Catchfence

2009 NSCS Matt Kenseth - (Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Texas 500 – Race 7 of 36 April 5, 2009

Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 DEWALT race team will take a welcomed trip back to the friendly confines of the 1.5-mile quad oval of Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. After back-to-back tough outings at short tracks Bristol and Martinsville, the team will shift its focus to intermediate speedway racing at TMS, where Kenseth has won twice and ranks near the top of virtually every statistical category.

Texas Motor Speedway

1.5 Mile, 334 laps, 500 miles, FOX Network, 1:00 p.m. CST

At Texas

Starts: 13

Wins: 1

Top 5: 5

Top 10: 8

First time: 4/2/00 (31)

Last time: 11/2/08 (9)

Worthy Note: Kenseth has led in seven of the last eight races at Texas, including 68 last spring.

KENSETH AT TEXAS

This will be Kenseth’s 14th career Cup start at Texas Motor Speedway, where he won in 2002. He is tied for the second most top-five finishes (5) and the most top-10 finishes (8) in track history. In addition, his 442 Cup laps led are the third most in track history and his average finish (10.1) is the second best in track history. In addition, Kenseth has two wins, six top-five and 11 top-10 finishes in 13 Nationwide races at Texas.

LEADING THE PACK

Kenseth has led a total of 749 laps in NASCAR action at Texas Motor Speedway, 442 (third most) in Cup and 307 in Nationwide. He has led in nine of his 13 Cup races at TMS and in seven of the last eight, including 68 laps up front last spring.

DYNAMIC DUO

Kenseth and crew chief Drew Blickensderfer teamed up for a Nationwide win at Texas in April of 2007.

DOUBLE DUTY

In addition to his duties in the No. 17 DEWALT Ford, Kenseth will command the No. 16 CitiFinancial Ford Fusion in Saturday’s Nationwide race. It will be his 14th start in the Nationwide Series at Texas, where he won in ‘04 and ‘07 and has finished inside the top 10 in 84.6 percent of his races.

QUOTING MATT…

“Texas is a great place to race. The fans and the people at the racetrack are great and it is overall a fun place to go. The track is pretty high-banked in the corners, but it is very flat on the corner exits. The most unique part is trying to get off the corners, especially in turn two. You have to have a car that can go through the middle of the corner and the bumps very fast.

“We’ve had a lot of strong races there and we expect to go there and run well this weekend. We’ve had a pretty rough couple of weeks and I can’t think of a better track that we’d like to go to get back on track.”

QUOTING DREW…

“Matt really seems to know the best ways to get around Texas, and his results there are great. Getting the car to not lose the nose over the bumps in the middle of one and two and the bumps in the middle of three and four is probably the hardest thing for teams at Texas.

“We are really looking forward to going there this weekend. The surface there is very similar to

California’s and it is one of Matt’s best tracks. It really can’t come at a better time to get momentum back on our side. Right now it is really important that we stress to the team that our cars are much better than where we have finished lately, and that Monday through Saturday we are doing the right things. We just need to complete it on Sunday to have a chance to win more races.”

FAST FACTS

• Kenseth has one win (2002), five top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 13 races at Texas.

• Kenseth is tied for the second most top fives and the most top 10’s in Cup action at Texas.

• Kenseth has led in nine of his 13 starts at Texas, and in seven of the last eight races.

• Kenseth’s average finish of 10.1 at TMS is the second best in the track’s history.

• Kenseth had led a total of 749 laps in NASCAR action at TMS, including 307 in the Nationwide race.

Kenseth spent 334 of 339 laps in the top 15, posted 28 of the race’s fastest laps and led 68 laps. Despite the impressive stats, handling problems and a late-race gamble that didn’t pay off left Kenseth with a ninth-place finish.

Kenseth had worked his way up to third by lap 109, when he entered the pits for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. After a solid stop, Kenseth exited the pits the race leader. He maintained the top running position throughout two more pit stops and a total of 68 laps. He relinquished the lead and fell back to fifth by lap 189.

By the race’s final caution on lap 329, Kenseth had worked his way back up to fifth position and pit strategy would become key at this point. With just 10 cars on lead lap, a pit stop would be a gamble — come in and risk losing track position or stay out and risk being passed by cars with fresher tires. Bolin directed Kenseth to stay out and on the restart Kenseth fell victim to the competitors with fresher tires. In the final green-white-checker finish, Kenseth was passed by the sixth place car of Clint Bowyer. Bowyer lost control of his car and in attempt to avoid a larger accident, Kenseth was passed by several competitors at the line. He ultimately finished the race in ninth place, a solid, but disappointing finish.

- Roush Fenway Racing, Press Release