matt kenseth

2003 Winston Cup Champion 2004 IROC champion2009 Daytona 500 Winner NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Statistics Car #, Team 17 Roush Fenway Racing 2007 Sprint Cup Position 4th Best Cup Position 1st - 2003 (Winston Cup) First Race 1998 MBNA Gold 400 (Dover) First Win 2000 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte) Last Win 2009 Daytona 500 (Daytona) Wins Top Tens Poles 17 160 4 NASCAR Nationwide Series Statistics Car #, Team 17 - Roush Fenway Racing 2007 NNS Position 10th Best NNS Position 2nd - 1998 First Race 1996 Red Dog 300 (Charlotte) First Win 1998 GM Goodwrench Service Plus 200 (Rockingham) Last Win 2008 Nicorette 300 (Atlanta) Wins Top Tens Poles 23 152 14 Statistics current as of February 15, 2009. Matt Kenseth's 2004 car being pushed out by his crew 2007 Busch Series car 2007 Cup car 2008 Cup carMatthew Roy Kenseth (born March 10, 1972 in Cambridge, Wisconsin) is an American stock car driver. Matt currently drives the #17 DeWalt Ford in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Roush Fenway Racing. He is currently the defending Daytona 500 champion, having won a rain-shortened race in 2009, the first Daytona 500 win for the Roush Fenway Racing team.

Kenseth started racing on several short tracks in Wisconsin and he won track championships at Madison International Speedway, Slinger Super Speedway and Wisconsin International Raceway. He moved to the ARTGO, American Speed Association, and Hooters Late Model touring series before getting a full-time ride in the NASCAR Busch Series (now Nationwide Series) for his former Wisconsin short track rival Robbie Reiser. After finishing second and third in the Busch Series, he moved up in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Sprint Cup Series). He won the series' Rookie of the Year title in 2000 and the season championship in 2003. The International Race of Champions invited Kenseth to race in their 2004 season as the reigning champion and he won the season championship. Contents [hide] 1 Early career 2 Nationwide Series 3 Winston Cup/Nextel Cup/Sprint Cup 4 2008 5 2009 6 Personal 7 Criticism 8 Current Sponsorship 9 Career NASCAR Statistics 10 References 11 External links //

Early career

Kenseth made an agreement with his father, Roy, that Roy should buy a car and race, and Matt would work on the car until he was old enough to race.[1] Matt began stock car racing in 1988 at the age of 16 at Madison International Speedway.[2] "My dad bought a car when I was 13 and raced it at Madison," Kenseth said. "Neither of us knew much and it was a learning experience. He continued to race in 1988 and 1989. My first car - what might be considered a sportsman - was a 1981 Camaro that Todd Kropf had driven to championships at Madison and Columbus (Columbus 151 Speedway). On the third night out I won a feature. I ran 15 features in 1983 and won two of them."[2] "The first night out in the Kropf car Matt won