Matt Kenseth enters Sunday’s race at Chicagoland Speedway, the first race of the 2013 Chase for the Sprint Cup, as the number one seed.
Five wins through the first 26 races were a season high, which gives Kenseth the edge as NASCAR’s postseason begins. The way things have been unfolding lately however, the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team might be flying under the radar. But Kenseth feels he and teammate Kyle Busch can make some noise starting this weekend.
“I feel really great about it,” Kenseth said about the company’s chances, noting that had Denny Hamlin not gotten hurt he’d be right there with them. “I feel good about it from an organizational standpoint where we are. I think we’ve got some good cars coming this weekend and coming throughout the Chase. I have some confidence there. Obviously, it’s been a good year for the organization – we’ve been able to win some races, we’re seeded up towards the top, which is good. I feel good about all that.”
Between Kenseth and Busch, JGR has visited Victory Lane nine times this season. Kenseth leads the company and the series in wins. In just his first full-year at JGR and working with crew chief Jason Ratcliff the 41-year-old driver has experienced one of the best seasons of his career. It took the pair just three races to win and they’ve been rolling from there.
To date, Kenseth’s tied his career high wins in a season while he’s led the most laps this season than any other in his career. Had it not been for NASCAR issuing the team a penalty after their Kansas win, Kenseth might have sat in the top five in points through the year. The wins though, put him there at the most important time.
“It’s not the first time we’ve come in number one,” Kenseth noted. “I feel good about our performance, but a lot of things have to go right in ten races. Ten races is a lot of racing and you can’t have problems. A lot of things have to go right to have a shot at a championship, but I feel good about where we’re at.
“I like being seeded number one, obviously. I really like my team and what they’ve done this year and how fast our race cars have been so I feel good about that, but anything can happen.”
He isn’t naïve enough to believe that any one of the 11 other teams couldn’t go on a hot streak and win the championship. In the point lead right now, Kenseth’s team hopes to regain their early season consistency if they plan on fighting for the title. Having finished in the top 10 just twice in the last five races.
Yet, regardless of what the next 10 weeks holds for Kenseth, he’s not about to define his season by it.
“Yes and no – you want to do good every week so the smile on your face immediately after the race usually has more to do with what just happened in that last three-and-a-half hours more so than the last 12 or 14 months,” he said.
“Obviously, the transition has been great. To this point, I’ve had one of the best years if not the best year in my career – still have 10 races left. We’ve had a couple poles, we’ve led more laps than I’ve ever led in a year, we’ve tied with the most wins I’ve ever had in a year so it’s been just an incredible season to this point. No matter what, I think that’s all been a success.
“Certainly, this is an important 10 weeks and this is where it really counts. This is where we really need to put it together and go try to win a championship. I feel confident. I feel like our performance is good enough to run with anybody on our good days if we can have good days.”
