Kenseth, 17 team back in a big way after off year in '08 (cont'd)

Although he faded to 11th in the final point standings last year, it is important to point out that in one of the worst seasons of his 10-year career as a full-time driver, he still at least made the Chase. Prior to last year, he not only had won at least one race in six consecutive years but also had finished in the top 10 in points during the same impressive stretch.

The man just quietly goes about his business with little or no fanfare, unless it is thrust upon him like the fake punch Roush Fenway teammate Carl Edwards feigned at him following a race at Martinsville two years ago. Team owner Jack Roush suggested to reporters after Sunday's race that perhaps Kenseth has a little David Pearson in him, which is a high compliment considering most consider Pearson to be one of the top two or three stock-car drivers of all time.

“

Drew has brought magic to the team. He knows how to capitalize on the energy within a team, and we needed that.

”

JACK ROUSH

"David Pearson was before my time -- but when I first got involved in this sport, I was around the Wood brothers, Leonard and Glen, a lot. And they would talk about how when David was driving for them, they could never tell how much car they had until it was time for it to count in the race," Roush said.

"Matt's a little like that. I had a feeling he was going to be a little bit of a surprise to some folks [Sunday] because he had not been up there on the leaderboard in practice. But Matt said that he wasn't worried that he hadn't gone faster in practice, that he felt he had what he needed, and that the car had felt like it had before when he was able to win."

If Kenseth said all that to Roush beforehand, that is the equivalent of him talking trash.

The Blick factor

What is different about Kenseth and his No. 17 team this year? The answer to that question is obvious. He has a new crew chief in Drew Blickensderfer.

We'll have to get back to you on the last time a rookie crew chief won his first two races. Records on crew chiefs are a little more sketchy when you start delving into NASCAR history, but you can bet it hasn't happened often.

It certainly didn't happen with any of the three other guys who previously won the Daytona 500 and the race immediately following it. They all had veteran crew chiefs.

Blickensderfer, 32, spent the past three seasons as a crew chief on the Nationwide Series side with Roush Fenway. Many wondered aloud if he might not be stepping in over his head with his new job, but he obviously has proven to be more than ready for it.

"Drew has brought magic to the team," Roush said. "His dad was a coach and he played real competitive sports in high school, so he knows how to build a team. He knows how to capitalize on the energy within a team, and we needed that. We had all the right people with the right skill sets on the team, but we just need somebody to create the magic -- and Drew has done that.

"We had the same cars last year. And Matt is the same guy he was last year. He sure didn't learn anything over the winter because he didn't have the chance to drive these cars as much as normal [because of the ban on testing at all NASCAR-sanctioned tracks]."

It helps that Robbie Reiser, Kenseth's former longtime crew chief who got promoted off the pit box last year, and Chip Bolin, who replaced Reiser only to discover he didn't enjoy all that came with the job, have big hands in helping Blickensderfer in his new role. How big? Well, have you seen those Hamburger Helper hands that suddenly are showing up at tracks now that its a sponsor? About that big.

"It's huge to have Robbie Reiser 60 feet away from your office every day, where you know you can go and ask questions," Blickensderfer admitted Sunday.

So far, according to Roush, the only thing the Blick has had real trouble with is opening the champagne bottles in Victory Lane. At this rate, it won't take him long to become an expert at that.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.

Joe Menzer is the author of "The Great American Gamble: How the 1979 Daytona 500 Gave Birth to a NASCAR Nation." Click here to purchase.