Daytona 500 2000 - In time, this rookie will certainly shine

In time, this rookie will certainly shine
ESPN The Magazine

'99 EARNINGS: $143,561 | POINTS: 49th | WINS: 0 | TOP 5: 1 | TOP 10: 1

MATT KENSETH

What Makes Him Go: Three things are working in Kenseth's favor. He'll be making the jump into Winston Cup complete with his sponsor, DeWalt Tools, and his crew chief, Robbie Reiser. And he's jumping right into the arms of Roush Racing, which will provide him anything he needs. He'll also have help from one of the best, Mark Martin. Unfortunately, pal and foe Dale Earnhardt Jr., arrives with nearly the same advantages.
What Makes Him Slow: Kenseth still hasn't performed in the full glare of the Winston Cup spotlight, which can be jarring to the hottest rookies. It's tough, too, learning how to get into and out of tracks where youve never raced, much less learning how to get around them in a race car. Give him half a season before he feels comfortable in his surroundings.
Key Stat: 37 That's how many cars finished ahead of Kenseth in Miami in the last Busch race of the season, when he crashed just after the start. The 38th place dropped him from second to third in the Busch series standings behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Green, ending his Busch career on a sour note.

During two years of playing second fiddle to Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth regularly endorsed the benefits of having the spotlight shine on someone else: I'm too busy to worry about celebrity, I like being an underdog, blah-blah-blah. Maybe he even meant it once in a while.

But now that he's traded an overworked nine-man crew for the mighty resources of Roush Racing, don't expect to hear much from him about feeling comfortable in the shadows. Kenseth is ready for the highlight shows.

The 27-year-old grew up in a tiny, no-stoplight Wisconsin town, which may explain why he doesn't know how to slow down. At 19, he became the youngest driver to win in ARTGO, a highly competitive Midwest stock series. By 24, he'd finished second in the ASA circuit and caught the eye of Mark Martin.

At about the time that Martin was anointing him a superstar-in-the-making, his old dirt track nemesis, Robbie Reiser, realized that he couldn't be the crew chief and driver of his own Busch car. So he called Kenseth and asked him to take over the hot seat.

Martin has made Kenseth a personal project, paving the way for his entry into Winston Cup under the Roush Racing umbrella. But, as fate would have it, Kenseth has emulated his mentor's close-but-no-champagne failures. While Dale Jr. won back-to-back Busch Series in 1998 and '99, he finished second and third.

Kenseth did win three races in 1998 and four in 1999. Despite the upward trend, he felt himself losing ground.

"I've made more mistakes," he says. "And we've had other problems -- failures and accidents and things like that."

The negative vibe was also felt in his five 1999 Winston Cup appearances, in which he averaged a 26th-place finish.

To be fair, Kenseth's undermanned Busch team was pulling double-duty during his Cup races. In 1998, when he subbed for Bill Elliott in Dover, he ran a masterful race, finishing sixth on the difficult track. At the same Cup race in Dover last season, he improved to fourth.

Still, there are a few tracks he hasn't even been on (Pocono, Indianapolis, Phoenix) and a bunch of short tracks where he has to learn how to handle a heavier Cup car. Fortunately, he says he likes to work on tracks with steep banking.

Kenseth will spend his first few months of this season chasing the right set-ups -- not to mention Little E. Before too long, he'll be in the leaders' rear-view mirrors.

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