Matt Kenseth will be looking to add another trophy to go with his 2004 IROC championship Credit: Autostock

Kenseth ready for IROC

Former series champion gunning for second title

CONCORD, N.C. - Roush Racing's Matt Kenseth will be looking to kick off his 2006 racing season in more ways than one over the next few weeks at Daytona. In addition to his day job, piloting the No. 17 Ford Fusion in the Nextel Cup Series, Kenseth will also be apart of the 2006 International Race of Champions (IROC) lineup, which boasts some of the best drivers in the nation from different forms of racing.

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This will mark the third consecutive season in which Kenseth will participate in IROC. The 2003 Nextel Cup Series champion, Kenseth won the 2004 IROC title by winning the final two of the series' four events at Richmond and Atlanta. Last year, Kenseth finished third in the IROC standings by completing every lap of the season and scoring three top-four finishes.

"It's a lot of fun racing IROC," Kenseth said. "The concept is pretty neat. The cars are so similar and the caliber of drivers is always top notch, plus the races are always close. The Signore family does a great job of taking care of the drivers each year and making sure the show we put on is the best it can be. I'm looking forward to it this year. Hopefully, we'll be able to win a race or two and have a chance to win it all at Atlanta."

For the first time in 14 years the IROC series will be running something other than an oval when it takes to the road course at Daytona International Speedway in late June.

"Talk about a change," Kenseth said. "That should be pretty cool. I've raced the road course at Daytona in the Rolex 24-hour deal and had a lot of fun. If IROC truly wants to test these drivers in different racing disciplines, it seems that road-course racing would logically be on the schedule. I'm looking forward to it. Plus, any seat time that I can log on a road course the better it should make me overall as a road-course racer."