Kenseth rebounds for fast start
Frustration was Matt Kenseth’s nearly constant companion during the first three months of the 2005 season.
While his four Roush Racing teammates were finding success in the early going, Kenseth was struggling. It took the 2003 NASCAR champion three races to register his first top 10 – an eighth place at Las Vegas – and the second top 10 didn’t come until the 13th race, at Dover. His one and only victory, at Bristol, came in race No. 24.
What a difference a year makes. Two races into the new season, Kenseth is rolling.
Only getting punted by Tony Stewart in the season-opening Daytona 500 kept Nextel Cup’s quiet man from finishing in the top 10 in NASCAR’s biggest race, and Kenseth still managed to salvage 15th.
Last Sunday at California Speedway, Kenseth had what appeared to be the third-fastest car in the race. But engine failures for teammate Greg Biffle and – in a bit of irony – Stewart, gave Kenseth his 11th career victory and third place in the season points, both of which he can enjoy until the next Cup race, March 12 in Las Vegas.
“Sometimes it feels like there is justice in the world, so that feels good,” Kenseth said. “I felt (at Daytona) we had a car that could have won.”
Robbie Reiser, crew chief of the No. 17 Ford and Kenseth’s longtime friend, isn’t surprised by the strong start.
“This team is very good,” Reiser said. “Looking at the cars we brought to Daytona and California, and the way they operated on pit road, they’re here to race and they’re here to win races and the championship this year.”
Reiser pointed out that working for a team as deep in talent as Roush Racing – which also fields Cup cars for Biffle, Mark Martin, Carl Edwards and team newcomer Jamie McMurray – gives all of them a big advantage.
“I think we build every year,” Reiser said. “I think that the knowledge that we had last season to where we are this season becomes greater. We’re always adding to the resources that we have. We’re adding to the people we have. We’re beefing up the engineering staff. We’re working on the car.
“So, yeah, the pool gets bigger and bigger and bigger the more we build on it.”
Kenseth, who wound up seventh in the final standings in 2005, would rather not have to come from behind again to qualify for NASCAR’s playoff.
“It feels good to get off to a good start,” he said. “Last year, we didn’t. But a couple of years before that, we did. I think we won early in ‘03 and ‘04, so, hopefully, we can keep it up all the way through the year – keep the same level of energy and excitement and work on the cars and do all the stuff that we are right now.”
Said grabs Busch pole
Boris Said, a road-course specialist, won the pole and two Mexican drivers placed in the top five Saturday for today’s Telcel-Motorola 200 in Mexico City, the second race south of the border in NASCAR’s Busch Series.