Matt Kenseth finished seventh in the Nextel Cup Series standings. Credit: Autostock

Kenseth at attention as Cup season revs up

New car, new crew members force No. 17 team to focus

It seems hard to believe from a team as business-like as the No. 17 bunch, but Matt Kenseth said it's possible that a lack of focus cost his team the jump on the rest of the Nextel Cup Series a year ago.

Fool me once ...

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"At the beginning of the year we just didn't pay enough attention to our cars and probably what was going on," Kenseth said. "We had some problems with our cars aerodynamically that weren't quite right and we kind of figured out what we were doing wrong and fixed our bodies and put them back like we knew in the first place they should've been, and that got our cars running competitively.

"So I look forward to going into this year," he said.

With the introduction of the new Fusion into Cup competition this season, there's a lot for the Ford teams to pay attention to during Preseason Thunder. In Kenseth's case, he likes what he sees so far.

"It's a nose and tail change and the nose is very similar to what we had," Kenseth said, "but it's probably going to be a little bit better and we already had a great race car last year so I think it's going to be a great car."

Even in the draft?

"It's going to be the same as we had the last couple years, I believe," Kenseth predicted. "The spoiler size and plate size and all that is the same, so unless they change that I think you're going to see about the same racing. It seemed like it was the same as always."

Outside the car, there are a few new faces wearing the bumble bee yellow in the garage this year. While some might see new team members as a potential obstacle, the normally cool Kenseth doesn't forsee any problems.

"I feel good about the new people we got," Kenseth said. "We really haven't had that big of a turnover, everybody's making a big deal out of it, but we really didn't have that big a turnover -- we moved one guy up to the car-chief role that's been there for a year and I got a couple of new guys, so I'm excited about it.

"I'm not really worried about it. [The Daytona] test is actually, more so than on-the-track stuff, [that] test is good for that. It gets the whole group working together and getting in a routine and a system of changing things and everybody knows what their responsibilities are and that type of thing."

As far as his teammates that drive other race cars, Kenseth said don't be surprised if the Roush boys make another rush on the Chase.

"I've seen all the cars that everybody is building and all the cars are pretty close to the same right now," Kenseth said. "Everybody seems to be working together more so, I think, than last year, so I'm really looking forward to the season.

"Hopefully, we can get to Victory Lane a few more times and make the Chase again and race those last 10."

With everything in place, Kenseth said the pressure now falls squarely on the driver.

"You know your equipment is good enough to go win races and that's a great feeling as a driver," said Kenseth. "Now it's just up to the team and myself to try to figure out how to do it. We have everything we need, we just have to figure out how to put it all together."