Background and career
Matthew Roy Kenseth (born March 10, 1972) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and the current competition advisor for Legacy Motor Club in the NASCAR Cup Series. Most recently, he raced part-time in the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX), driving the No. 8 car. Kenseth is also an active competitor at Slinger Speedway, where he holds the record for the most Slinger Nationals victories. Kenseth began his racing career on Wisconsin's short tracks, where he claimed track championships at Madison International Speedway, Slinger Super Speedway, and Wisconsin International Raceway. He later advanced to compete in the ARTGO, American Speed Association, and Hooters Late Model touring series. Eventually, he secured a full-time ride in the NASCAR Busch Series (now Xfinity Series) with former Wisconsin short-track rival Robbie Reiser, finishing second and third in the series standings during his tenure. Kenseth advanced to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, earning Rookie of the Year honors in 2000 and winning the final Winston Cup championship in 2003. As the reigning champion, he competed in the 2004 International Race of Champions season and claimed the series championship. Kenseth secured a rain-shortened victory at the Daytona 500 in 2009 and captured a second Daytona 500 title in 2012. As of 2022, he remains the last driver to compete in at least one NASCAR Cup Series race across four consecutive decades (1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s). He is also the father of Ross Kenseth.
Kenseth, born in Cambridge, Wisconsin, began stock car racing in 1988 at sixteen years old at Madison International Speedway. Before that, he and his father, Roy, had an agreement: Roy would buy a car and race, while Matt worked on it until he was old enough to drive. "Neither of us knew much, and it was a learning experience," Kenseth recalled. Kenseth's first car, a 1981 Camaro previously driven to championships by Todd Kropf, proved successful. He won a feature race in just his third outing, holding off two top drivers, Pete Moore and Dave Phillips. "Matt was smooth. I knew then he was going to be a racer," Roy said. In 1989, Kenseth competed for the points title at Wisconsin Dells, finishing second with eight feature wins. He also raced at Golden Sands Speedway and Columbus 151 Speedway. In 1990, he bought a late model car from Rich Bickle and won the season opener at Slinger Super Speedway, earning Rookie of the Year honors and finishing sixth in points. That year, he entered 15 ARTGO events and competed in forty features. After graduating from Cambridge High School, Kenseth worked at Left-hander Chassis, a racecar manufacturer, while continuing to race. In 1991, he became the youngest winner in ARTGO history, taking the checkered flag at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway after passing notable drivers like Joe Shear and Steve Holzhausen. The 1992 season was challenging, with Kenseth managing only three wins and numerous engine failures. Frustrated, he considered quitting but decided to continue after Kipley Performance loaned him a motor for the season finale, improving his performance. In 1993, Kenseth built a new car with a Kipley engine and won eight races at Madison, finishing second in points. Later that year, Mike Butz offered him a chance to race his late model. After early struggles, Kenseth and Butz's team found success, winning the final short-track races at Madison, La Crosse, and I-70 Speedway. Kenseth also finished third in points at Wisconsin International Raceway. The 1994 and 1995 seasons solidified Kenseth as a rising short-track star. Racing across Wisconsin, he earned victories over nationally known drivers like Dick Trickle and Robbie Reiser. In 1994, Kenseth competed in sixty events, winning track championships at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR) on Thursdays and Madison International Speedway on Fridays, where he claimed twelve of seventeen feature wins. He also captured the prestigious Slinger Nationals title. In 1995, Kenseth repeated as WIR champion, finished second at Madison, and won the Red, White, and Blue state championship series at WIR. Reflecting on his success, team owner Patty Butz remarked, "We knew by 1995 that Matt had too much talent to be with us for very long." In 1996, Kenseth moved to the Southern United States to race in the Hooters Late Model Series for engine builder Carl Wegner. The plan included running the Hooters Series, five NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races, and five Busch Series events before transitioning to the Busch Series full-time in 1997. Kenseth finished third in the Hooters Series standings, nearly winning the championship as a rookie. He made his Busch Series debut that year at Lowe's Motor Speedway, starting 30th and finishing 22nd in a car rented from Bobby Dotter. However, the team struggled to secure major sponsorship, which left Kenseth frustrated. "It was just like 1992," he said. "Plans just didn't work. I thought things would be different. Personally, I had moved and was adjusting to being a thousand miles from home." By the end of the season, the Wegner/Kenseth partnership dissolved. Kenseth then joined Gerry Gunderman's American Speed Association team, which had previously housed Alan Kulwicki's shop before his move to NASCAR. They raced together in two events in 1997 before Kenseth received a pivotal phone call from a former competitor.
In 1997, driver Tim Bender was injured, prompting crew chief and car owner Robbie Reiser to hire Kenseth, despite Kenseth having only one prior Busch Series start. Reiser explained, "Matt and I used to have some fierce races against each other. I needed someone who understood race cars the way I understood them. I knew he could drive and he could talk to me in a manner I could understand." In their first race together, Kenseth qualified third but spun late while running third, finishing eleventh. At Talladega, his second race on a drafting track, Kenseth started 20th and climbed to finish seventh. He secured two top-five finishes during the partial season.
Kenseth made his first attempt at a Winston Cup Series race at Talladega in May 1998. Driving the No. 60 Ford for Roush Racing, the entry was part of an effort by Jack Roush to evaluate Kenseth and the Reiser team. However, as it was Roush's sixth entry in the race, the car lacked a competitive engine and failed to qualify for the field. Kenseth made his next attempt at the Cup Series in 1998 at Dover, filling in for Bill Elliott in the No. 94 Ford for Elliott-Marino Racing. Elliott was absent to attend his father's funeral. Kenseth impressed by finishing sixth, marking the third-best debut for any driver. The last driver to debut with a top-ten finish before Kenseth was Rusty Wallace, who placed second at Atlanta in 1980. Kenseth also ran full-time, winning his first Busch Series race on February 22, 1998, by nudging leader Tony Stewart in the final turn. He finished 2nd in points that season, driving the No. 17 Chevy. In 1999, Kenseth and the No. 17 Reiser Racing team were hired by Roush Racing for several Cup Series races.
In 2000, Roush Racing fielded the No. 17 team full-time in the Cup Series, with sponsorship from DeWalt. Kenseth edged out Dale Earnhardt Jr. to claim the Raybestos Rookie of the Year title. Kenseth made history as the only rookie to win the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. He finished the season 14th in the standings, recording four top-ten finishes, eleven top-tens, and an average finish of 18.9. In 2001, Kenseth finished 13th in the standings, with four top-five finishes and nine top-tens. That year, his crew chief Robbie Reiser and the pit crew won the Unocal 76 World Pit Crew Competition. In 2002, Kenseth led the series in wins with five victories and earned one pole position. However, inconsistency relegated him to an eighth-place finish in the final standings. His victories came at Rockingham, Texas, Michigan, Richmond, and Phoenix. Kenseth's pit crew also claimed their second Pit Crew Challenge title that season.
In 2003, Kenseth started the season with a 20th-place finish in the Daytona 500 but quickly found his groove. Following his lone win of the season at Las Vegas, he claimed the points lead with a fourth-place finish at Atlanta in the season's fourth race. Kenseth held the top spot for an impressive 33 consecutive weeks, breaking the modern-era record of thirty weeks set by Dale Earnhardt in his 1980 championship season. At Charlotte, Kenseth secured his second pole of the year. Throughout the race, he battled handling issues with a car that was alternately loose and tight. During a late caution, Kenseth took a gamble by staying out on the track along with a few other drivers. The strategy paid off, as he finished fourth. Kenseth clinched the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup title on November 9 with a fourth-place finish at Rockingham in the penultimate race, finishing 90 points ahead of runner-up Jimmie Johnson. Kenseth dominated the standings, leading for the final 33 of 36 races, and recorded a series-best 25 top-ten finishes. He spent 35 of 36 weeks in the top-ten, the only exception coming after a 20th-place finish in the Daytona 500. Kenseth's championship season included one win and eleven top-five finishes, making him the fifth different champion in five years and the third consecutive former Raybestos Rookie of the Year to win the title.
