Matt Kenseth

Matt Kenseth enjoyed a bounce-back season in 2011, winning three Sprint Cup races after going winless in 2010. Kenseth made the Chase For The Sprint Cup for the seventh time and finished fourth in the final standings. The 2003 Cup champion has finished fifth or better in points five times in 12 full seasons at the Cup level.

Kenseth’s three wins – at Texas, Dover and Charlotte – gave him 21 Cup wins in his career.

A Wisconsin native who grew up on the short tracks of the Midwest, Kenseth burst onto the NASCAR scene in 1998, when he won three races and finished second in the Nationwide Series. He made his Cup debut that season, driving for Bill Elliott at Dover where he finished sixth.

Two years later, Kenseth jumped to the Cup series with Roush Fenway Racing and beat Dale Earnhardt Jr. for Cup Series rookie of the year honors. Kenseth scored his first career victory that year, winning the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He finished 14th in points in his rookie campaign.

Kenseth’s breakout season came in 2002, when he won five races and finished eighth in points. The following season, with long-time crew chief Robbie Reiser at the helm of his No. 17 team, he won just one race but captured the 2003 Cup Series championship to become the last champion under NASCAR’s old season-long championship format.

Kenseth made the inaugural Chase in 2004, finishing eighth in the final standings. His best performance in the 10-race Chase came in 2006, when he finished second to Jimmie Johnson in the final standings after winning four races during the regular season.

Kenseth won the sport’s biggest race in 2009, when he captured the rain-shortened Daytona 500, and followed that up with a victory at Auto Club Speedway the following week

Having driven for Roush Fenway racing since he moved up to Cup, Kenseth also has 26 career Nationwide Series wins.