Matt Kenseth – NSCS ADVANCE
Team: No. 17 Wiley X Sunglasses Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Jimmy Fennig
Chassis: Primary: RK-707 (Last run at Fontana)
Kenseth on racing at Darlington Raceway: “Darlington is a great race track with a lot of history attached to it. They repaved the surface a few years ago and it’s just a place where we race fast with narrow lanes, and track position at the end of the race is really important. It’s a challenging track since you get so much speed going into the turns; many cars end up with “Darlington stripes” down the side after brushing the wall. I’ve had some great races at Darlington, and I’m hoping to get a good finish this weekend in our Wiley X Sunglasses Ford Saturday night.”
Crew chief Jimmy Fennig on racing at Darlington Raceway: “Darlington races are exciting, but it’s a place that I enjoy racing at because there is a lot of tradition associated with this track. Darlington is much different than it used to be because the old surface used to be all about tire conservation, but with the new smooth pavement, it is not as focused on tires anymore. Running close to the wall is one of the main challenges of Darlington since it is pretty fast and the cars run within inches of the outside wall at both ends of the track.”
FAST FACTS:
• Everything’s coming up 17: Saturday night’s race at Darlington will be Kenseth’s 17th start in the No. 17 Ford and his average finishing position is 17th
• In 17 Cup starts at Darlington, Kenseth has completed 5,515 of 5,736 laps (96.1 percent) and led for 154 laps
• Kenseth has an average starting position of 21.8 and an average finishing position of 17.7 at Darlington
• Kenseth has achieved one pole, one top-five and seven top-10 finishes at Darlington in the Cup series
• This weekend at Darlington, Kenseth will pilot the No. 17 Wiley X Sunglasses Ford Fusion
• Entering the weekend at Darlington, Kenseth is currently ninth in the NSCS driver point standings
