TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Matt Kenseth — Notes & Quotes
New Hampshire Motor Speedway – September 20, 2013
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Home Depot-Husky Tools Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How was winning last weekend’s race at Chicagoland Speedway?
“Last week was really great for us obviously. Couldn’t have gotten started any better than what we did at Chicago. But that was last week. This week presents totally different challenges, totally different kind of race track, totally different style of racing — and the things you need in your car and the things you need to do from behind the wheel. Just looking forward to here and hopefully get it started off decent today.”
How do you feel about this weekend after expressing some ‘concern’ about this race in victory lane after Chicagoland?
“Well, I may have used that word — I don’t recall using the word ‘concerned’ at all. Maybe I did, but I’m not concerned. It’s just when you get done you got to start thinking about it and start working on it — start preparing for it. We enjoyed that win late Sunday night. Actually by Monday morning at 10 o’clock or whenever I got done with my Chicago stuff, or noon or something like that, and just started working on New Hampshire. I guess that’s what I meant more than — if I said that, that’s what I meant — not concerned, just ready to get to work on it. Everything moves really fast. Like I said, just totally different race track, totally different challenges, you battle different things than what you battle at Chicago, totally different style of racing in my mind. So I was just already trying to shift gears and get ready for this week.”
Are you surprised by what has happened to Michael Waltrip Racing?
“I don’t know all the behind-the-scenes things. Kind of on purpose, I guess, so I don’t have to comment on it that much. I still haven’t watched the Richmond race or really seen even the highlights or any of that stuff. I was hoping after we got to race at Chicago that all that stuff was in the rear view mirror. Obviously, it all wasn’t. I think everybody is probably looking forward to getting it behind us as a sport and certainly I can’t imagine being in Michael (Waltrip) and Rob’s (Kauffman) shoes the last week-and-a-half. It’s certainly been really unfortunate for everybody.”
How shocking is it to see a sponsor leave the team?
“Again, I don’t know the details of their arrangement. I don’t know how long their sponsor was for. I don’t really know any of that or how it all went down. But certainly you hate to see that sponsor leave the organization — they’ve been with Michael (Waltrip) forever, back when he drove for Dale Earnhardt. Certainly, when I think of Michael I think of NAPA and vice versa, and that team. That’s really sad to see that they’re not going to be part of that organization. Hopefully, they’ll still be part of the sport cause it is one of the mainstays of the sport who has always done the whole car and done all that — which is kind of the exception and not the rule these days. Hopefully, they stay around. Hopefully, the best case would have been for them to stay over there where they have been forever, but hopefully they’ll pick up and still be part of the sport.”
Can we expect rookies to win in their first season in the Sprint Cup Series?
“Well, I think there’s a few things I think, if I remember — when I did race for rookie-of-the-year I raced against Dale Jr. (Earnhardt), and I can’t even name everybody. But I still get that rookie card that Raybestos — and I autograph it at times. I’m going to mess this up cause I don’t know how many people there were and I don’t know all the names, but I think it was Mike Bliss and Stacy Compton — and there’s a big group — I think, if I recall right, I think it was like eight or nine of us that basically had full-time rides that were going for rookie-of-the-year. It was a huge rookie crop. Really since then, I don’t know about every year since then, but more years than not, there’s either been one or two or there’s been none that have ran full-time. So it’s just been a lot smaller. So I think when we came in there were some drivers that had been around for a while that were getting out — there was kind of that turnover. If you don’t have that turnover, there’s not a ride for rookies to get in and kind of make their way and have a chance of winning a race or getting in a good car and all that stuff, so I think it’s just kind of a cycle. As the next group of drivers gets older and aren’t there anymore or whatever, there’s that opportunity for maybe a younger driver or somebody new or pick somebody out of the Nationwide Series to kind of move up and take that spot.”
What are your impressions of Kyle Busch?
“Well, I’ve raced against Kyle (Busch) for quite a while already, even though Kyle’s still young — he’s been around for a long time. Obviously, I don’t think anybody would argue that Kyle’s one of the most talented drivers in the garage. No matter what he gets in, it seems like he’s a threat to win. I’ve watched that for a lot of years. Raced against him for a lot of years. I’ve enjoyed being under the same roof with him. I’ve learned things from him. Hopefully, there’s things I helped him out with. With him and Denny (Hamlin), I’ve said this before, that was one of the very many long list of things that attracted me to JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) really is because both of those two can win races on any given week. They’re both really different from each other, so I think that’s really helped me this season look at things in a different light. Having a couple different opinions and approaches and things like that. I think all three of us are different and I think we all complement each other. Kyle, as you guys all know — you watch it every week — he’s as good as they get.”
How tough has the transition been to change what you’ve done in the past?
“For me, the transition was — I always hate to use the word easy in this sport because it’s really, really hard. There’s nothing about this that we do that is easy, but to fit in and kind of get a feel for how they do things and all of that, it was something that I was really looking forward to. Just to kind of see something different because I’ve done everything basically the same with minor tweaks for the last 10 or 12 years or whatever. For me it was interesting. I honestly — when I walked into JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing), I walked in there with my eyes and ears open and didn’t really bring anything or be like, ‘Hey, well this is the way I like it. Well, hey I like to do things like this.’ You have your — everybody has their little things here or there — driver comfort stuff and you like something to feel like this or fit like that or whatever. But, really, I really didn’t come in there and walk in and be like, ‘This needs to be like that,’ or any of that. I just tried to fit into what they were doing. Obviously they were having a lot of success. I really tried to fit into that and, like I said , tried to keep my eyes and ears open and tried to learn as much as I could early on — and I’m still learning — but tried to learn as much as I could early on to how they do things and how they approach things. You know, certainly I feel like I’ve had things to add, but really tried to fit into their system and then go from there.”
Has Joe Gibbs Racing taken the favorites role from Hendrick Motorsports at this point?
“Well, I don’t know. I mean, at the end of the day I don’t think it matters if anybody thinks you’re the favorite or if you’re the underdog. At the end of Homestead, it just matters who has more points. So I really — I always say this, but I honestly mean it, I take it one week at a time. Yeah, you always want to be ahead. Somebody might say different, but I don’t think they’re telling the truth. Everybody wants to be in the front and try to expand on your lead, but nine races is a lot of races and I’m really obviously happy with the way the season has gone. Happy to the way the Chase started last week. It couldn’t have started any better than what it did, but it’s only one race out of 10 and there’s a lot of racing to do and each and every week is different. This week is a lot different. And, you’ve just got to go and try to do it every week.”
