SHELBY AMERICAN: Roush team on rebound
Kenseth, Edwards out to regain momentum from start of '09
By JEFF WOLF
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
A year ago, it looked as if another Roush Fenway Racing romp to Victory Lane was imminent when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rolled into Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Matt Kenseth, the 2003 series champion, won the Daytona 500 and followed up by winning in Fontana, Calif., to start the 2009 season. A win at Las Vegas would have marked the first time a Cup driver started a season with three consecutive victories.
His teammate, Carl Edwards, who won a series-best nine Cup races in 2008, was a leading contender to win the championship.
But beginning with the Las Vegas race, neither could find Victory Lane with a GPS. Kenseth missed the Chase and finished 14th in points; Edwards advanced to the Chase for the top 12 cars after 26 races and placed 11th in the final standings with seven top-10 finishes.
No major changes have been made to Edwards' team, but Roush Fenway co-owner Jack Roush wasn't as patient with Kenseth's team.
When practice begins at noon today for Sunday's Shelby American, Kenseth will have his second crew chief in the young season. Roush replaced Drew Blickensderfer after Kenseth finished eighth in the season-opening Daytona 500. New crew chief Todd Parrott, who won a championship with Dale Jarrett in 1999, helped Kenseth finish seventh Sunday in Fontana.
"Unfortunately we've found that as a team they haven't excelled," Roush said in California last week when trying to explain the unexpected switch. "Matt Kenseth is as good a driver as anybody in this business has ever been or will be, and it's my failing that I haven't put him in a situation yet where he can demonstrate that to all."
Kenseth, who won at Las Vegas in 2003 and 2004, said the move is "just kind of a hard one to explain" but that it was needed to boost the team's confidence.
The new combination helped the No. 17 Ford finish best among four Roush Fenway cars last week.
Kenseth's hope is that the track where last year's fall began is where his team's performance can begin to rise.
"I'm eager to get a chance to race at Las Vegas," he said. "Last year we only ran six laps. ... So we weren't able to see how good our car was." An engine failure ended his day.
Edwards also would like to return to the performance level he enjoyed in 2008 when he won at Las Vegas in his No. 99 Ford.
"The real Carl Edwards is the guy who goes out there and gives 100 percent, who thinks about racing and practices racing and prepares myself to be the best racer I can be for my whole adult life," he said before the Daytona 500. "In 2008, that 100 percent looked pretty good. In 2009, it didn't look so hot."
Edwards finished ninth at Daytona and 13th at Fontana.
He has added incentive to make some money after his wife, Kate, gave birth to their first child Wednesday in Columbia, Mo. Edwards is expected to be at the track today for practice and qualifying in Cup and practice for Saturday's Sam's Town 300 Nationwide race.
Kenseth, Edwards out to regain momentum from start of '09
By JEFF WOLF
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
A year ago, it looked as if another Roush Fenway Racing romp to Victory Lane was imminent when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rolled into Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Matt Kenseth, the 2003 series champion, won the Daytona 500 and followed up by winning in Fontana, Calif., to start the 2009 season. A win at Las Vegas would have marked the first time a Cup driver started a season with three consecutive victories.
His teammate, Carl Edwards, who won a series-best nine Cup races in 2008, was a leading contender to win the championship.
But beginning with the Las Vegas race, neither could find Victory Lane with a GPS. Kenseth missed the Chase and finished 14th in points; Edwards advanced to the Chase for the top 12 cars after 26 races and placed 11th in the final standings with seven top-10 finishes.
No major changes have been made to Edwards' team, but Roush Fenway co-owner Jack Roush wasn't as patient with Kenseth's team.
When practice begins at noon today for Sunday's Shelby American, Kenseth will have his second crew chief in the young season. Roush replaced Drew Blickensderfer after Kenseth finished eighth in the season-opening Daytona 500. New crew chief Todd Parrott, who won a championship with Dale Jarrett in 1999, helped Kenseth finish seventh Sunday in Fontana.
"Unfortunately we've found that as a team they haven't excelled," Roush said in California last week when trying to explain the unexpected switch. "Matt Kenseth is as good a driver as anybody in this business has ever been or will be, and it's my failing that I haven't put him in a situation yet where he can demonstrate that to all."
Kenseth, who won at Las Vegas in 2003 and 2004, said the move is "just kind of a hard one to explain" but that it was needed to boost the team's confidence.
The new combination helped the No. 17 Ford finish best among four Roush Fenway cars last week.
Kenseth's hope is that the track where last year's fall began is where his team's performance can begin to rise.
"I'm eager to get a chance to race at Las Vegas," he said. "Last year we only ran six laps. ... So we weren't able to see how good our car was." An engine failure ended his day.
Edwards also would like to return to the performance level he enjoyed in 2008 when he won at Las Vegas in his No. 99 Ford.
"The real Carl Edwards is the guy who goes out there and gives 100 percent, who thinks about racing and practices racing and prepares myself to be the best racer I can be for my whole adult life," he said before the Daytona 500. "In 2008, that 100 percent looked pretty good. In 2009, it didn't look so hot."
Edwards finished ninth at Daytona and 13th at Fontana.
He has added incentive to make some money after his wife, Kate, gave birth to their first child Wednesday in Columbia, Mo. Edwards is expected to be at the track today for practice and qualifying in Cup and practice for Saturday's Sam's Town 300 Nationwide race.
