Matt Kenseth not changing approach after bad finish at Charlotte
KANSAS CITY, Kansas – Matt Kenseth is mimicking Kevin Harvick.
OK, he probably isn’t. He’s Matt Kenseth. He can be one of the most stoic drivers in the garage. But Kenseth currently has the same attitude Harvick had in the first round of the Chase.
Harvick went into Dover publicly adamant that his team’s poor finishes in the first two races of the Chase didn’t create any pressure. The team simply had to do what it normally does, he said. He ended up winning at Dover and advancing to the second round of the Chase.
Kenseth finished 42nd at Charlotte, the first race of the second round. As Harvick struggled in the first round with poor finishes, Kenseth had the most points in the round of any Chase driver. Now he’s 12th out of 12 Chase drivers and likely in a win-and-in situation at Kansas and Talladega like Harvick was previously.
“For me it’s really no different, we show up and try to do the best we can every week,” Kenseth said. “Same this week, obviously a win moves you on, but I don’t feel like it’s a must win. It would make it easier if we could win. Just try to do the best we can today to qualify as good as we can and hopefully start up front and get working on the race tomorrow and hopefully be up front Sunday.”
After he overshot his pit stall during pit stops, Kenseth was back in the pack. He made contact with Ryan Newman and slammed into the wall. He hit the wall again after his car was already wounded and his day was over. Kenseth said Friday he has not seen a replay of the crash.
“I didn’t watch it yet to be honest with you, I still haven’t seen it. It was a busy week, we were in Phoenix all week testing and I just didn’t watch it to be honest with you. Ryan and I have always gotten along really well, we’ve always raced each other really well. Since we wrecked, I most likely wasn’t clear so I’m sure at the end of the day it was my fault. I still haven’t watched it or seen it, but neither Ryan or I, either one of us wanted to be in that position, it hurt both of us.”
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
