Kenseth-Gibbs Pairing Making Sweet Music

Lee Spencer, FOX Sports

Matt Kenseth was overcome with emotion after taking the checkered flag on Sunday.

“I don’t know what to say guys, thank you so much,” Kenseth cried emphatically over the radio as he scored his 28th career NASCAR Sprint Cup victory. “You guys make me look really good every week.”

During the Victory Lane celebration, Kenseth still couldn’t believe his good fortune. Although he’s won more than four races in one season, Kenseth has never won as many this early. And the victories appear far from over.

“This is such a great team and great opportunity for me,” Kenseth said. “It’s just been an unbelievable season and year of my life, honestly.”

Despite Joe Gibbs Racing’s stellar record and status as one of NASCAR’s premier organizations, Kenseth wasn’t sure what to expect after the announcement was made at Kentucky one year ago that he would not return to Roush Fenway Racing.

“It's been going pretty good so far,” Kenseth said in his typical understated manner once the victory high had faded.

Kenseth is too much of a team player to admit his presence at JGR has turned the No. 20 team into a championship contender again. Under the direction of Jason Ratcliff, Kenseth has four Cup wins this season.

Yes, the team has experienced pitfalls along the way, including multiple engine failures and a penalty for a connecting rod from his winning engine at Kansas that was too light. But the team fought that, having the initial penalty reduced on appeal. Consequently, Kenseth regained 38 of the original 50 points he had been docked and now, weeks later, sits fifth in the standings.

If the Chase for the Sprint Cup began tomorrow, Kenseth’s four wins would place him on top in the rankings. The 41-year-old’s contribution to the organization has not gone unnoticed by team owner Joe Gibbs. The former championship coach of the Washington Redskins realizes the value of senior leadership, particularly with Kenseth having two younger yet extremely talented teammates in Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.

“He’s really, really meant a lot to our race team mainly because of the chemistry between Denny, Kyle and Matt is just great,” Gibbs said. “I think they all really respect each other. When they sit and talk, it’s normally sometimes three different varying ideas on things, which is really good.

“With drivers, who are they going to respect? I don’t drive a racecar, but they do. So if you want somebody they’ll pay attention to it’s going to be another driver that they really feel like is good at what he does and they respect.”

Gibbs acknowledges the communication goes both ways. When the teams unloaded on Thursday, Kenseth was the least optimistic regarding his car’s potential. The teams pooled the data, developed a game plan and with Ratcliff opting not to take tires on the last pit stop, Kenseth had the point and the necessary track position to win the race.

“Plus, every single week I’m amazed,” Gibbs said. “He’s got great talent. Last week (at Sonoma) he was going to be top five if we don’t run him out of gas or make him start saving fuel – and he doesn’t like road courses. Every place he says he doesn’t like, the next thing, I look up and he’s leading the race. We just think the world of him and we’re glad to have him on board.”

Note: Gibbs said on Sunday “there’s always the possibility” of a fourth Sprint Cup team at Joe Gibbs Racing but the decision would be predicated on proper funding and the right driver.

“It’s really hard to do,” Gibbs told FOXSports.com. “We would have to have the right sponsor, the right matchup, the right driver and that’s awful hard to put together. The odds are always against it, I would say.”

However, Gibbs added that he’s “been surprised” in the past when certain drivers have become available that he never expected were on the market.