Joe Gibbs Racing driver is winless in last 51 Sprint Cup races entering Bristol
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BRISTOL, Tenn. – The driver that won the most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races two years ago hasn’t been back to Victory Lane since, and that’s all you need to know about how difficult it is to win races today.
Fourteen drivers have won at least one points race since Matt Kenseth reeled off back-to-back wins to open the 2013 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. There have been first-time winners and those that continue to make return visits to Victory Lane.
Kenseth, meanwhile, has been close – he’s finished second-best four times since his last win. But the checkered flags have thus far waved over someone else.
There have been changes in the Joe Gibbs Racing organization, the biggest of which was the addition of a fourth team with driver Carl Edwards in the offseason and a crew chief shakeup that affected teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.
Jason Ratcliff, crew chief for Kenseth, remains atop the pit box of the No. 20 Toyota team. Why mess with success, right?
“Everything is just so tied together,” Kenseth said Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes and Stand Up to Cancer (FOX, 1 p.m. ET). “I feel like all the drivers have gotten a lot smarter and there is just so much more information available to all of us … where you can study where drivers are beating you, at least if they’re in the same stable.
“There are just so many tools to get everybody so much closer together. If you get off by just a little bit … it’s tough to beat those guys and sometimes it’s hard to figure out why you’re off by that little bit.”
Busch has been sidelined since this year’s opening race weekend, left to Monday-morning quarterback from home while recovering from injuries sustained at Daytona. In his absence, David Ragan has stepped in with the No. 18 team. Hamlin, meanwhile, has been called up to fill in for the group’s XFINITY effort, limiting his post-practice debriefs with teammates.
That might not seem like a big deal on the outside but Kenseth admitted it had had an impact.
Hamlin missed four races in ’13 after suffering a back injury early in the season. Busch’s return remains an unknown.
“A lot of times after practice it will just be me and David and Carl, so it’s me and two guys that weren’t there last year,” Kenseth said, “which makes it a little bit more difficult.”
On the bright side, Kenseth won’t be chasing anyone when Sunday’s race gets underway – on Friday he qualified on the pole. He’s won here before, from the No. 1 starting spot in ’05 as well as wins in 2006 and 2013, and he finished third in last year’s August night race.
Auto Club Speedway and Martinsville Speedway showed promise this year, he said, “but still we haven’t had the consistency. …
“I don’t know … a couple of years ago I felt like we were a threat everywhere we went. I just don’t know when we show up week to week now exactly what to expect. You go there hoping for the best, hoping your car is driving good and having what you need to compete, but you really don’t know until you get there and get on track, get through that first practice or so.”
The dry spell is a concern, but Kenseth’s willing to ride it out. Although he turned 43 earlier this year, retirement isn’t on his radar. Of a more immediate concern is helping improve the overall performance of JGR, and the No. 20 team in particular.
“Obviously as a company we have to get running better,” he said. “I don’t feel like my teammates are running first, second and third and I’m running 18th. I feel like we have to get all of us running better. …
“I have to be better and … I know that and I work at getting better every week. I have since the first day I came into this sport; I realize how hard it is and you have to keep working hard to stay on top of your game.”
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