Matt Kenseth – NSCS ADVANCE
Team: No. 17 Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Jimmy Fennig
Chassis: Primary: RK-766 (Last run at New Hampshire)
Kenseth on racing at Richmond International Raceway:
“Richmond has been a tricky place to hit that balance just right, where you can still get through the middle of the corner with reasonable enough speed, but have enough traction to get off the corner where you can drive up alongside of people to pass. Richmond’s about the right size. It’s three-quarters of a mile, so we still get going pretty fast, but it acts like a short track where you need a lot of brakes. The pavement is getting worn out and slick. Whenever you get a worn out track like Atlanta, Michigan or Phoenix used to be before they paved it, I think it just creates so much better racing. I just think that Richmond’s more fun to drive.”
Crew chief Jimmy Fennig on racing at Richmond International Raceway:
“We are bringing a car we last raced at New Hampshire to Richmond this weekend and we’re working hard on our fleet of cars to make sure they’re the best they can be as we prepare for the Chase. I feel like our short track program has really improved even though we didn’t get the finish we deserved at Richmond back in the spring due to a late-race wreck we got caught up in. The challenge at Richmond is getting off the corner straight and we always work on providing rear grip without losing the front end in the middle of the turns.”
FAST FACTS:
• In 23 Cup starts at Richmond, Kenseth has completed 8,959 of 9,203 laps (97.3 percent) and led for 208 laps
• Kenseth has an average starting position of 21.5 and an average finishing position of 17.0 at Richmond
• Kenseth has achieved one win, three top-five, and nine top-10 finishes at Richmond in the Cup series
• This weekend at Richmond, Kenseth will pilot the No. 17 Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Ford Fusion
• Entering the weekend at Richmond, Kenseth is currently fourth in the NSCS driver point standings
