Maybe it was the success of veterans like Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer fending off the advances of the much-heralded youngsters. Perhaps Jack Roush made an offer too good to refuse. Or maybe after being unceremoniously driven out of the sport in a numbers crunch, he just wanted another opportunity to drive at the top level.
Whatever the reasons, Matt Kenseth is coming back to the Cup Series. An SB Nation report earlier this week coupled with Roush Fenway Racing calling a press conference Wednesday morning turned the NASCAR world upside down and the speculation of Kenseth returning reached a fever pitch.
See Also: Kenseth Returns to Roush | Photos: Kenseth Through the Years
Now we know the details and indeed, it will be Kenseth coming home to team owner Roush in a shared ride with Trevor Bayne behind the wheel of the No. 6 Ford.
It’s no secret the Roush organization has been trying to regain the competitive edge it enjoyed in its glory days when drivers like Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards and Mark Martin had the team perennially in Victory Lane as well as the championship picture. But things have been lean in recent years and the defection of Kenseth and Edwards to Joe Gibbs Racing and the Toyota stable were the powerful salvos in dismantling the former “Rousketeers.”
The team took a step back two years ago streamlining from three cars to two and casting their lot with Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. There was success to be celebrated last year when Stenhouse Jr. scored his first two career Cup wins and brought the organization back to the playoffs.
Unfortunately, that momentum hasn’t carried over into 2018. While Stenhouse has shown flashes of consistency it’s been a big struggle for Bayne, who hasn’t notched a top-10 and has fallen to 26th in the series standings.
So along comes Kenseth to put his skill sharp driving skills to use behind the wheel but maybe more importantly provide input, knowledge and some veteran leadership some believe is lacking at Roush in its current incarnation.
But in this technology driven age of NASCAR can a team really take a page out of its past and succeed in the future?
It’s unfair and unrealistic to think Kenseth will jump into a car that has been dramatically down on both speed and performance this year and bring it to the front of the field. Incremental gains to a top-20 and then top-15 performance on a more consistent basis will more than likely be looked upon as success.
In the short term Kenseth’s return infuses another dose of the veteran presence that has been the storyline for the opening nine races of the year. He made no secret his displeasure for having to leave NASCAR in a situation that became tenser as it progressed when Kenseth was replaced at JGR for a younger and more than likely less expensive model in Erik Jones.
“Sometimes you can’t make your own decisions, so people make them for you,” Kenseth told NBC Sports. “That’s unfortunate, because I wanted to make my own decisions. I felt like in a way I’ve earned that to be able to go out the way other drivers who had similar careers to dictate when your time is up. Anyway, I just came to the realization it’s probably time to go do something different.”
And he did, which was mainly spend time with his family and stay about as far away from the NASCAR world as any recently departed from the sport driver not named Carl Edwards could stay away.
But now he’s back. We’ll see if this time, Kenseth can write the end of his story in his own words.
The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Motor Racing Network.
