David Exum: Don't give Matt Kenseth the title just yet

By David Exum - SceneDaily Staff
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
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COMMENTARY

Matt Kenseth’s victories in the first two races of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season are a much-needed breath of fresh air after three years of dominance by three-time and defending champion Jimmie Johnson.
 
Is it going to last? Doubtful.
 
While I’m not counting Kenseth out – he’ll surely make the Chase For The Sprint Cup – he’s going to need a lot more than newly minted crew chief Drew Blickensderfer in order to stop the juggernaut that is Johnson’s No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team.
 
Take for instance this Sunday’s Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Did you know that Johnson has won three out of the last four races at Vegas? It doesn’t matter if Johnson’s currently 19th in the series standings. If there is any driver who can win Sunday’s Shelby 427, it’s Johnson.
 
Johnson isn’t the only driver that Kenseth has got to worry about. While Jeff Gordon’s winless streak has reached 43 races, the four-time Cup champion seems to be a man on a mission this season. Gordon is second in the point standings and could also win at Vegas, something he hasn’t done there since 2001.
    
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, who made history by winning both the NASCAR Camping World Truck and the Nationwide series races on the same day at Auto Club Speedway in Southern California last weekend, is also looking tough to beat. Although Busch has never won at Vegas, he rebounded nicely with a third-place finish in the Auto Club 500 after a disappointing DNF in the Daytona 500 a week earlier.
 
Sure, it’s way too early in the season to start talking about the Chase, but it’s just amazing how Johnson, as he has done previously, starts off slowly and gains momentum. Let’s take a peek at Johnson in 2008. While he went on to become only the second driver in the history of the sport to win three consecutive championships, his first victory of the season didn’t come until the eighth event at Phoenix International Raceway.
 
Another nemesis that Kenseth cannot ignore is Roush Fenway teammate Carl Edwards, who rolls into Vegas as the defending race winner. Edwards is another driver who is apparently off to a slow start, but it surely won’t last.
 
Not surprising at this early juncture of the season is Tony Stewart’s strong showing in fourth in the series standings. It still amazes me to think that people wouldn’t consider Stewart a threat just because the two-time Cup champion is now co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing.

So while Kenseth is off to a strong start, there are still plenty of challengers, and it’s still too early to award him a second crown to go with his 2003 title.

Comments

16 responses to "David Exum: Don't give Matt Kenseth the title just yet". Post a Comment.
  1. 1
    Arthur Trim said:
    Feb 24, 2009 at 11:36 AM

    Why not write at least 4 articles a day this month about Matt winning the Cup title? The same media group wrote four articles a day for four months about NASCAR's latest child prodigy. Matt has one championship, why not two, three or four??
    Matt is the real deal, a proven quantity!!
    Two races, two race wins, a 100% so far, not bad!

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  2. 2
    Coco Suma said:
    Feb 24, 2009 at 12:26 PM

    Its a long season can we get to the chase before we start proclaiming winners or losers. Its only been two races GEEZ!

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  3. 3
    Howard Englishman said:
    Feb 24, 2009 at 1:09 PM

    Jeez, last year you wanted to hand Kyle the trophy and the money and you see where he ended up at the end.

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  4. 4
    Pat Draper said:
    Feb 24, 2009 at 1:27 PM

    Know one is giving Matt the trophy yet it just seems that everyone except you 3 are just plain happy that Matt finally got some wins. He's one of the good guys and i hope he gets more. no one should even be talking about the chase for at least another 4 or 5 months. Thing can change so fast in Nascar you 'll just have to wait and see what happens. I hope we get new winners every week. It was a breath of fresh air to have Matt in Victory Lane.

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  5. 5
    Coco Suma said:
    Feb 24, 2009 at 1:46 PM

    Pat I'm just misunderstanding you? Sorry if I'm but where did any of the three comments say they weren't happy about the 17 winning???

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  6. 6
    Werner Boehmert said:
    Feb 24, 2009 at 5:22 PM

    2 races and we get an article like this?...let's talk about the championship when we get to the Chase...

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  7. 7
    Matthew Bontempi said:
    Feb 24, 2009 at 6:21 PM

    Matt is one of the best drivers in the cup series. I am a HUGE fan of his but i just don't know if he'll win it all this year. I expect him to be a big contender but it's just too early to be talking about the championship. Expect him to win about 5 or 6 races but besides that i'm not sure what he'll get.

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  8. 8
    Bernadette Motherway said:
    Feb 24, 2009 at 7:09 PM

    Boy, did you open a can of worms, Exum!!!!

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  9. 9
    P K SMITH said:
    Feb 24, 2009 at 7:18 PM

    I agree with Pat's comments. But frankly...the premise of the title of this article was just WRONG to start with! Why would David Exum even come up with the title of, "Don't Give Matt Kenseth the Title Just Yet"?!? If Jimmie Johnson had come out and won the first 2 races of the year; Does anyone think there would be an article written stating, "Don't Give Jimmie Johnson the Title Just Yet"? I DOUBT it. There are many other topics to write about this early in the season. Matt just added to a part of history by winning these 2 races. Many "CONGRATS" to the #17 team and the Killer Bees. I hope that the entire year proves to be exciting for ALL of the Cup teams. It's not exciting and Nascar doesn't benefit when just ONE team wins all of the time. I can respect their good driving ability...but competition among ALL drivers is what I would rather watch.

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  10. 10
    P K SMITH said:
    Feb 24, 2009 at 7:21 PM

    Bernadette, I wrote my comments...and then I read yours! You summed things up perfectly. THANKS!!!

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  11. 11
    Werner Boehmert said:
    Feb 24, 2009 at 7:37 PM

    Don't give (fill in the blank) the title just yet...must be a standard article...

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  12. 12
    Jim Bayliss said:
    Feb 24, 2009 at 7:56 PM

    It probably is Werner. But it is the medias job to create as MUCH controversy as they possibly can to get the fans all hyped up and rooting for certain drivers more, etc., so they can try to get more fans to the track and in front of the TV. After all THAT creates more bottom line, for THEM, NASCAR, Sponsors, Track Owners, etc..

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  13. 13
    Allen Beasley said:
    Feb 24, 2009 at 8:12 PM

    Its a great start, and nothing more at this point.

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  14. 14
    Max Finkelberg said:
    Feb 24, 2009 at 8:29 PM

    You're right, David! It IS just the 2nd race of the season, not the final race. February is not even over yet. Who will win the title? You have to wait 10 months to find out!

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  15. 15
    Art Sheeler said:
    Feb 24, 2009 at 9:36 PM

    Allen, You sad it best. I think everyone is mainly happy for Matt and his killer bees.

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  16. 16
    chris Stephens said:
    Feb 25, 2009 at 9:56 AM

    Kudos to Matt,the Blick and the rest of the hardest working team in cup. Hendrick is throwing everything behind Gordon early on this season, it will be interesting to see how long he lets this go before he jumps behind Jimmy. Go 17!

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