Driver: Matt Kenseth -- Cambridge, Wisconsin
Team: No. 17 DeWalt Ford
Points: 4th (-425)
2006: 2nd in Cup Standings
Key Stats: 2 wins, 13 Top-5s, 22 Top-10s
Back in 2008?: Yes
Generally, when a driver changes crew chiefs in the off-season, one would tend to believe that the previous season was a total loss. Especially so when the two people involved are Matt Kenseth and Robbie Reiser.
Kenseth and Reiser have worked together from the get-go of Matt's NASCAR career. Two former rivals on the short-tracks of Wisconsin, they teamed up and headed south for the riches of NASCAR's top series nearly a decade ago and found success quickly. They latched on with Roush Racing and together won the 2003 Winston Cup Championship.
And so, in 2007, it looks like on paper that if Reiser is leaving, something went drastically wrong.
But it didn't.
Instead, Kenseth finished his 2007 campaign quite well in 4th-place after stringing together two wins at California in February and Homestead in November. Along the way, Kenseth didn't struggle to find his trademark consistency. Reiser, leaving to take a higher role in Roush-Fenway's team, kept the car tuned well enough to win potentially score another championship if not for some terrible luck in the Chase.
Kenseth finished the Chase with five-straight Top-5's, but sandwiched between a seventh at Loudon were finishes of 35th (Dover), 35th (Kansas), 26th (Talladega) and 34th (Lowes). At Dover, Kenseth should have walked out with a victory after leading 149 laps until a blown engine sealed his fate with 26 laps to go.
At Kansas, Matt led 49 laps and Talladega saw Kenseth finish 17 laps off the pace after an incident. Finally, Lowes Motor Speedway saw Kenseth led 32 laps before falling out.
Obviously, Kenseth's Chase had a ton of potential if not for some unfortunate luck, and for that reason, despite having a new crew chief in '08, I think you can look at the No. 17 to be at the front a lot. Is is a championship in the picture? I sure think so.
