Kenseth Seeks Charlotte Success

By Ron Lemasters Jr.

If there’s a driver this season who has run dead-even with Jimmie Johnson, the current point leader, it’s Matt Kenseth. In his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing, Kenseth has been fast everywhere, but hasn’t had the luck he needed to make it to the top spot.

The Coca-Cola 600 is the race he won as a rookie, his first in the series, and as such holds a special place in his heart.

"I'm looking forward to the weekend -- the 600 is probably my favorite race of the year and favorite event” Kenseth said Thursday inside the track’s Media Center. “Last weekend didn't go exactly as planned.”

The Coca-Cola 600 is NASCAR’s longest race, and it can be draining. But it’s the kind of draining that matters.

"Maybe [it is] mentally, and I hope it’s not emotionally [draining],” Kenseth quipped. “If it's draining emotionally, then it means you have something going wrong. It’s a little bit of both -- I actually looked at the weather yesterday and saw it was supposed to be fairly cool on Sunday and I was pretty excited about that.  When the race starts and its 90 degrees, you're solid sweat 100 miles in and you know it's going to be a long 600 miles and you really have to work hard to stay hydrated and cool and ready for that. “I'd say it's a pretty good combination of both.  I think that it's easier to be mentally weak when you're getting tired physically or you've been sitting there a long time and you're hot. You start thinking about other things other than focusing on the race.  I think it's probably equal -- probably 50-50."

Perhaps even more draining is the fact that he’s out-raced Johnson a few times this year, only to see the five-time champion rebound with a better finish.

“People can say whatever they want about him, but I don't know how you can't say that he's not the best ever,” Kenseth said. “You look at what he's done with Chad since they've been over here and nobody has ever put up numbers like that.  Nobody has ever won five championships in a row and probably never will.  They're amazing.  It's kind of cool to be part of that because I think someday you look back at history and be like, 'Oh yeah, I raced against him.'  But at the same time it stinks because you get beat so many times.  I don't know how anybody can argue and say them guys aren't the best of all time."

There’s a chance for Kenseth to beat Johnson this weekend, because of the venue, and the race.

"The 600 has always been unique,” he said. “We have our first win here so maybe that's part of it.  This is the first track that I made my first Nationwide start at and have more miles here at this track than any other on the circuit.  You only race a 600-mile race once a year -- Memorial Day weekend.  Just a lot of different things.  The track goes through huge changes, typically it's very different in the beginning of the race when the sun is still out.  It's usually hot and slick and then at the end of the race, after four hours of racing or four-and-a-half hours of racing, the track is as fast as it's ever going to be and everybody picks up a second and it's on.  

“It's like you wait four hours to run a trophy dash.  It's just a fun event. A lot goes on, you have to pay attention for a long time and really keep up with the adjustments and just one I look forward to and look forward to the challenge."