In a little under two weeks Matt Kenseth will be back behind the wheel of a NASCAR race car for the first time since 2018.
Kenseth will be part of NASCAR’s return to racing on May 17 at Darlington Raceway when he climbs aboard the No. 42 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing. Since 1999, Kenseth has made 25 starts at the track “The Track Too Tough to Tame” – with two previous teams – and posted 12 top 10s, including a win in 2013 with Joe Gibbs Racing.
“I really like Darlington,” Kenseth said. “It’s always been a real fun, exciting track. I haven’t always done really well there. Sometimes we’ve had success there and sometimes we haven’t, but I really like the track. Watching the film from last year both CGR cars were really fast and performed really well.
“I’m just going to have to go there and work hard and hopefully I can catch on sooner than later.”
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Kenseth’s first two weeks back at the track will be a busy one. The NASCAR Cup Series will compete again at Darlington on May 20 followed by the Coca-Cola 600 on May 24 and a 500 km race on May 27 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
One of the big challenges for Kenseth will be that no practice sessions are slated for the one-day shows that will only see qualifying held for the Coca-Cola 600.
“We’ll just have to make the most of that, be careful to get going, and hopefully catch on as quick as possible,” Kenseth said. “Being able to work with Chad (Johnston) and get the car to kind of drive the way you hope it drives and put forth the best effort you can. Learn from that and go on back there and try to do better the next time.”
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Last Tuesday, NASCAR announced that Kenseth has been granted a waiver for eligibility in the Cup Series playoffs.
“Right now we are in a four race hole and we are starting cold turkey so I think we realize there’s a lot of work to do and I think that’s something to think about down the road after we get running,” Kenseth said. “It’s something I’m not thinking about a lot right now. I’m glad it’s out there and we have that opportunity, but certainly we know we are in a pretty big hole.”
Kenseth will be on “NASCAR Live” on Tuesday night for a conversation with MRN’s Woody Cain. The show airs at 7 p.m. ET at MRN.com and MRN affiliate stations.
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