Matt Kenseth claims qualifying poorly can have both pros and cons
By SceneDaily Staff
Friday, September 05, 2008
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RICHMOND, Va. – Throughout his NASCAR Cup career, Matt Kenseth has been known for coming on strong at the end of races. It seems that no matter where the Roush Fenway Racing driver starts, he’s usually a factor by the finish.
But poor qualifying performances can be both a blessing and a curse, Kenseth cautions. On one hand, they make it more difficult to get to the front and challenge for wins. On the other hand, they can make a team and driver more aggressive in the pits and on the track during the race.
“If you win the pole, you don’t have anywhere to go but backwards,” Kenseth said Friday at Richmond International Raceway, site of Saturday night’s Chevy Rock & Roll 400. “Last week I really messed up qualifying and we started 39th or 37th - it was way back there - and we didn’t have anywhere to go but up, so we had to constantly adjust on the car all day. We had good pit stops. We were back in traffic, so we’re always trying to get our car better.
“I think sometimes … when we’ve qualified good and maybe been out front leading or been running up in the top three or four and you get scared to change it because you’re running pretty good and you maybe don’t keep up on the track, whereas more times
than not we’re coming from behind and trying to catch those guys and we’re constantly working to try and make it just a little bit better.”
Much like their tendency to run better as races wear on, Kenseth and his team have improved their performance over the course of this season. The year got off to a tough start for the 2003 champion as he fell outside the top 20 in the series standings.
But entering Saturday’s regular-season finale, the driver is ninth in the standings and close to gaining a berth in the Chase For The Sprint Cup. While he may not be having a season on par with teammate Carl Edwards or points leader Kyle Busch, Kenseth is proud of how far his Chip Bolin-led group has come.
“We never come to the race track and not want to finish good and not want to win. We bring what we think at that current time is our best stuff,” said Kenseth, who is seeking his first victory of the campaign. “We put forth 100 percent effort. We race as hard as we can race to win and we take whatever results we get for that day, so we’re still not in. We’re obviously in pretty decent shape, but we’re still not in [the Chase]. I think since Darlington [on May 10], team-wise, we’ve operated at a much higher level than we did the first month and a half.”
Still, Kenseth wants to win a race. He says the biggest obstacle to doing so this season has been NASCAR’s new car, which is being used at all tracks for the first time.
“This car, we can’t work on the bodies,” he said. “What you have aerodynamically is basically what you have. Back a few years ago … you could really change the cars aerodynamically a lot for your own driving style and how you wanted to adjust it. … We can’t do that anymore, so you kind of have to adjust to what that is and work on it from there, so that makes it a little bit difficult because if it’s not driving like you want, you can’t really do the things you used to do to try to fix that and make it run better in traffic.”
And that, Kenseth says, is the biggest downside to qualifying poorly.
“It is a big advantage to be in front and some guys have been able to figure their cars out better than others and they’re very sensitive to being in front and being in the clean air, and they’re also real sensitive to adjustments and things like that,” Kenseth said. “So I think it’s made it a little bit better too. Carl [Edwards] and some of those guys, when they qualify better they can stay up there all day.
“I’ve watched some of these races and I see the top-five cars – like at Bristol – I think the top five or six cars basically ran in the top five or six for 500 laps. It’s harder to come from the back than it used to be and get up front and challenge them.”
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Matt Kenseth
Comments
1 response to "Matt Kenseth claims qualifying poorly can have both pros and cons"
Mike Kinjerski said:
Sep 5, 2008 at 6:54 PMKeep on Plugging away Matty!! It's a pleasure watching you march to the front every week....
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