CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Looking very proper, dressed in a navy suit and tie, Matt Kenseth was also very revealing and honest during his availability during the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour Tuesday morning.
When asked about his well publicized dust-up with young driver Joey Logano late last season — which resulted in a two-race suspension for Kenseth for intentionally wrecking Logano in the Martinsville race — the 2003 Cup champion remained steadfast in his views that the young driver wronged him.
But he was equally as adamant that the two star drivers should be ready to put the bad blood behind them, move on and race respectfully. He did not, however, express any regrets.
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Kenseth said he and Logano spoke at NASCAR’s request during the 2015 Homestead-Miami season finale — Kenseth’s first race back after the suspension — and again later in Las Vegas just in natural, casual interaction.
“NASCAR got us together at Homestead and we talked a little bit, but really didn’t speak about any of this kind of stuff,” Kenseth said. “We spoke briefly in Vegas a couple times.
“Honestly, I’d never had a problem with Joey before that. We’ve always raced well together and I’ve always had a lot of respect for him and felt like he raced me clean before all this stuff went down. Maybe it’s best to put it down and go back to racing each other the way we used to race each other.”
Kenseth, normally considered one of NASCAR’s most mild-mannered, laidback drivers, was not so amicable late last year and his purposeful handling of the situation with Logano both shocked and pleased many.
Feeling Logano intentionally wrecked him at Kansas, Kenseth returned the favor at Martinsville, seriously damaging Logano’s once sure-thing championship fate.
However, Kenseth explained Tuesday, “I’ve got to be honest. I’ve had more fan support in the last three months than I’ve ever had in my life. It’s been unbelievable. And the support is in the garage, fans, even my sponsors, the shop. I’ve had more support than I’ve ever had.
“But this isn’t a popularity contest, it’s about winning. I feel like I have a lot of respect from my organization and my teammates and I feel like I have a lot of respect within the garage. So I’m not going to change who I am, just go out and do my business and some people are going to like it and some people aren’t.”
“I think the way all the circumstances fell, it was something that unfortunately had to be done. If I knew I was going to be suspended I would have figured out how do it differently and be a little sneakier about it to where you didn’t get yourself suspended.”
Kenseth was eager to put the whole situation behind him, but reiterated it was a lesson for both he and Logano. He hoped the young driver understood his stance.
“It depends who you ask (if I did the right thing),” Kenseth said. “Some people will say I did and some will say I didn’t. You know, it’s been an interesting offseason to be honest with you. I’ve gotten more feedback, had more fans approach me this offseason than I have ever in my entire life at just random places you go.
“I haven’t had any guy want to hit me yet.”
Kenseth did concede he’d prefer not to have been in the situation.
“I wish with 10 to go at Kansas he would have figured out a way to pass me without running into me, just like Jimmie (Johnson) did to Brad (Keselowski) the next week at Texas and just like I did to him earlier in the race.
“(At Texas) I wish he’d won and I finished second and he had figured out a way to get around me the right way and we never would have been in that spot. But obviously you can’t go back, so you just put it behind you and move forward.”