Matt Kenseth backs the Indianapolis oval amid NASCAR road course discussions

Kenseth: “It’s arguably the most famous speedway in the world.”

In May, Matt Kenseth jumped out of retirement and rejoined the NASCAR Cup Series. He’s piloting the No. 42 for Chip Ganassi Racing after Kyle Larson was abruptly fired.

Kenseth jumped out the gate with a 10th place run at Darlington in his first showing. But, from there, things went downhill.

Related: NASCAR driver Kyle Larson drops N-word (Video)

In the next 8 races, 6 of them resulted in a finish of 20th or worse for the No. 42 team. Yet, recently, the team brought new [top secret] things to Pocono and Kenseth came out of that weekend with an 11th and 12th.

He’s now trending in the correct direction. Over the weekend, Kenseth found himself in the battle for the Brickyard 400 victory, a race he’s never won. He finished 2nd.

“If we would have been our front, we would have been hard to beat. I just didn’t have enough to get around Kevin,” Matt Kenseth stated of the Indy race.

“I wasn’t flawless and could have done a little bit better on a couple of those restarts. But, I feel a lot more comfortable than I have been, for sure.”

“We’re been finishing 20th-25th, obviously, it’s a much better car and much better team than that. We tried some stuff at Pocono that really seemed to work for me.”

Confidence

“When you run well, it builds confidence. It’s easy for anyone to get kinda beat up. You try to keep it in perspective and do better every week.”

“It’s tough on your confidence, ego or whatever. Even walking through the shop, you’re thinking, man, they’re whispering. ‘We really got the short straw when we got this replacement driver.’ “

“When you run bad, you never feel good about it. When you run better it feels better and shows us all, as a group, that we can do it.”

Related: Matt Kenseth to replace Kyle Larson in NASCAR Cup Series

NXS on the Indianapolis Road Course
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – JULY 04: Preston Pardus, driver of the #36 Chinchor Electric/Danus Chevrolet, leads Kyle Weatherman, driver of the #47 Stand For The Flag Chevrolet, Timmy Hill, driver of the #13 ROOFCLAIM.COM Toyota, and Joe Graf Jr., driver of the #08 Bucked Up Energy Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 04, 2020 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Oval or road course?

The NASCAR Xfinity Series made their debut on the Indianapolis Road Course during the Independence day weekend. Should the Cup Series follow?

“It’s one of those race tracks that we need to race at as long as we can. It’s arguably the most famous speedway in the world, or one of them,” Kenseth stated.

“To be able to race on the oval with the Cup cars, which is the highest form of stock car racing in the world. The IndyCars race here and I think we should be on the big track as well.”

“Now, I don’t think it would be bad to test the road course and maybe do a second race on the road course. Kinda, like the IndyCars did.”

“The Brickyard 400 has a lot of prestige. I know it’s not the Southern race but similar to the Southern 500. There’s a few of those races that you sure would hate to see disappear,” Kenseth concluded.

NASCAR made it’s debut at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1994. That was was won by Jeff Gordon.

Matt Kenseth in a mask - NASCAR driver
DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – MAY 17: Matt Kenseth, driver of the #42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet, walks on to pit road prior to the NASCAR Cup Series The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway on May 17, 2020 in Darlington, South Carolina. NASCAR resumes the season after the nationwide lockdown due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19). (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Links

Matt Kenseth | Chip Ganassi RacingIndianapolis Motor Speedway | NASCAR

Categories

Tags