rpm.espn.com: Matt Kenseth

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Friday, January 4

Matt Kenseth
By Jerry Bonkowski
ESPN.com

Team: Roush Racing
Car/sponsor/make: No. 17 Dewalt Ford

Kenseth
Kenseth

STATS

Year
Rank
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Money
Best finish

2001 13 0 4 9 $2,205,939 4th, Four times

Career 1 9 26 $4,799,978 1st, Charlotte

2001 recap
The good: Kenseth in 2001 was very similar to his performance in 2000, when he won Rookie of the Year honors. He was 14th in the 2000 standings, and improved one spot to 13th in 2001. He had five top-5 finishes as a rookie, including his first win, and came back with four top-5s in his sophomore season, but was kept from Victory Lane in 2001.

Season highlight: When you don't win all season, you have to look for the next-best positive as a defining mark for the season. With Kenseth, that was the four fourth-place finishes he racked up in 2001. The best part of Kenseth's season came between the fall races in Talladega, Ala., and Rockingham, N.C., a three-race stretch that saw Kenseth compile two of his fourth-place showings (Talladega and Phoenix) and 10th at The Rock. He also ended the season on a high note with yet another fourth-place finish in the rescheduled finale at Loudon, N.H.

The bad: The entire four-team Roush Racing camp struggled through the first half of 2001, but three of the four drivers eventually wound up with respectable finishes: Jeff Burton (10th), Mark Martin (12th) and Kenseth (13th). Only rookie Kurt Busch was farther down the pike, at 27th.

But specifically for Kenseth, qualifying in 2001 was abysmal: he qualified only three times in the top-15, with his highest start just 13th (at Kansas). More than anything, Kenseth has to work on his qualifying or he likely won't improve much more in 2002's standings.

Season lowlight: Without question, Kenseth was a middle-of-the-pack finisher in most of 2001, from 15th to 30th position more often than not. His lowest showing came in the Brickyard 400, when he started 23rd, but finished 42nd, his only finish beyond 37th (Atlanta, spring) all season.

Matt Kenseth
Matt Kenseth showed improvement towards the end of the 2001 season.

Key stat: With all the missed opportunities Kenseth had in 2001, there is one thing that stands out -- his performance in the last part of the season. In those final six races, Kenseth had three fourth-place showings, a 10th-place finish, a 17th and a 27th. It was the first time all season Kenseth showed consistency. If he can carry that into the start of 2002, he could go a long way towards becoming an outstanding performer in only his third season on the circuit.

2002 outlook
What needs to be done: Better qualifying performances is right at the top of Kenseth's list. He also has to become a bit more aggressive in his driving style. Middle-of-the-pack finishes just won't cut it with either Kenseth's sponsor or team owner Jack Roush. Kenseth has to be more aggressive behind the wheel, be willing to take a few more chances and not have so many "easy" finishes. Roush was built on aggressive drivers and aggressive driving. Kenseth needs to be willing to mix it up more, bang fenders and take on an aggressive style more like one of his good friends, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Prediction: Kenseth should finish again in the top-15 in 2002. If, however, he becomes a better qualifier and becomes more aggressive in the upcoming season, higher finishes should follow. If that happens, it makes him a candidate to finish in the top-10.

Your take
Can Kenseth improve on his standings in 2002? Will he be more aggressive on the track and improve his finishes and qualifying? Check out your thoughts.

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