Conversation: Matt Kenseth

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Matt Kenseth has wasted little time this season proving that his NASCAR championship in 2003 was far from an anomaly.

Kenseth, who led the Cup Series in victories in 2002, has started 2004 as if he, crew chief Robbie Reiser and their No. 17 DeWalt Ford crew at Roush Racing have designs on doing the same thing again. After a strong ninth-place finish in the Daytona 500, Kenseth has spanked the field in successive races, winning at North Carolina Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

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Before he went to Vegas, Kenseth took a break during the Ford Racing Adventure at Homestead-Miami Speedway to sit down with NASCAR.COM senior writer Dave Rodman to discuss the prospect of the new aero package and tires at Atlanta, his team's stellar 2004 start and the benefits of SAFER barriers at Darlington Raceway.

Q: Your season as the defending Cup champion is only a few races in. Do you feel like you had your fill of being champion over the winter, and how are you looking at this season of playing that role?

Matt Kenseth: That's a hard question to answer. We did a lot of things over the winter that were a lot of fun, but I was ready to get back to the racetrack at the same time.

It was really fun to come back to the track and run good in the Daytona 500 and to win at Rockingham right away, to start the season with some good momentum.

Q: Probably the worst thing you can do is to listen to what people are saying around you, but to win right off the bat at Rockingham, does that say "I told you so" to the people that doubted your championship?

Matt Kenseth: Yeah, that was an extra special win for us, for sure. You know, we had some criticism over the winter, for sure and the point system got changed.

	After three races, Kenseth and crew chief Robbie Reiser lead the points race by 88 points. Credit: Autostock

A lot of different things happened, so you probably worry a little bit too much about what people think. That's probably one of my problems. It was nice to come out and maybe quiet our critics a little bit.

We led well over half the race at Rockingham, and were able to win the race. Even though it got close at the end, the middle portion we ran really good and dominated it real good.

We kind of lost the handle a little bit at the end but we were still able to come through for the victory so it felt good to get a win that early in the year. Hopefully we'll be able to do some more of that.

Q: Consistency. You and Robbie Reiser and all the guys on the DeWalt team last year really put the signature to that, so coming into 2004 do you feel like you've started out on the same footing? Are you pleased you've been able to do that?

Matt Kenseth: Starting 2004 we've started out a lot stronger than we did in 2003, really. We finished ninth at Daytona and we had the potential to finish better than that until I blew it on pit road, overshot my pits and lost the lead draft.

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In 2003 we finished 20th there. Now, this season, we went to Rockingham and won. I feel like we started out real strong and everything feels real good. We'll have to see how the next few weeks go, but so far so good.

I feel like our equipment is better than what we had last year. We've got better cars, better engines and I think we have better pit stops. I think everything is a little bit better than it was last year.

We just had a lot of confidence coming into this year and we've really looked forward to getting this year started with all the exciting things that have happened over the winter.

Q: Atlanta Motor Speedway is a fast racetrack. What are you looking for there as far as the new nose and tail on the Ford Taurus and the new tire and aerodynamic package that debuted at Las Vegas?

Matt Kenseth: I think it's going to be really fun to have a little spoiler off the car. The cars should be a little looser than what they've been there in the past and turning real good, so I think for me that will be a lot of fun.

You'll be able to search around and find a lot of different grooves like we always do and the guy with the best setup is probably going to win the race there.

I don't think it's going to be the guy that has the most speed for 10 laps -- it's going to be the guy that has the best setup and can stay on their tires and be fast for 50 or 60 laps.

I think that tire and the spoiler is going to bring everybody's chassis setup more into play than what it has the last couple years.

Q: Do you feel like the racetrack at Atlanta will be just as raceable with the new setup package?

Matt Kenseth: Well, I think it will be. I think it will be a little tougher to run side-by-side with the shorter spoiler everywhere we go.

If you run side-by-side and you're pretty close together the guy on the inside is going to have a hard a time because he doesn't have as much downforce as we used to have in the back, to hold the back of the car down.

But, I think it will be easier to get alongside somebody. You shouldn't have as bad of an aero push being behind somebody, from having a smaller hole in the air, and at Atlanta where you run real high and real low, it might be OK.

Atlanta just lends itself to really great racing like great tracks like Rockingham do, or Michigan or some of them tracks. I think no matter what they give us for a package there the racing would be good.

Q: After a slow start since coming along in 2002, SAFER barriers are coming in a rush in 2004. They're earmarked for Darlington next weekend. How do you feel about them there, where you run close to the wall?

Matt Kenseth: At Darlington it's going to cut the racing line down (laughing) because we're hitting the wall halfway around the track, so whenever they move that wall in (it will be worse).

It's real interesting that they're doing Darlington next. Anything they do for safety I'm all for, but that (Darlington) probably would have been a lot farther down on my list than maybe some other places where I think you could really need it.

I'd say, like at Dover, where you hit the wall tremendously hard when you blow a right front tire -- especially now that we're going to a softer tire -- and Atlanta, Texas -- some of them high speed tracks. I would have rather seen them go there than at Darlington.

But anywhere that they can do it, we're not going to complain about it because it's going to be better. But it's going to be interesting at Darlington because you use every bit of the racetrack that we have right now and we run right up against the wall.

It's going to make that groove even narrower and that's going to be a definite challenge.

	Matt Kenseth Credit: Autostock

Q: Going back to championship mode, you said in December or January that you couldn't imagine anyone having any more questions or facts to find out about Matt Kenseth. What would you say is the most off beat thing anyone's asked you?

Matt Kenseth: I don't know. I've had some silly questions, or some questions that seemed silly along the way, but I can't really even think of them.

Probably it was this one guy that did an article and he wanted to know how much I bench-pressed. I haven't really worked out much at all lately and even if I did I've never really seen what the maximum is that I can bench.

I was trying to explain that to him and he said, "well how much do you bench?" and I said "I don't know" and he said "well how much do you bench?" and I said "I don't know" and he said, "Well how much do you bench?"

Finally I said, "I don't know -- I've never really tried to see how much I can bench." For some reason he just couldn't quite get that through his head, but other than that, that was probably the silliest one I could think of.

Q: Your wife Katie means so much to your entire career and what you're going to go through together this season. What's her take been on the whole thing, so far?

Matt Kenseth: She's had a lot of fun over the winter, with me. We got to do a lot of things that were really fun, together -- things like going to New York for the banquet and to Washington, D.C., to meet the President and doing all that stuff.

So we've had a lot of fun over the winter. Nothing's really changed a lot except I've been a little busier and been away from home a little bit more than maybe she wishes here, in the last few weeks.

I think once the season gets going and it gets a little bit deeper into the season it will get a little more back to normal.

Q: I guess a fan might only imagine what being a NASCAR Cup champion might mean, but has it opened any doors -- or are there any doors you want to make it open -- or some things you might want to do that you'll use the championship to help you achieve?

Matt Kenseth: I hope so. There are a few things I got to do last year that we wouldn't have been able to do if I hadn't won the championship. We got to do a lot of cool things and hopefully there'll be some more that we can do, for sure.

But it's definitely been a big honor to have won the championship last year and to be a part of that team and to do all that I can to try to represent our sport and our team and our sponsor as best as I can all year.

Q: You can't really call it a Christmas item, but one of the benefits of winning that championship has been a Ford GT -- a $140,000 supercar. What's been your impression of that so far?

Matt Kenseth: It's cool. I haven't received mine yet -- it will probably be about a year from now before I get it because they don't go into production until some time this summer. I don't think they would have given me Mr. Ford's.

It will be real exciting when I get it. That's one of the neatest things that I've received for winning the championship.

But there's one other pretty neat thing that's scheduled to happen tonight, actually. I'm supposed to fly to Gainesville, Fla., to receive a custom Harley-Davidson and I'm really looking forward to that.

I already have a couple machines and I put as many miles on them as I can, riding back and forth to the shop, and I have one that I take on the road with me, too.

There have been some really cool things that have come along with the last Winston Cup championship and some presentations that have been really special.