Kenseth

As far as the result was concerned, no doubt about it, I was disappointed with our 20th-place finish at Daytona! But this was clearly an occasion when our car was a lot better than where we finished, so I actually left Daytona extremely excited!

In fact, that was probably the best No. 17 DeWalt Speedway car that we have ever had at Daytona and if the race had not ended at the halfway point, I would have been surprised if we did not leave with a top-10 finish. I know that might come as a surprise to most of you, especially considering our finish in the twin 125s, but our car was really a lot better than our finishes.

Knowing how strong we were at Daytona, I was really looking forward to the race at Rockingham (N.C.) where I came away with my first win of the season last year! I always enjoy coming to Rockingham because the track provides for some excellent racing in which a lot of strategy elements come into place such as tire management and fuel calculations, not to mention frequent passing and side by side racing! Congratulations to Kurt Busch and the No. 97 Sharpie Roush Racing Ford.

My teammates are off to a stellar start to the 2003 season, but I do not think that we are that far behind. Although our tires really went away from us with ten laps to go, if we had another five laps at The Rock, I would not have been surprised if we would not have been able to catch both Kurt and Dale Jarrett for the win.

Regardless, however, we are off to exactly the start that we wanted! Our entire team has a great deal of confidence now and if we can maintain our early season consistency, I am confident that we will remain in the championship hunt! Now we are off to Las Vegas and as we tested there earlier this year if we can stay out of trouble and avoid any costly mistakes we should be very strong.

Off the track, we had a nice week at home after being away at Speedweeks for the past two weeks. On Wednesday evening, Katie and I attended the Green Foundation's 1st annual Rock Into Racing staring Country music great Neal McCoy at the Wachovia Atrium in Charlotte! Richard Childress, Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart, Jeff and Mark Green, Kyle and Pattie Petty, Randy Lajoie, Ashton Lewis and Tony Raines also attended. Katie and I sat with Michael Rooker of Days of Thunder and my teammate Greg Biffle.

During the live auction, we successfully bid on and purchased an autographed helmet featuring the signatures of every competitor at last week's Daytona 500 including John Travolta, who was the Grand Marshal. I figured it would make a nice addition to our new house on Lake Norman while at the same time the proceeds benefited a great cause, the Victory Junction Gang Camp!

If you get a moment, please go to MattKenseth.Com and let me know what you all think of our new site design. By the way, we have in stock several new 2003 merchandise items including die-casts, t-shirts and hats that available in our online store. I look forward to filling you in on the week's news after Las Vegas.

Yours,
Matt

Matt Kenseth driver diary.
Visit Kenseth's Web site at www.mattkensethstore.com

Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 DeWalt Ford, is providing a diary to ESPN.com throughout the Winston Cup season.