Kenseth's best days may be behind him
As the dog days of summer continue to tick by, we keep hearing about how Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart have yet to win a race this season.
But there's another former Cup champion who is winless too.
Matt Kenseth, who has won a race in each of the previous six seasons, has yet to reach victory lane. Now he's 36 years old – about a year younger than both Stewart and Gordon – so it's fair to ask if Kenseth's best days are behind him.
For years, Mr. Consistent has been a fixture in the top five. Every time you looked up, he was running third, fourth, fifth...somewhere in there.
Today, he's still a regular in the top 10 – but that's not how championships are won. Roush Fenway Racing needs to get Kenseth running in the top five again.
In the Chase era, top-fives have become the key to a title-winning season. And Kenseth only has four of those in 20 races this year (last year he had seven at this point and ultimately finished with 13).
Last season, Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and runnerup Gordon each had six top-five finishes in the Chase.
Assuming that the Cup winner will have top-fives in at least half of the Chase races this year is realistic. But the way Kenseth's team is running these days, it's hard to envision him doing that.
Last year, as he closed the season with five straight top-fives and won at Homestead, Kenseth seemed like a logical pick to contend for his second Cup title in 2008.
He's 11th in points and contending for a Chase berth, but many of the races where he used to record top-fives have turned into top-10s instead.
It's hard to win races that way, let alone the Cup title.
Can Kenseth still get it done?
