Kenseth

Whenever three of your teammates have engine failures in the same race, you are going to be concerned, but fortunately for the No. 17 DeWalt Ford the bad luck that took us out of championship contention last year and that plagued Kurt Busch, Mark Martin and Jeff Burton on Sunday did not really affect our team at Atlanta as bad as it could have. Not only did three of my teammates have engine problems, but also with 15 laps to go, the power steering in the No. 17 DeWalt Ford started to go away.

I had to do all I could with 10 laps to go in the race just to hang on. I can't remember the last time it was so difficult to turn a car. At the type of speed's we were racing at, at Atlanta, not being able to steer your car effectively is not exactly the most comforting feeling.

But, I'm not complaining! There is nothing to complain about with a fourth place finish! What can I say about my crew; once again they stepped up to the challenge and put us in the position to win for the second consecutive week. We were the fastest on the second to last pit stop and that cut into Jimmie Johnson's lead over us by at least three seconds and even placed me in striking distance of race leader Bobby Labonte and Jeff Gordon.

Our final pit stop was awesome as well, as we came probably within 1 inch of beating Jeff Gordon out for second place, which in hindsight would have been huge as we struggled to get in front of the lapped car of Michael Waltrip on the restart, which just opened up to much distance between me and the leaders with only a few laps to catch them.

Our car was awesome on the longer runs, but it took a little while to get going, so even if I was able to get by Waltrip and battle Gordon and Labonte on the restart, I don't think we would have had the car to overtake both of them for the lead, especially considering the steering problems we had at the end.

It's sweet being first in points! However, there is only one thing I will say about our early season position. Consistency is what will win the championship! We have 32 races left in the season and we have only ran four, so obviously our position in the points does not mean much now, but obviously it is better being first than behind.

I know our team has all of the ingredients for a big-time season this year, so you can count on us continuing to work hard and hopefully also continuing to ride on our early season momentum.

I look forward to checking in next week.

Yours truly,
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.