NASCAR WCUP: DEWALT Racing Ready to Roll at The Rock
Matt Kenseth's Performance Summary at Rockingham: Date: 02/27/00 Start: 6 Finish: 37 Laps: 383/393 Money Won: $31,200 Status: Running Date: 10/22/00 Start: 28 Finish: 25 Laps: 391/393 Money Won: $36,775 Status: Running Date: 02/25/01 Start: 38 Finish: 28 Laps; 389/393 Money Won: $45,200 Status: Running Matt Kenseth's thoughts on Rockingham: Rockingham is a special track for you isn't it? "Yes, the Rock is where I won my first Busch Series race. That win in 1998 is still one of my most memorable moments. I was driving for Reiser Enterprises and we came into the race without a sponsor. When I passed Tony Stewart on the last lap for the win, we finally landed a sponsor for the year. That was also the year DEWALT signed on with our team." You tested at Rockingham a few weeks ago. How did it go? "Honestly, test was average. We worked on race trim and qualifying. Rockingham has not been real kind to us in the Winston Cup Series. It's hard on tires because its in the sand hills of North Carolina." What happened at your last Rockingham race? "A piece of debris got stuck in the grill of the car. Bad luck on our part. There was a piece of a garbage bag or something floating around the track. You would think with a one in 43 chance of it landing on our car that we would be all right. That wasn't the case - it landed square on the grill and the car overheated almost immediately. We lost a bunch of laps trying to cool it down." It's been since June of 2000 where you had two top-10's in a row. Has anything changed in the program? "It's a miracle isn't it? This is a great boost for the DEWALT Team. Well, it hopefully means that we are headed in the right direction with this race program." Crew Chief Robbie Reiser's thoughts on racing at Rockingham: "The past two races have been a big indicator of the potential of this team. We're back in the game now. Man, it took long enough. We are ready for Rockingham this weekend. Watch for our team in the pit crew competition. Last week they were awesome. It was really the "No Mistake Racing" I'm always preaching about to these guys. For the last two weekends, Matt was happy, the team was happy, and it was a lot of fun to be in contention." Spotter Mike Calinoff’s thoughts on Rockingham: "While Rockingham seems like a simple one-mile track, it can be very tricky. As the day goes on the track slicks up and the lines (top and bottom) change in the corners. The bottom groove might be preferred at the beginning of the race because it lends the most grip; but that can change any time during the race. I will have to keep an eye on what's happening -- where the leaders are running their best times -- during the race and let Matt know that information. However, I feel confident that the rest of the spotters will be telling their drivers what Matt is doing! It's one of his best tracks and the DEWALT team is confident that we'll be running up front. NOTES OF INTEREST: Pit Crew Competition... If the performance in the pits this past weekend in Phoenix is any indication of how the DEWALT team will perform in the Union 76/Rockingham World Pit Crew Competition on Saturday, they will be a sure fire contender for the championship. The DEWALT crew picked up over 27 positions on pit road alone during the race in Phoenix, assisting Matt Kenseth to a fourth place finish. The competition for the top-25 teams will start at 4:00pm on Saturday, November 3rd. To Honor America... DEWALT corporate continues to honor America by bearing the American flag on the trunk lid. Guaranteed tough... Today the DEWALT Power Tools line consists of over 200 electric power tools and over 800 accessories including: drills and hammer drills; screwdrivers; circular, chop, miter, table, reciprocating, and jig saws; planers; impact wrenches; die, angle, and bench grinders; shears; nibblers; sanders; laminate trimmers; routers, and plate joiners. This year will be an exciting time for DEWALT as it offers its largest product launch ever - even greater than the initial product line introduction.