITH HOW JUNIOR HAS STARTED?
“No, I saw it coming.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS FLEXIBILITY ON THE TRACK BETWEEN THE HIGH LINE AND THE LOW LINE?
“You want your car to handle everywhere on the track, but a lot of it is always dependent on tire wear and where the rest of the cars are, and it’s not so much which groove is faster on the track, it’s where all the cars are. If the guy who is leading the pack and everybody decides to follow him, his car is looking better on top, then it’s gonna look like the top groove is good. If the guy’s car is handling on the bottom and everybody sticks to the bottom, it’s gonna look like the bottom groove is good. So handling does come into play and you want to get your car to handle all over the track, if you can.”

DOES IT SURPRISE YOU A COUPLE OF GUYS SEEM TO BE ABLE TO RUN ON THEIR OWN OUT THERE WITHOUT HELP?
“Yes and no. I didn’t really have any expectations or know exactly what this car was gonna do, so it seems like if you do handle good enough, if everybody is running the top for instance and your car is good enough, you can make some passes down there almost by yourself. But certainly there’s that group of four or five cars that seem to be quite a bit stronger than the rest of the field, that can hang out by themselves a little longer than the rest.”

ARE YOUR TIRE CONCERNS FOR SUNDAY GREATER OR HAS IT BEEN FIGURED OUT?
“I think they’re still pretty great. We had tire problems when we tested here, so we knew we were gonna have them when we came back. They didn’t change anything to fix it, so other than the race track rubbering up a little bit, there’s really nothing that they did to fix the tire, so we’ve got to keep working on our cars. Everybody is not having tire problems, so we’ve got to keep working on our car to get our car not to have them.”

DO YOU EXPECT THE TRACK TO BE AS SLICKER OR SLICKER THAN THE SHOOTOUT?
“I hope so. I think the slicker it is and the more handling that comes into play, the better shot we’ll have at success. Our handling is not near good enough yet, but our car is not quite as fast as a handful of those guys, so I think if handling comes into play, you can have a car that doesn’t have quite as much speed and still have a shot to win and a shot to do good, if handling is the key.”

THE FORDS ARE UNDER THE RADAR SO FAR. DO YOU HAVE A FIGHTING CHANCE?
“I hope so. I was pleasantly surprised with our car’s speed, to be honest with you. We went up there and led a little bit until after that pit stop and we had a fairly strong car. We had some handling problems and that’s really why we fell to the back. It wasn’t really just because of speed, so I think if we can figure out a few of our handling issues, I think we’ll be competitive. I don’t think we’ll be as strong as the Gibbs stuff and some of the Hendrick cars, but I think we’ll be competitive.”

ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE COT SO FAR?
“Yeah, so far. I’ve only run 150 miles, but I think it’s put on a pretty good race here. I thought the racing was really exciting in the Bud Shootout and I thought the Gatorade races were good races, so I think so far, so good.”

DO YOU CONSCIOUSLY THINK ABOUT THE CARS AROUND YOU WHEN YOU DECIDE TO MAKE A MOVE TO DRAFT OR CHANGE LINES?
“You try to see which lane is moving and you try to see the people that are around you and what you’re committed to doing, but it doesn’t really matter. If there’s somebody leading a line and you’re in the other line and that one is moving faster than yours, and they’re all baling out to get in that one because it’s faster, you’re gonna bale out to get in that one too. Sometimes you don’t even know who is leading it.”

THE END OF THE RACE WILL BE IN THE DARK LIKE THE SHOOTOUT. DO YOU HOPE THE TRACK JUST COMES TO YOU AT THE END?
“I wasn’t in the shootout, so I don’t really know about that, but we’re gonna try to set up for a slick track. The old cars you could come and qualify bad and say, ‘Oh man, I built my car to race,’ because you could build more downforce in it, which, in turn, would make drag. You can’t really do that with these cars. They’re all pretty much set, so you’re gonna work to make the car as neutral and as balanced as possible anyway for the slick track, and if it gets more grip at the end of the race, you’re not really gonna do anything to make your car slower to make it handle better, where with the other car you could kind of decide. Do I want it for a hot track or do I want the car with no drag and no downforce to go fast when it has a lot of grip.”

Gatorade Duel #2 race recap
February 14, 2008

No. 17 DEWALT FORD FUSION RECAP:
KENSETH BATTLES HANDLING WOES, FINISHES 15TH IN GATORADE DUEL 2; LINES UP 28TH FOR SUNDAY’S DAYTONA 500

RACE SUMMARY
Matt Kenseth • Started: 10th • Finished: 15th

Thanks to a 14th-place qualifying run on Sunday afternoon, Matt Kenseth rolled off 10th in the second of two qualifying races, known as the Gatorade Duel, on Thursday at Daytona International Speedway. On a cool, brisk day, Kenseth rumbled to the front of the 26-car field by lap 13, but battled a loose racecar that only grew more difficult to handle as the race wore on. Kenseth finished 15th, but was able to avoid disaster that may have damaged his primary car, which is still in tact for Sunday’s Daytona 500.

Kenseth started 10th thanks to a complex system that takes the times from Sunday’s qualifying session and determines the starting lineup for each of the twin 150-mile qualifying races on Thursday afternoon. Basically, Kenseth started 10th because he was ninth fastest among cars that finished in the even slots in the final 2007 owners point standings; which all started behind pole-sitter Michael Waltrip, who qualified second on Sunday. …Again, complex.

He may have started 10th, but by the time the field circuited once, Kenseth had advanced to the sixth position. By lap nine, Kenseth was running third, but reported the car as being “pretty loose” upon exiting the corners. Despite the handling concerns, Kenseth took the lead on lap 13 and was still running up front when four cars got together exiting turn four on lap 15.

Under caution, Kenseth came to pit road and for the first time in 2008, the “Killer Bees” went to work. Four tires, fuel, and several adjustments later, Kenseth peeled out of his stall with a 12.50-second pit stop, and retained the lead. Kenseth remained up front until lap 25, when he was ganged up on and passed going into turn one.

The next caution flag flew on the same lap as Kenseth was passed for the lead when a car blew an engine and spilled oil around the entire track. The race was red flagged with Kenseth in third, but on the ensuing restart, he moved back into second. But, as Kenseth ran high on the racetrack, the car began to lose the handle again, and Kenseth fell back. From lap 30 to lap 40, Kenseth fell from second to 10th and by the time he reported the car being extremely loose on lap 47, he was running in 12th place.

Just 12 laps shy of the finish, Kenseth reported that his right-rear tire might be going flat. Ten laps later, just two laps from the end, Kenseth alerted the crew that he was coming to pit road as the tire was about to rupture. But, with a fortuitous break, a blown tire by a competitor, Kenseth was able to pit under caution and keep his track position. Kenseth indeed had an issue with the right-rear tire, but returned to the track after four tires and fuel in the 16th position.

After another red flag for track cleanup, Kenseth restarted 16th, but was only able to improve one position over the final two circuits as the field finished with a two-lap, green-white-checker dash. Kenseth finished 15th and will start Sunday’s 50th running of the Daytona 500 in the 28th position.

“We learned a lot,” Kenseth said. “Our car had a lot of speed, actually, and had ourselves, I thought, in pretty good position, and did a pretty good job on pit road. We just had some handling issues. So, we think we know what we’ve got to work on tomorrow to get better in practice tomorrow.”

HAVE YOU HAD TIRE ISSUES HERE?

“Yeah, but if everybody’s experiencing them then you’ve just got to work on the car and get it handling better. We were really off on our handling today. We could only run about 10 laps very good and then it didn’t handle well, and we were tearing up tires and everything. We just kept getting our car too loose. We were just a step behind, so we’ll keep working on it tomorrow and we’ll have it good by Sunday.”

Daytona Nationwide & Cup Preview
February 10, 2008

Daytona International Speedway • Daytona Beach, Fla.
Gatorade Duel • Thursday, February 14 • 2pm/e Speed
Camping World 300 • Saturday, February 16 • Noon/e ESPN2
50th Daytona 500 • Sunday, February 17 • 2:00 pm/e Fox

Sprint Cup Chassis — #17 DeWALT Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Chip Bolin
• Primary — RK-518 (Last outing: Talladega, Oct. ’07, finished 26th after lap-146 wreck; also tested Daytona in Jan. ’08)
• Backup — RK-545 (Never raced; built at end of ’07 and tested Daytona in Jan. ’08)

Nationwide Series (NNS) Chassis — #17 Ritz Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Drew Blickensderfer
• Primary — RK-334 (New chassis)

 
Matt Kenseth’s Cup performance summary at Daytona

Date	S	F	Laps	Led	Reason
07/07/07	3	8	160/160	1	Running
02/18/07	10	27	202/202	6	Running
07/01/06	10	5	160/160	1	Running
02/19/06	11	15	203/203	28	Running
07/02/05	38	9	160/160	0	Running
02/20/05	14	42	34/203	0	Engine
07/03/04	36	39	110/160	0	Accident
02/15/04	12	9	200/200	2	Running
07/05/03	37	6	160/160	10	Running
02/16/03	35	20	109/109	2	Running
07/06/02	38	30	154/160	0	Running
02/17/02	40	33	154/200	4	Accident
07/07/01	15	16	160/160	5	Running
02/18/01	16	21	196/200	0	Running
07/01/00	22	20	160/160	0	Running
02/20/00	24	10	200/200	0	Running

 
Matt Kenseth Cup totals at Daytona:

	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Laps Led	Poles
Daytona 500	8	0	0	2	42	0
Pepsi 400	8	0	1	4	16	0
Cumulative	16	0	1	6	58	0

Matt Kenseth’s NNS performance summary at Daytona:

Date	S	F	Laps	Led	Status
2/17/07	13	12	120/120	2	Running
2/14/04	29	5	120/120	0	Running
2/15/03	6	2	120/120	0	Running
2/16/02	12	3	120/120	0	Running
2/17/01	18	3	120/120	0	Running
2/19/00	8	1	120/120	14	Running
2/13/99	18	4	120/120	0	Running
2/14/98	7	6	120/120	0	Running

 
Matt Kenseth NNS totals at Daytona:

	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles	Led
Cumulative	8	1	6	7	0	16

 
Matt Kenseth on racing at Daytona:

Cup: “The Daytona 500 is the biggest race of the year. I think as anybody growing up being a stock-car racing fan, or especially aspiring to be a driver, the Daytona 500 is the biggest race. That’s what you dream about as a kid, so the 50th running is obviously probably going to be the biggest Daytona 500 there’s been and hopefully we’ll have a chance at it.

“I’m looking forward to this season. We’ve got some changes, but not a lot. Our core group of guys is still in place. Chip [Bolin] is the crew chief now. We’ve worked together for nine years and if we can't communicate by now, we've got a major problem. We've been working together for a long time and he's been a very, very huge piece of the 17 team since its inception. Chip actually did the 500 last year, and the next three races, so he’s kind of ready for it.

“It’s going to be good to get back to the track this weekend and start racing again. We’ve done a lot of work this off-season and tested a lot over the past two months, so we should be ready for the season and we’ll see how well our preparation pays off in the next few weeks.”

NNS: “It should be fun to get back in the No. 17 Ritz Ford Fusion. I really enjoy Nationwide races, especially at a place like Daytona where I’ve won before. Drew Blickensderfer and the guys work really hard and they always give me great cars. Going back to last year we’ve finished in the top five the last three races, so hopefully we can make it four in a row. I’m really excited to have Ritz on the car this weekend. Kraft is a great sponsor and I’m proud to represent the Ritz brand. I couldn’t think of a better way to start the year!”

Sprint Cup Crew Chief Chip Bolin on racing at Daytona:

“The difference between last year, when I filled in for Robbie, and this year is that last year I didn’t have time to get nervous. This year, it’s my responsibility to do the prep work to make sure everything is loaded on the truck that we may need and that the cars are ready and that this team is ready to go to Daytona. Before, I just worried about the car.

“Calling a super-speedway race is pretty easy by comparison to other tracks because there’s not a lot of strategy involved. You pit when everyone else pits. We’re fortunate enough to have four more team cars to where everyone gets pretty close to the same fuel mileage and we have enough cars that we can all pit together if necessary. We’ll usually pit with teammates, or at least the ones we’re running around.

“Daytona is a lot different than Talladega although both are often compared to one another. At Talladega, you just focus on getting the car trimmed down to the least drag configuration and don’t worry much about handling. But, Daytona has bumps and different grooves and there’s much more suspension travel, so you have to treat your setup a lot like you would on intermediate tracks.”

NNS Crew Chief Drew Blickensderfer on racing at Daytona:

“I’m looking forward to getting to Daytona. We had good test there a few weeks ago. The guys have been working really hard all winter and I think we’ll put a strong run together in Daytona. It’s a great track for Matt, he really runs well there. If we can stay out of trouble I definitely think you’ll see the Ritz Ford Fusion fighting for the win at the end.”

Daytona Fast Facts

n Matt Kenseth enters 2008 coming off a fourth-place points finish in 2007 that included two wins and a season-ending five consecutive top-five finishes culminating in the Ford 400 season finale win.

n The Killer Bees welcome a new member over the wall in 2008, front-tire carrier Garret Reding, who’s been with the team since 2005. Eighteen of the 22 race-day crew members returned from 2007.

n Kenseth has three top fives and six top-10 finishes in the past 10 restrictor plate races.

n Kenseth finished fifth last year in his respective race in the Gatorade Duel, marking the fourth straight season he has finished sixth or better.

n Kenseth qualified 57th out of 57 cars after suffering a flat tire just a few hundred yards before the green flag of his 2006 qualifying run.

n Kenseth will pilot the No. 17 Ritz Ford Fusion on Saturday, Feb. 16 in the Camping World 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race.