MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
What is the key to tire management?
“I think it depends a lot on the tire and the track surface. I think it’s changed a lot over the years. Last year with all the downforce we had and the tires they ran at a lot of places, it didn’t really reward you at the end of the run to be careful at the beginning of the run. But if you go way back in time you would go slower in the beginning of the run and let the air pressure build up and try not to slip the tires, try not to get them hot and that would pay you back at the end of a run.”
What did you think of the new Chase format?
“There’s been a lot of changes through the years. I thought from a fan’s standpoint it was really exciting. Certainly when it came to every cutoff, it was exciting to see what was going to happen. Certainly it was tense whether you were going to make it to the next round or not. The part I like I guess the most for me just last year was we did not run particularly well and we kept getting all our points back, even us up and then keep giving us life and giving us another shot. So for some of us that didn’t run as good as we wanted to, as long as we didn’t have the disaster finishes we kept getting a second chance which was nice.”
Is it important for NASCAR to have waves of young drivers move up the ladder?
“I think so. You’ve got to have to have that natural evolution of things where you’ve got older drivers that are going to step away and they’re going to get replaced by younger drivers. That’s happened for forever. It’s just you do go through a period where there’s a whole group of guys that are running good that will be able to keep their jobs that are mid-20s, early-30s. They’re going to be there for a decade or more, so there’s not a lot of holes for young guys and then you’ll go through another period – Jeff’s (Gordon) is probably starting it – so from now for the next seven or eight years there’s that whole group of drivers that will be getting up there in age and probably getting ready to do something else, they’ll have to get replaced by younger drivers again. It’s just kind of a natural deal in the sport.”
Is it good for drivers to be outspoken or more even-keeled?
“I’m not an expert at what’s good for the sport and bad for the sport. I’ve had a lot of those questions. I don’t know what’s good for or bad for the sport, but I think it’s always good to have different personalities, different outlooks, different ways of answering questions, different behaviors, different driving styles. I think all that stuff makes it more interesting. If everybody was the same, it wouldn’t be very interesting.”
Does it concern you at all having Joe Gibbs Racing expand to four cars?
“Not really. I probably had more concern last year that we were taking some focus away from what we were doing last year to get ready for this year. I feel better about it right now than I probably felt about it last July because it’s already there and we already hired all the people and we’re already building the cars and doing all that stuff. So, no, I’m not really concerned about that.”
Was it important to get a top driver for Joe Gibbs Racing to expand?
“I think certainly the way that Coach (Joe Gibbs, team owner) and everybody wanted to do that deal was to get somebody in there that can win right away and put all the pieces in place to perform right now, not looking five years or 10 years from now. I think that certainly on paper the group we have assembled I think for teammates and for crew chiefs and car chiefs and all that stuff, everything looks like we should have four strong teams.”
Do you feel like the unofficial veteran or leader of the Joe Gibbs Racing group?
“I don’t think we have a leader in our group. I think of course it’s a little different adding Carl (Edwards) this year – we haven’t all worked together yet – but I think Kyle (Busch), Denny (Hamlin) and I have worked really, really well together. I think we all treat each other as equals. We all treat each other with respect. We all value each other’s opinions. It’s been a really, really good mix honestly, so looking forward to getting rolling with Carl in that group and getting that working.”
