2014 Driver Reviews: No. 7 Matt Kenseth

After doing exit interviews for Sprint Cup Series drivers in 2013, we’re turning the tables. We want the drivers to sell themselves. So here are the resumés for all full-time Sprint Cup Series drivers in 2014. Then, at the end, we’ll provide a summation of the driver’s season in 150 words or less.

Name: Matt Kenseth

NASCAR Experience: 15 full seasons in the Sprint Cup Series. 31 wins.

Most recent team: Joe Gibbs Racing

Most recent season finish: 7th

2014 accomplishments: 13 top-five finishes, tied for second-most in career history. 22 top 10 finishes, tied for second-most in career history.

Most memorable moment: Well, uh, this was pretty fun to watch for fans, even though this ended up as a fifth-place finish.

Strengths: Consistency, though you can’t seem to say that without visions of 2003 dancing through your head. Has won on every type of track sans-road course in the Sprint Cup Series.

2015 goals: Notice what’s missing from the accomplishments category? Fill that in. Make the Chase again and go for title No. 2.

FTM’s Take: The thing missing from Kenseth’s accomplishments is a win. A year after winning seven races, Kenseth was winless, the fourth time in 15 seasons he’s been winless in the Cup Series. But you can see Kenseth’s evolution as a driver in those four winless seasons. In the first two he was 13th and 11th. In the last two he’s been fifth and seventh.

If Kenseth had won three or four races in 2013, the disappointment lens available for 2014 is simply not as magnified. Hell, he actually had more top-five and top-10 finishes than he did in 2013. Kenseth was still damn good, he just didn’t have winning speed.

Kenseth and crew chief Jason Ratcliff are the only intact duo entering 2015 for Joe Gibbs Racing. They weren’t broken up likely because of the chemistry between the two and simply because there wasn’t as much decline from 2013 as it looks. Kenseth will be back in victory lane in 2015. The question is just how soon it will happen.

Previous reviews: No. 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 9 Carl Edwards, No. 10 Kyle Busch, No. 11 Jimmie Johnson, No. 12 Kurt Busch, No. 13 AJ Allmendinger, No. 14 Greg Biffle, No. 15 Kasey Kahne, No. 16 Aric Almirola, No. 17 Kyle Larson, No. 18, Jamie McMurray, No. 19 Clint Bowyer, No. 20, Austin Dillon, No. 21 Paul Menard, No. 22 Brian Vickers, No. 23 Marcos Ambrose, No. 24 Martin Truex Jr., No. 25 Tony Stewart, No. 26 Casey Mears, No. 27 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 28, Danica Patrick, No. 29, Justin Allgaier, No. 30, David Gilliland, No. 31 Cole Whitt, No. 32 David Ragan, No. 33 Michael Annett, No. 34 Reed Sorenson, No. 35 Alex Bowman