Sad News: John Reiser, father of #17 crew chief Robbie Reiser and Matt Kenseth’s long-time Busch Series car owner, has passed away. John had been battling cancer for the past few months. Sympathies are with his wife, Alice, and Robbie, and the rest of the family this weekend. More details when available at the Matt Kenseth website. (mattkenseth.com)
Oct. 12, 2005:
Kenseth changes mind and says he should of let Busch lead: Matt Kenseth admits now that he should have allowed teammate Kurt Busch to pass him for the lead early in Sunday’s race at Kansas so Busch could gain the five bonus points for leading a lap. Kenseth didn’t and even defended his actions over his team’s radio. “When it gets to the chase, we’re all racing each other for the championship, and I’m not going to get beat by four points at the end of the year because I gave away a free five somewhere,’’ Kenseth said during the race. Tuesday, Kenseth changed his mind after talking with Busch and Busch’s crew chief, Jimmy Fennig. “I think the thing that probably upset (Busch), and I understand it, is when we used to catch each other and you’d be right on somebody — and not necessarily a teammate but almost anybody — instead of abusing your car and having them abuse their car, you’d kind of get out of the way and if they wanted to lead, let them go lead and slow yourself down so you don’t have a problem,’’ Kenseth said. (Virginian Pilot)
Oct. 8, 2005:
Kenseth sets new track record, to win the pole: Matt Kenseth set a track qualifying record in capturing the pole for the Banquet 400, hoping it will put him in position to win Sunday and get back into the race for the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship. Kenseth is seventh in the standings, 111 points behind leader Tony Stewart. The last time Kenseth won a pole, he took the checkered flag, too. Now he'd like more of the same at the 1½-mile tri-oval at Kansas Speedway. The 2003 Winston Cup champion, whose uneventful title run led NASCAR to overhaul its title format, recorded his only victory this year on Aug. 26 at Bristol. This is his third career pole. "We had a good car lately, and it's been a lot of fun to drive them," said Kenseth, who turned in a lap of 180.856 mph in his Ford on Saturday. "We haven't had good cars until last couple of months." The top five qualifiers all broke Jimmie Johnson's track record of 180.373 mph, set in 2003 -- but no other title contenders made it into the first two rows, and only half of the Chase field will start in the top 10. Carl Edwards, sixth in the standings, will start fifth on Sunday. Greg Biffle, sitting fifth, will start eight. Stewart will start ninth, and defending champion Kurt Busch -- 10th in the standings and all but out of contention to repeat -- qualified 10th. (CBS News)
Sep. 20, 2005:
Reiser Wins WYPALL® Wipers Crew Chief of the Race Award: Matt Kenseth caught a bad break in this weekend’s Sylvania 300, literally. Following a routine stop for service, Kenseth’s front brake locked up as he was exiting the pits and the driver of the # 17 DeWalt Ford was forced to plow around the track until he could reenter his stall. With crew chief Robbie Reiser calling the shots, the crew fixed the problem and put Kenseth back in the hunt for a win. The team’s rebound brought Kenseth a third-place finish and moved him ninth to fifth in the championship standings. For orchestrating his team’s comeback, Reiser was awarded the WYPALL® Wipers Crew Chief of the Race award. “We got a lug nut caught between the hat and the rotor,” said Reiser. “The guys do an awesome job each week and today was no different. They never gave up. They fixed the problem and got him (Kenseth) back in it. We followed that up with a two tire pit stop to get back the track position we lost and everything fell into place from there. The crew had stellar stops all day. Hopefully we can keep this string going over the next nine weeks.” “The DeWalt guys did a great job,” said Reiser. “We had great pit stops. Came back from that problem and didn’t really tear anything up and were able to work our way back through there through pit strategy and having a good car. It feels good to come here and get a good finish and I look forward to going to Dover.” The panel of voters; including Chuck Givler of the Easton Express-Times, a WYPALL® Wipers representative and Tony Eury Sr.; voted for Reiser as the crew chief who did the most outstanding job. “There was a lot of pressure on Robbie (Reiser) this week,” said Eury Sr. “Even when he ran into problems, he stayed cool and made sure that everything was taken care of. He got his car fixedand got it in the top-five before the race ended. That’s a pretty good day.” Doug Richert leads the WYPALL® Wipers Crew Chief of the Year standings with five wins. Alan Gustafson is in second place with three wins. Bob Osborne, Jimmy Fennig, Greg Zipadelli, Robbie Reiser and Robbie Loomis are tied for third place with two wins. Tommy Baldwin, Scott Miller, Fatback McSwain, Steve Hmiel, Greg Erwin, Slugger Labbe and Pete Rondeau are in a tie for fourth place, each with one win. At the end of the season, the crew chief with the most weekly wins will receive $20,000. For more information, log onto www.wypall.com. (SMC 500)
Sep. 1, 2005
Kenseth to lose spotter: As Matt Kenseth's spotter for the last six years, Mike Calinoff has experienced the highs and lows of NASCAR's top series. Certainly, Saturday night was the latest of milestones since he guided Matt to rookie-of-the-year honors in 2000. He was the "eyes in the sky" for the No. 17 Dewalt Ford when Matt delivered Jack Roush's long-awaited first title. But he's also witnessed the frustrations of maintaining a championship caliber team over the long haul. Still, Calinoff is blessed. Kenseth is a pure racer. He understands cars inside and out, unlike some of the latest hotshoes who wouldn't know the difference between camber and caster. Kenseth's relationship with crew chief Robbie Reiser is one of the strongest in the garage. And Reiser has become a good friend to Calinoff, as well. So why would Calinoff ever considering abandoning a team that has enjoyed such success? The answer is simple: the challenge of working with another rookie and the cha-ching that will accompany the venture. (SportingNews)
Aug 29, 2005
Reiser wins the Wypall Crew Chief of the Race Award: Matt Kenseth and Robbie Reiser brought a new meaning to the word dominance this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Kenseth not only sat on the pole for the Sharpie 500, but led 415 of 500 laps before the #17 DeWalt Ford took the checkered flag. For sweeping the weekend, Reiser was voted the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the Race. Kenseth's victory snapped a 57 week winless streak and put the 2003 champ back in the thick of the Chase for the Nextel Cup. He currently sits 11th the championship standings, only eleven points out of 10th. "This team hasn't run that well this year, but the last couple of weeks it's really been coming around," said Reiser. "These guys have stuck to it and I don't have one guy that has spent the season complaining. They've pretty much just gone to work. The last two months have been real strong for this team and these guys are behind it 100 percent. I think when everybody had written us out of the chase that was more than a challenge than anything else and they wanted to step up to the challenge and turn the thing around. There are a lot of guys on the 17 (team) that have been there a long time and those guys have a lot of pride and they aren't going to go down without a fight." The panel of voters; including Mike Mulhern of the Winston-Salem Journal, a WYPALL Wipers representative and Tony Eury Sr.; all cast their vote for Robbie Reiser as the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the Race. Doug Richert leads the WYPALL Wipers Crew Chief of the Year standings with five wins. Alan Gustafson, Bob Osborne, Greg Zipadelli and Robbie Loomis are tied for second place with two wins. Tommy Baldwin, Scott Miller, Fatback McSwain, Steve Hmiel, Jimmy Fennig, Greg Erwin, Slugger Labbe, Robbie Reiser and Pete Rondeau are in a tie for third place, each with one win. At the end of the season, the crew chief with the most weekly wins will receive $20,000. Fans can also vote for their choice at wypall.com. (SMC 500)
Aug 27, 2005
Kenseth Dominates Sharpie 500: Matt Kenseth's season was in shambles two months ago, his chances of racing for the Nextel Cup title slim to none. A frantic late-season surge has changed everything. Kenseth used his first victory in more than a year to inch closer to the Chase for the championship, winning at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night in dominating fashion. Kenseth started from the pole and led a whopping 415 of the 500 laps to win for the first time since March 7, 2004. After struggling for more than a year, Kenseth has turned it on the past two months and vaulted from 20th in the standings to 11th. "Our performance has been better and you knew we had a fast car when we're on the pole," said Kenseth, who has started on the pole just twice in his career. "This feels great. I haven't been in Victory Lane in a long time." The top 10 drivers in the standings after the Sept. 10 race in Richmond make the Chase, and Kenseth's victory now has him 11 points out of the final qualifying position. "I had all but written off our chances to get in three races ago," car owner Jack Roush said. "I was thinking `building to next year' all the way. But they've got it turned around now. It's going to be a horse race." Kenseth agreed. "I thought we were out of it," Kenseth said of the Chase. "There's still a couple races to go, but we're a lot closer. We'll just go to California [next week] and give it all that we can. If we can run like [this] the last two races, we'll make it." Jeff Burton was second and was followed by Greg Biffle and Ricky Rudd. (CNNSI - Results - Points)
Kenseth to sign? Matt Kenseth, after watching all the fallout from other driver negotiations the past few weeks, is expected to quickly sign a contract renewal with car owner Jack Roush. (Salem-Journal)
Aug 21, 2005
Kenseth considering Gibbs #11 ride? When it rains, sometimes it storms. And car owner Jack Roush has been awash the past few weeks. Now comes word that Matt Kenseth, whose contract with Roush is up at the end of 2006, may be under consideration for a ride with Joe Gibbs in Gibbs' new third team, which has struggled this season, despite hefty sponsorship from FedEx. (Salem-Journal)
Aug 9, 2005
Penske approaches Roush about Kenseth, Gannasi has offer: Meanwhile, car owner Chip Ganassi raised a few eyebrows when he tossed out a rumor he said he’d heard about Penske making an offer to Roush for $12 million to buy out Kenseth’s contract in order to put Kenseth in Wallace’s ride next season. “And I heard Jack was going to keep $2 million and turn around and give me $10 million to buy Jamie McMurray’s contract,” Ganassi said with a laugh. “If so, I want to make sure Jack has my phone number.” Geoff Smith, the head of Roush Racing, didn’t find Ganassi amusing. “That is Chip pulling everyone’s legs. That is 100 percent fabricated,” Smith said. “What that does tell you is his decision (to keep McMurray in 2006, despite McMurray’s new 2007 contract with Roush) might not be being made by what is right for Jamie or for the sponsor or for racing, but ‘Hey, maybe I can make a buck.’ That’s what it feels like.” Nevertheless, there were reports that Penske had indeed approached Roush with an offer of some sort for Kenseth, but that Roush had dismissed it out of hand. (Fort Wayne)
Aug 8, 2005
Kenseth to Penske? Rumors persist that Roush Racing's Matt Kenseth is the top choice to replace Rusty Wallace, who's retiring, in the No. 2 Penske Racing car. Sources say Kenseth is sponsor Miller Brewing Co.'s first choice. Plus, Kenseth and his wife, Katie, are good friends of Penske driver Ryan Newman. (Sporting News's Lee Spencer)
July 21, 2005
Matt Kenseth helps Gatorade break ground on new Facility: NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth joined Virginia Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Trade John Sternlicht, Wythe County Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Wythe Sharitz and officials from The Gatorade Company to break ground today on a new manufacturing and distribution facility in Wythe County, Virginia. The facility, which will be the company's eighth plant, will produce both Gatorade Thirst Quencher and Propel Fitness Water, starting in September 2006. Parent company PepsiCo announced earlier this year that a new manufacturing facility was needed to help keep up with growing demand for the No. 1 sports drink and No. 1 enhanced water. Today's ceremony was given a twist by Kenseth, the 2003 Nextel Cup Champion and spokesman for Gatorade, who drove a bulldozer onto the site to kick-off the official groundbreaking. The facility, which is expected to bring 250 jobs to southwest Virginia's Wythe County, was welcomed by local and state elected officials. "Many people worked very hard together to bring this new plant to Virginia," said Virginia Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Trade John Sternlicht. "Today's groundbreaking was a great celebration for Wythe County, the surrounding region and for the entire Commonwealth of Virginia." Construction on the facility is now underway and expected to continue through approximately May 2006. Other Gatorade manufacturing facilities are located Atlanta, Ga.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Dallas, Texas; Mountain Top, Pa.; Kissimmee, Fla.; Oakland, Calif.; and Tolleson, Ariz. (Gatorade PR)
Birthdate: March 10, 1972