Kenseths have unique father-son relationship (cont'd)

"He's been doing pretty well and he's won some pretty big races this year that I haven't been able to be at, but it was neat for him to win that race because it was only his third time at Slinger," Kenseth said. "The first two times didn't go so well because the first, everyone ran into him and the second, he got black-flagged for running into somebody, which he knows I don't condone running over people -- that's one of my only rules for him.

"To come back and win it, the same night we were there and with the big crowd that was there for the Nationals was really cool. I didn't really ask him what he thought about it, there was a lot going on -- but certainly it was cool for him because I was there, and his first couple weeks there, he struggled. And with me winning I'm sure he felt there were more eyes on him so for him to win couldn't have been cooler, or scripted any better."

“

I watch him do, just little, subtle things that maybe people wouldn't even notice, that took me years to learn that he learns in three weeks.

”

-- MATT KENSETH

But still, in typical Kenseth fashion, Matt had gone low key in his description.

"It was a huge deal," Slinger's public relations/marketing manager Todd Thelen said.

So the cool factor has a chance to get even better, and the sly sides of Matt Kenseth come out in full effect, when he was asked about what he'd heard, this season, about his son's racing progress.

"I get a lot of feedback about Ross and I do a lot of checking from a lot of sources on how things are going when I'm not there, because my dad's story is not always the accurate story, you know what I mean?" Kenseth said. "So you try to get a lot of feedback from a lot of people."

Was he implying any grandfatherly bias? How could that be?

"I end up being the bad guy more than the good guy," Kenseth said. "In my dad's eyes, Ross can't do anything wrong [and] he loves racing with Ross more than he liked racing with me. So when I'm there I kind of got to be the more objective one and give Ross some constructive criticism or pointers.

"My dad and the other guys spend a lot of time pumping him up, so I'm usually the guy that has to deflate him a little bit."

Surprisingly, Kenseth, the 2003 Cup champion, said his son shows more promise than he did at the same age.

"The thing with Ross is he's such a quick learner," Kenseth said. "I watch him do, just little, subtle things that maybe people wouldn't even notice, that took me years to learn that he learns in three weeks. So it's fun for me to watch him learn.

"I know he's in good stuff, but it's not really better stuff than the top guys he's trying to beat. And to watch him pick up on things is probably the most fun for me, and I think him being such a quick learner has led to his success.

"We'll go to a new track that maybe took me a long time to get running good at, that I struggled at and I just watch him and maybe he's getting into a corner wrong, and before I even say anything, three or four laps later he gets it and he'll pick up two-tenths [of a second].

And truth be told, that might lead to a little nervousness on dad's part, because if favoritism does rule in the Kenseth realm, it could affect things when the Kenseths, father and son, go man-to-man in limited late models on Saturday night, at a twin 50's program at Madison International Speedway, during the Cup Series' final off weekend of the season. (Continued)