Matt Kenseth

Matt Kenseth
Kenseth in 2009
Born	Matthew Roy Kenseth (1972-03-10) March 10, 1972 Cambridge, Wisconsin
Achievements	2003 Winston Cup Series Champion 2004 IROC Champion 2009, 2012 Daytona 500 Winner 2000 Coca-Cola 600 Winner 2013 Bojangles' Southern 500 winner 2004 Sprint All Star Race Winner 2012, 2014 Budweiser Duel Winner 2015 Sprint Unlimited Winner
Awards	2000 Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Cup Series career
651 races run over 20 years
Best finish	1st (2003)
First race	1998 MBNA Gold 400 (Dover)
Last race	2017 Ford EcoBoost 400 (Homestead)
First win	2000 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)
Last win	2017 Can-Am 500 (Phoenix)
Wins Top tens Poles 39 327 20
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
288 races run over 19 years
2015 position	89th
Best finish	2nd (1998)
First race	1996 Red Dog 300 (Charlotte)
Last race	2015 Kansas Lottery 300 (Kansas)
First win	1998 GM Goodwrench Service Plus 200 (Rockingham)
Last win	2014 Ford EcoBoost 300 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles 29 202 17
NASCAR Pinty's Series career
1 race run over 1 year
Best finish	67th (2002)
First race	2002 Canada Day Shootout (Cayuga)
First win	2002 Canada Day Shootout (Cayuga)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 1 0
Statistics current as of November 19, 2017.

Matthew Roy "Matt" Kenseth (born March 10, 1972) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He retired from full-time racing for the 2018 season after a career racing for Roush Fenway Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing.

Kenseth started racing on several short tracks in Wisconsin and won track championships at Madison International Speedway, Slinger Super Speedway and Wisconsin International Raceway. He moved to the ARTGO, American Speed Association, and Hooters Late Model touring series before getting a full-time ride in the NASCAR Busch Series (now Xfinity Series) for his former Wisconsin short track rival Robbie Reiser. After finishing second and third in the standings, he moved up in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series). He won the series' Rookie of the Year title in 2000 and the championship in 2003. The International Race of Champions invited Kenseth to race in their 2004 season as the reigning champion and he won the season championship. In 2009, he won a rain-shortened Daytona 500 and repeated as Daytona 500 winner in 2012. He is the father of Ross Kenseth.

Early life and career

Kenseth's Sportsman car from Columbus 151 Speedway

Kenseth was born in Cambridge, Wisconsin. He made an agreement with his father, Roy, that Roy should buy a car and race, and Matt would work on the car until he was old enough to race. Kenseth began stock car racing in 1988 at the age of 16 at Madison International Speedway. "My dad bought a car when I was 13 and raced it at Madison," Kenseth said. "Neither of us knew much and it was a learning experience," He continued to race in 1988 and 1989. "My first car – what might be considered a sportsman – was a 1981 Camaro that Todd Kropf had driven to championships at Madison and Columbus 151 Speedway. On the third night out I won a feature. I ran 15 features in 1983 and won two of them." "The first night out in the Kropf car Matt won a heat race," said Kenseth's father Roy. "The third night he won the feature by holding off two of the best drivers at the track, Pete Moore and Dave Phillips, for 20 laps. Matt was smooth. I knew then he was going to be a racer." He ran for the points title on Saturday nights at Wisconsin Dells in 1989. He finished second in points and won eight features. On Friday nights, he ran about half of the races at Golden Sands Speedway and half at Columbus 151 Speedway. In 1990, he bought a late model from Rich Bickle. In the season-opening race at Slinger Super Speedway, Kenseth inherited the lead and won his only race of the season when track champion Tony Strupp had a flat tire. He finished sixth in season points and won the track's rookie of the year award. Kenseth entered fifteen ARTGO events that season and raced in 40 features that year. After graduating from Cambridge High School that summer, Kenseth worked for four years selling and shipping parts for Left-hander Chassis, a late model racecar chassis manufacturer just south of Wisconsin in Illinois. In 1991 he won the ARTGO race at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway to become the youngest winner in the series' history. He passed Joe Shear and Steve Holzhausen, and held off Steve and Tom Carlson for the win. 1992 was a difficult year for Kenseth. He won three races and blew up more engines than he could count. He was ready to quit racing after the season. "I felt we were at a standstill", he said. "I wasn't gaining. My dad and I had some major discussions at the end of the year. We had to find the dollars for a good program or I told him I would rather not race." Kipley Performance loaned a motor to Kenseth for the season-final race at La Crosse and the team ran better. Kenseth built a new car for 1993 using a Kipley engine. He used the car at Madison to win eight features and finished second in the points. Mike Butz offered Kenseth the chance to race his late model, and it took some time for the combination to stop struggling before they started winning features. At the end of the season, they won the final short track series race at Madison, La Crosse, and I-70 Speedway.

The 1994 and 1995 seasons established Kenseth as a short track star. Kenseth made a name for himself while driving at several Wisconsin tracks, beating nationally known drivers such as Dick Trickle and Robbie Reiser. He raced 60 times in three different cars in 1994, winning track championships at both Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR) on Thursday nights and Madison on Friday nights. Kenseth competed against Reiser at Madison, and won 12 of 17 features at the track. He won the 1994 Slinger Nationals at Slinger Super Speedway. In 1995, he repeated with back-to-back championships at Madison and WIR, plus he won the Red, White, and Blue state championship series at WIR on three Saturday nights. Butz's wife Patty Butz said "We knew by 1995 that Matt had too much talent to be with us for very long."

Kenseth decided to move across the country in 1996 to the Southern United States to race for engine builder Carl Wegner in the Hooters Series Late Model championship. The plan was to run the Hooters Series, five NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races, and five Busch Series (now Nationwide Series) before moving full-time into the Busch Series in 1997. He finished third in the Hooters Series, nearly winning the series championship as a rookie. In 1996, Kenseth made his Busch Series debut at the spring race at Lowe's Motor Speedway for Wegner, finishing 22nd after starting 30th in a car rented from Bobby Dotter. Kenseth was disappointed because they were unable to attract major sponsorship. "It was just like 1992", Kenseth said. "Plans just didn't work. I thought things would be different. Personally, I had moved and was adjusting to being a thousand miles from home." At the end of the season, the Wegner/Kenseth team closed, and Kenseth found a ride for Gerry Gunderman's American Speed Association team, who was also Alan Kulwicki's last shop in Wisconsin before moving to NASCAR. The team raced together for two races in 1997 before Kenseth received a telephone call from a former competitor.

Xfinity Series

Busch car for Kenseth's first victory

In 1997, racer Tim Bender was injured, and Bender's crew chief/car owner Robbie Reiser hired his former competitor and rival Kenseth to race for him despite having only one Busch start. Reiser said "Matt and I used to have some fierce races against each other. I needed someone who understood race cars the way I understood them. I knew he could drive and he could talk to me in a manner I could understand." Kenseth qualified third for the new team's first race. He was racing in third place in the final laps when he spun and finished eleventh. Kenseth qualified in 20th place for the next race at Talladega in his second time at a track big enough to have a significant draft. He passed thirteen cars to finish seventh. Kenseth had two Top 5 finishes during the partial season. The following year he raced full-time all season. He won his first Busch Series race on February 22, 1998, when he nudged leader Tony Stewart's car entering the final turn of the final lap, culmulating in a second- and third-place finishes in the Busch points. Kenseth drove the No. 17 Chevy.

2007 Busch Series car

Kenseth won the last two races of the Busch season in 2006 driving the No. 17 Ford Fusion, at Phoenix and Homestead.

In 2007, Kenseth planned to run 23 Busch race. Kenseth won the Stater Brothers 300 at California Speedway in February and the O'Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway in April.

Kenseth broke an 18 race winless streak as he won the 2008 Nicorette 300 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kenseth's 23rd career series victory came after the series was renamed the Nationwide Series. On lap 104 at the 2009 Aaron 312 on April 25, Kenseth took a wild ride flipping over 3.5 times, sliding on his roof, then completed a fourth flip. The car burst into flames, and Kenseth walked away.

Kenseth won the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 at Darlington Raceway in 2009. Kenseth led only the last four laps of the race – three of them under caution – after Busch had to pull into the pits due to a flat right-rear tire during the penultimate caution period and just as the race was about to get into a green-white-checkered finish.

On May 28, 2011 Kenseth won the Top Gear 300 at Charlotte. Kenseth, filling in for Trevor Bayne, passed Roush Fenway teammate Carl Edwards with two laps to go to win his only Nationwide Start of the 2011 season.

In 2013, Kenseth returned to the Nationwide Series for 16 races driving Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 18 Toyota. Kenseth finished with 7 top-five and 14 top-ten finishes. He won the summer race in Daytona and the fall race in Kansas.

In 2014, Kenseth drove in 19 races in the No. 20, with 10 top-five and 15 top-ten finishes. He won the last race of the year at Homestead.

Monster Energy Cup Series

1998–1999

Kenseth races Kenny Irwin, Jr. in his debut race at Dover

Kenseth's first Winston Cup series race attempt came at Talladega in May 1998. Jack Roush of Roush Racing was interested in hiring Kenseth and the rest of the Reiser team, so he had Kenseth attempt Talladega in the No. 60 Ford. However this was a sixth entry for Roush in the race, and did not have a powerful enough engine to make the field.

Kenseth's next attempt was at Dover in 1998, when he filled in for Bill Elliott in his No. 94 Ford for Elliott-Marino Racing. Elliott was attending his father's funeral on the day of the race. He finished sixth, the third best debut of any driver. The last driver before Kenseth to debut with a top-ten finish had been Rusty Wallace in 1980 with a second-place finish in Atlanta.

Kenseth and the No. 17 Reiser Racing team were hired for several Cup Series races in 1999 by Roush Racing.

2000–02

In 2000, Roush hired the No. 17 team full-time for Cup Series racing. Kenseth beat out Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to win the Raybestos Rookie of the Year. He won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, and is the only rookie to win the famed 600 mile event. He went on to finish 14th in points with four Top 5s and eleven Top 10's.

In 2001, Kenseth finished 13th in points with four Top 5s and nine Top 10 finishes. Robbie Reiser and Kenseth's pit crew won the Unocal 76 World Pit Crew Competition.

In 2002, Kenseth won the most races—five total—and one pole, but inconsistency caused him to finish 8th in the final points. His wins came at Rockingham, Texas, Michigan, Richmond, and Phoenix. Kenseth's pit crew won a second Unocal 76 World Pit Crew Competition.

2003

The car that Kenseth drove in 2004

In 2003, he dominated in the points standings and leading the last 33 of 36 races and became the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup champion, the last driver to ever hold that title. Kenseth also had a series best twenty-five Top 10 finishes in the 2003 season.

• 2003 began with a 20th-place finish in the Daytona 500, but quickly sped to the front. Fresh off his only win of the season at Las Vegas, Kenseth took the point standings lead after a 4th-place finish at Atlanta in the season’s fourth week. He never relinquished the top spot, remaining No. 1 for 33 consecutive weeks, and setting a new modern-era record for most weeks at No. 1. The previous mark was 30 weeks, set by Dale Earnhardt during his first title season of 1980.
• With one race remaining, he clinched the 2003 series crown with a 4th-place finish at Rockingham on Nov. 9, in the season’s penultimate event. He finished with a 90-point margin over runner-up Jimmie Johnson.
• He displayed amazing consistency during his title run, spending 35 of 36 weeks in the NASCAR Top 10. Only week outside that elite group came after a 20th-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500. He finished with one win, eleven Top 5's, and a series-high twenty-five Top 10 finishes.
• He became the fifth different champion in five years, and the third consecutive former Raybestos Rookie of the Year to win the series title.

At Charlotte, Kenseth won his second pole of the year. He was battling a loose/tight car. On a late caution, Kenseth took a gamble with a few other drivers and stayed out on the track during the last caution of the race. It paid off and he finished in 4th place.

Championship controversy

After the 2003 season, Kenseth's championship became a source of controversy and criticism. Critics of the Sprint Cup points system, most notably Roger Penske, pointed out the flaw in having a driver who won only one race out of 36 winning a championship. Additionally, the fact that Kenseth led the points standings for 33 weeks despite only having the one victory, as well as already having clinched the Winston Cup title with one week to go in the season (rendering the final race in essence a non-event) led to discussions on how to prevent Kenseth's feat from happening again (by comparison, in 2000, under the same points system, Bobby Labonte had won the Winston Cup championship after leading in points for 25 races, but unlike Kenseth, Labonte also won four races in his championship year). Kenseth finished that year with 11 top-five finishes and 25 top-ten finishes.

As a result, 2004 saw the implementation of a new points and playoffs system titled "The Chase for the Nextel Cup" after Winston was replaced as primary sponsor of NASCAR's top series by Nextel Communications. In essence, the system created a 10 race playoff, with only the top-ten drivers in points after the first 26 races competing for the championship. Moreover, the system placed an emphasis, and a points premium, on wins. As a result, the term "The Matt Kenseth Rule" was coined to describe NASCAR's adoption of the current points system. NASCAR acknowledged that the 2003 championship outcome was not the driving factor in establishment of The Chase, as it had been researching methods to adjust the points system to put more emphasis on winning races since 2000. However, the coincidence of the commencement of the new format in 2004 and Kenseth's 2003 championship linked the issues, and were even referred to by NASCAR officials in the interviews and press releases following the announcement of the new format.

2004–05

In 2004, Kenseth won the International Race of Champions (IROC) championship. He qualified for the inaugural Nextel Cup, finished 8th in the final NASCAR point standings. Kenseth finished with two wins, those coming back-to-back early in the year at Rockingham and Las Vegas. His win in the Subway 400 at Rockingham was a photo finish with eventual Raybestos Rookie of the Year Kasey Kahne. He also won the All-Star Race. Began the 10-race Chase in 5th place and finished 8th, and is of only four drivers to be ranked in the Top 10 all season.

Kenseth started the 2005 season with relatively poor finishes but had a strong mid-season run. He rose from the 24th place in championship points after fourteen races to 8th after twenty six races, and he qualified for the Chase for the Cup. He finished 7th in the final points standings with one win coming at Bristol. Kenseth made his 200th career start. His totals after his first 200 starts were: 1 championship, 10 wins, forty Top 5's, eighty-five Top 10's, 1 pole position, and more than $28.5 million earnings. He also led a career high 1,001 laps.

2006–10

Kenseth's car at a Detroit Lions practice

Kenseth began the 2006 season by leading early in the Daytona 500 before spinning his car after contact with Tony Stewart. He fell two laps down to the leaders, but rallied back to a 15th-place finish. He won the following race at California Speedway, and became the points leader after the eighth race at Phoenix. In the Dover spring race, he won his second race of the season after recovering from the sixth position with sixty laps to reclaim the lead from Jamie McMurray on lap 397. With twelve races remaining in the season, Kenseth won the Sharpie 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway, securing his position in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. He finished the year with winnings of $9,524,966, his take for second place in the Driver's Championship. During the season, he was either first or second in points for 27 of the 36 weeks, and led 1,132 laps, which ranked second among all drivers.

In the second race of the 2007 season, Kenseth won the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway. After Jeff Gordon wrecked out of the Coca-Cola 600, Kenseth was left as the only driver to complete every lap of the season until he was wrecked out of the Citizens Bank 400 at Michigan where Ryan Newman was trying to get one of his 3 laps back. The wreck also ended Kenseth's streak of 13 consecutive Top 15's this season. At Watkins Glen, Kenseth while running 7th during a red flag period, saw a shirtless fan run up to his car and request an autograph to his white baseball cap. Kenseth politely declined and security escorted the fan out of the track. Kenseth later expressed regret for not signing the cap.

Kenseth won the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 18, 2007. The race was the final event under series title sponsor Nextel, and the final race using the templates originally based on the 1964 Holman Moody Ford Fairlane template. Kenseth finished 4th in series points, and as a result, finished in the Top 10 in the standings for six consecutive seasons, tied with Jimmie Johnson for the most. He earned $6,485,630 in winnings. He also won an additional $100,000 dollars from his sponsor, Safeway.

Kenseth's car in Manhattan

In 2008, Kenseth was winless, but finished 11th in the points standing. His best finish was second at the fall race at Dover. He had five Top 10 finishes during the Chase. This ended his streak of winning at least one race in six consecutive seasons and finishing in the Top 10 in the standings in six consecutive seasons.

Kenseth started toward the back for the Daytona 500 and worked his way to the lead and led 2 laps, but soon after his own teammate, David Ragan, squeezed him into the wall, knocking both out of contention and resulting in a finish of 36th.

In the Goody's Cool Orange 500, Kenseth started 28th but finished 31st. He was held a lap for pitting outside of his box early, but later was spun out by David Gilliland and was held for 2 laps for intentionally wrecking him back. Despite that, Gilliland finished 24th.

Kenseth won the rain shortened 2009 Daytona 500, passing Elliott Sadler mere moments before the caution came out on lap 146 as the result of an accident on the backstretch between Aric Almirola and Sam Hornish, Jr. The red flag was later waved and subsequent end of the race, 152 laps in, followed, giving Kenseth his first Daytona 500 victory, and the first Daytona 500 victory for his owner Jack Roush after 20 years as a car owner. He led only 1 green flag lap (of 7 laps led), after starting the race at the rear of the field. It was Kenseth's tenth attempt at "The Great American Race".

Kenseth won the second race of the season, the (Auto Club 500), to become the fourth driver in NASCAR history to follow up a win at the Daytona 500 with another win the following race. Kenseth's bids for a third straight victory went south after engine failure at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He finished 43rd(last place).

Kenseth flipped his car during the April Nationwide Series race at Talladega. Kenseth won in the Nationwide series for his 24th win at Darlington. He also won the pole at Darlington in the Sprint Cup Series, setting a new track record in the process.

After finishing 25th at the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond, Kenseth was bumped out of the Chase by Brian Vickers. This left Jimmie Johnson as the only driver to have made the Chase every time since its inception in 2004.

In 2010, following the Daytona 500, Drew Blickenderfer was released from his duties as crew chief of the No. 17 team. Todd Parrott was announced as his replacement. Later in the year, Parrott was replaced by Jimmy Fennig.

2011–12

Kenseth at 2012 Kobalt Tools 400

During the third race of the 2011 season, Kenseth captured his fifth pole of his career by setting a new track record at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. A few races later, Kenseth snapped a 76-race winless streak at Texas Motor Speedway by winning the race on April 9, 2011. Kenseth also won the FedEx 400 benefitting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway. On a late caution, Kenseth and crew chief Jimmy Fennig called an audible in the pits and decided to go with two tires instead of four. That proved to be all the difference as Kenseth won for the second time in 5 races. Once he made the Chase for the Sprint Cup, he won the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway for his third win of the season. Kenseth's second championship hopes went south after several altercations with Brian Vickers.

Kenseth's 2012 season started with him winning his second Daytona 500. On June 26, 2012, it was announced that Kenseth would leave Roush Fenway Racing after the 2012 season. Kenseth did not discuss the details of where he would be racing in 2013 and beyond. When he was asked by reporters if he would give them a hint as to what team he would be with after the 2012 season, where he was in contention for his second championship, Kenseth wryly responded, "No." On August 25, while leading the 2012 Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol on lap 332, Kenseth collided with Tony Stewart when neither driver would lift in the entrance to Turn 1. Stewart threw his helmet at Kenseth's car as he left pit road. Kenseth and Stewart had overcome being a lap down earlier in the race before the crash took them out of contention for a win at Bristol.

On October 7, Kenseth won his second race of the year, winning the fall race at Talladega as a crash unfolded behind him. He led the second-most laps of the race with 33.

On October 21, Kenseth won his third race of the year and second during the 2012 Chase at a freshly paved Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. The repaving created a slick track that brought out a record 14 cautions for 66 laps during the Hollywood Casino 400 Sprint Cup race. This was Kenseth's first win at the Kansas track and the 24th of his career, and his last with Roush Fenway Racing.

2013

Kenseth's No. 20 Toyota on pit road ahead of Kyle Busch during the 2013 STP Gas Booster 500

On September 4, 2012, it was officially announced that Kenseth would be joining Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, driving the No. 20 Toyota, replacing Joey Logano with the team.

In the 2013 Daytona 500, Kenseth had a strong car, leading the most laps at 86. However, on lap 149, his day ended with engine failure. He finished 37th.

At Las Vegas, Kenseth won his first race in the No. 20 and became the third driver after Kyle Busch and Cale Yarborough to win on their birthday after holding off Kasey Kahne.

At Kansas, Kenseth won the pole, led the most laps, and won the race after holding off another furious charge from Kasey Kahne. However, afterwards, he was penalized 50 points after his engine failed post-race inspection. One of the eight connector rods was 3 grams under the legal limit. His pole award was revoked and his win no longer counted towards the Chase points. Crew chief Jason Ratcliff was penalized $200,000.00 and suspended for one race. Car owner Joe Gibbs would not receive any owner points for 6 races. The engine builder, Toyota, would not receive any manufacturer points for 5 races. Joe Gibbs appealed the penalties.

Two weeks later, car owner Joe Gibbs met with the appeals board. The appeals board, feeling that the penalties were too harsh because Kenseth won the race, reversed a variety of penalties. Kenseth was awarded 38 Chase points back, leaving his penalty at just 12 points. He moved up 7 spots to 4th place. Kenseth's pole award and win were reinstated, giving him 2 poles and 2 official wins. Gibbs' owner points suspension was lowered to 1 race, but the $200,000.00 fine stood, and crew chief Jason Ratcliff was suspended for one race. The Toyota manufacturer's points suspension was increased to 7 races.

At Darlington for the Southern 500, Kenseth passed his teammate Kyle Busch with ten laps remaining to win his third race of the season and his first Sprint Cup Series win at the track.

At Kentucky, Kenseth took the lead after Johnson spun out, and held off Jamie McMurray to take his fourth win of the season.

After struggling a few weeks, Kenseth had better success when the series returned to Bristol. He held off Kasey Kahne for a third time to win his fifth race of the year.

With five wins in the regular season, Kenseth was the top seed in the Chase. He opened by holding off Kyle Busch to win the opening two Chase races at Chicagoland and at Loudon, his first wins on both of those tracks. With the win at Loudon, Kenseth joined Richard Petty as the only two drivers to win in their 500th race start. It also moved him into 22nd place, passing Rex White, on the all-time wins list.

Going into the last race of the season at Homestead, only three drivers could win the Chase. Kenseth trailed Jimmie Johnson by 28 points and led Kevin Harvick by 5 points for second. Kenseth won the pole. Harvick started in 6th and Johnson in 7th positions. At the start, Kenseth had the dominate car. He led a race high 144 laps to get the bonus point. The only trouble that Kenseth had was on the restart after a caution with 74 laps remaining. He was behind Jeff Gordon, who spun his tires causing an accordion effect. Cars scattered everywhere. Kenseth and Johnson bumped each other causing Kenseth to drop to 12th and Johnson down to 26th. Kenseth made his way back up to finish in 2nd behind his teammate Denny Hamlin. Johnson finished in 9th place to win the 2013 championship, beating Kenseth by 19 points. Kenseth finished second in the final points standings also.

With seven wins, Kenseth had given the No. 20 more wins in a single season than the car ever had in an individual season being driven by Tony Stewart or Joey Logano. It was also a career best for Kenseth, outdoing his five race wins in 2002. But had the current format been introduced, Kenseth would've lost his 2003 title to Jimmie Johnson but would end up being 2013 champion beating Johnson.

2014

Kenseth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

At Daytona, for the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, in the first of two Budweiser Duels, Kenseth held off Kevin Harvick (whose race was later disqualified) and Kasey Kahne for the win in a three-wide finish. With the win, he started in the 3rd position in the Daytona 500. Kenseth did not lead a lap, but finished in 6th position.

With the new Chase format, Kenseth won no races, but still advances. His best finish was a 2nd place at Atlanta. He led all drivers that had no wins in points.

Still with no wins, Kenseth made it past the first two elimination rounds.

During the second round at Charlotte, after a caution with 70 laps remaining, Brad Keselowski restarted 2nd and Kenseth did so 4th. Kenseth forced a three-wide situation, trying to pass Keselowski on the outside. Keselowski moved up to cause Kenseth to tap Keselowski's right-rear bumper which caused Kenseth to hit the wall. Kenseth fell back to 18th and went a lap down due to the damage he received. He made the lap back with being the lucky dog after another caution. While under caution, Kenseth slammed into Keselowski's right-front and damaged Keselowski's car due to being upset over their previous contact. On a restart with 2 laps remaining, Keselowski gave Kenseth's teammate, Denny Hamlin a push to get him going. Kenseth finished 19th and Keselowski did 16th. After the race, Hamlin brake-checked Keselowski, causing contact. Keselowski drove around Hamlin and went after Kenseth while he was entering pit road. Kenseth turned a little causing Keselowski to miss doing major damage to Kenseth's car. Keselowski hit Kenseth's door slightly trying to get retaliation for their earlier incident. After making contact with Kenseth, Keselowski's car unintentional bumped Tony Stewart. Stewart then put his car in reverse and rammed Keselowski's car hard. After getting out of the cars, Hamlin tried to go after Keselowski, but was held back. Keselowski then walked away between two haulers when Kenseth charged between the haulers and physically attacked Keselowski. Keselowski's crew chief Paul Wolfe grabbed Kenseth to restrain him. When Kenseth's crew came over they pulled Wolfe off to restrain him and Kenseth. Kenseth's mechanic, Jesse Sanders, and crew chief, Jason Ratcliff, were called to the NASCAR hauler. Kenseth and Hamlin both were not penalized for the incident since no punches were thrown. Keselowski and Stewart were penalized by NASCAR because of the contact that they made on pit road. Both were fined and placed on probation for this incident.

The next week at Talladega, Kenseth tied a season's best finish of 2nd and moved on to the eliminator round while his current rival Brad Keselowski won the race.

In the third and last round of elimination, eight drivers remain.

At Martinsville, Kenseth came into a turn going very fast, causing his car to wheel-hop. He hit Kevin Harvick hard, who's still in the Chase, causing Harvick to spin. Harvick hit the wall hard and fell 42 laps back. After hitting Harvick, a sideways Kenseth was bumped by Tony Stewart and straightened Kenseth out of his spin with no more damage. Laps later, after Harvick had returned to the track, he saw Kenseth coming behind him. Harvick, purposely checked-up trying to smash up Kenseth's radiator. Kenseth saw what Harvick was doing and checked-up enough to avoid serious damage. Kenseth still finished in 6th place and is in 4th place of the Chase. Harvick finished in 33rd putting Kenseth 28 points down and swore that if this race is the cause of him not making it further into the Chase, that he was going to cause Kenseth not to make it either.

At Texas, Kenseth won his second pole of the year, but finished 25th.

At Phoenix, Kenseth started 5th. He led no laps and finished 3rd and was eliminated from the Chase, trailing 4th place by three points.

At Homestead, the last race of the season, Kenseth still led no laps and finished 6th. He finished 7th place in the standings.

2015

Kenseth ended a 51-race winless streak at the Food City 500.

Kenseth started the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season by winning the Sprint Unlimited for the first time in his career, the first win by the newly redesigned 2015 Camry. He started the race in 16th, led 21 laps and held off Martin Truex Jr. for the victory. During the Daytona 500 he started and finished thirty-fifth after being involved in an accident on lap 41. Over the next few weeks, he had his ups and downs. Kenseth won the pole position and returned to victory lane at Bristol to end a 51-race winless streak. Several races later, Kenseth won his second pole of the year in the Coca-Cola 600. On a late caution, Kenseth refused to pit during the final caution of the race, which helped him record a fourth-place finish. In the Toyota/Save Mart 350, Kenseth qualified third, his best starting position on a road course.

At Pocono Raceway, Kenseth qualified seventh and took the lead on the final lap after several drivers ran out of fuel to win his first race at the track and his second win of the season. He qualified twenty-sixth and finished in fourth at Watkins Glen International, his first top-five finish at the track. In the Pure Michigan 400, Kenseth won his third pole and third race of the year. The win moved him to twentieth on the all-time wins list, passing Dale Jarrett, Fireball Roberts and Kyle Busch with 34 career wins. During the final race of the regular season, Kenseth started second and led 352 of 400 laps to win his fourth race of the season. The win tied Kenseth with Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson for the most wins entering the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

In the first race of the Chase at Chicago, Kenseth started 12th. He led one lap to receive a bonus point with a fifth-place finish. During the second race of the Chase at New Hampshire, race leader Kevin Harvick ran out of fuel with 3 laps to go which allowed Kenseth to take the lead. He would go on to win his fifth race of the year and advances to the second round of the Chase. In the next race at Dover, because of rain, Kenseth was given the pole position for being the points leader. Kenseth led twenty-five laps and finished seventh to retain the points lead. During the Hollywood Casino 400, he led the most laps, but with five laps to go he was unable to keep Joey Logano behind him. Logano purposely made contact with Kenseth, causing him to spin out, knocking him out of a position in the Eliminator Round, that Logano was already qualified for. At Talladega Superspeedway, Kenseth started in the second row of the grid. However, on the final green-white-checkered finish Kenseth crashed and finished twenty-sixth, prompting his elimination in the Contender Round.

Feud with Joey Logano

At Martinsville, Kenseth was penalized with a harsh suspension after a controversial wreck during the race.

Kenseth, who spent most of the race in the top ten, was involved in a crash, where Brad Keselowski hit him after breaking a tie rod midway through the race causing Kenseth to go down 9 laps for repairs; Kenseth came back on to the track and intentionally wrecked race leader Logano in retaliation for Logano spinning him out of the lead two weeks earlier at Kansas. The fans went wild with applause and cheers in reaction. Kenseth was immediately disqualified for his actions. Then, Kenseth was summoned to the oval office after it was over. He was later suspended for two races with probation for 6 months. Car owner Joe Gibbs appealed citing an unprecedented and unfair penalty. On appeal, the probation period was reduced from six months to December 31, but the two race suspension was upheld by both the appeals panel and the Final Appeals officer Bryan Moss.

After the suspension was over, NASCAR president Brian France summoned Kenseth and Logano for a meeting to resolve any further issues. Kenseth's original explanation was that a tire went down and caused him to crash into Logano, but he later admitted following his suspension that it was deliberate and had no remorse for his actions. Kenseth's actions had ultimately caused Logano to miss the final round of the Chase, due to Logano finishing badly at Texas and not winning the rain-shortened Quicken Loans Race For Heroes 500 at Phoenix.

Return to Homestead

Kenseth at the 2015 NASCAR Victory Lap event on the Las Vegas Strip

During his suspension, Kenseth was substituted by young hotshot Erik Jones who recorded commendable finishes for a rookie, 12th and 19th. In both races the fans erupted with applause in support for Kenseth when, at Texas, Joey Logano cut a tire and spun out to finish 40th. At Phoenix, he finished 3rd knocking himself out of the Chase.

During his return at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kenseth started nineteenth and finished seventh to record his twentieth top-ten finish of the season. His teammate Kyle Busch went on to win the championship for 2015. Kenseth ended up finishing 15th in the standings.

2016

Kenseth started out his season with a promising race in the Daytona 500. He led 40 laps in the waning stages in the race. He took the white flag to start the final lap, but was passed by teammate Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex, Jr.. Kenseth's attempt at blocking backfired as he went sideways and lost several positions. Kenseth finished 14th while Hamlin edged Truex to the stripe to win the closest finish in the race's history. One week later in the Atlanta race, he was tagged for "improper fueling" during a green flag pit stop and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty. He was given the black flag with the white cross marks for not pitting within three laps. After serving that penalty, he ended up in 31st two-laps down. After the race, he said "I got black-flagged for some type of pit road penalty and I didn’t know it and pitted the lap they told me to do a pass through – I'm assuming they were black flagging us before that and they pulled our card. I never heard anything about it or at least saw the flag or anything, so I came when they told me to come and I guess they must have penalized us a couple laps or something. I don’t really know. I haven’t really seen it.” However, Kenseth did go on to finish 19th. He finished 37th at Las Vegas after being involved in a multi-car wreck with Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch, and Carl Edwards late in the race.

At Talladega, Kenseth started 4th and led 39 of the first 71 laps and got caught up in a late-race wreck with Joey Logano and Danica Patrick causing Kenseth to barrel-roll onto his roof. Kenseth exchanged words with Logano after the race, accusing Logano of shoving him off the track just before the wreck happened.

At the restart of a caution at Dover, Kenseth started on the inside front row next to Jimmie Johnson. Johnson looked to have gotten a great start but couldn't shift into 4th gear, causing an 18-car wreck. Kenseth made it through, then the red flag came out. With 10 laps remaining, Kenseth was having a hard time holding off Kyle Larson. But when 3rd position driver Chase Elliott challenged Larson, Kenseth then had no trouble winning the race to end a 17-race winless streak.

At the first New Hampshire race of the season, Kenseth held off Tony Stewart for his second win of the season, and his 38th career win. This win also makes it 2 wins in a row at New Hampshire. The win moves Kenseth into 19th place on the all-times wins list passing Bobby Isaac and teammate Kyle Busch.

After the race, Joe Gibbs Racing was docked 15 owner and driver points Wednesday for failing postrace inspection at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. His car failed the Laser Inspection Station (LIS). NASCAR assessed a P3 penalty that included the loss of 15 points, which drops Kenseth from eighth to ninth in the point standings. Crew chief Jason Ratcliff was also fined $25,000.

In the Chase race at Phoenix, Kenseth was leading late in the race, but on a late-race restart, Kenseth wrecked with Alex Bowman, ending his championship hopes. Kenseth would go on to finish 5th in points.

2017

Kenseth during qualifying for the 2017 Toyota/Save Mart 350.

Kenseth lost sponsor Dollar General prior to the season, leading Dewalt to up their number of races to a 15 race primary sponsor. Tide also came on board for 3 races starting at the spring Phoenix race, though they sponsored an extra race at Martinsville in the spring because the team had no other sponsor for the race. Peak and BlueDef joined the team for Las Vegas and Auto Club. Circle K joined the team mid season to sponsor 6 races during the season starting at the spring Richmond race, where Kenseth was able to get his first pole and first stage win of the season, though Circle K ended up sponsoring an extra race due to the team having no other sponsor. Despite these deals, the 20 team still had to use Toyotacare as a fill-in sponsor at the spring Texas race and the spring Dover race. After a slow start to the season, Kenseth picked up his performance and came back to contend with Clint Bowyer and Joey Logano for a spot in the playoffs. It started with a second-place finish at Watkins Glen. It's the highest finish of his career on a road course. He won the pole for the regular-season finale at the 2017 Federated Auto Parts 400 and made his 13th Career appearance in the Playoffs despite finishing 38th. Kenseth led most of stage 1 until he locked up the brakes and brought out a caution. During the final stage, Danica Patrick spun after contact with Austin Dillon. While under caution, Kenseth got into Clint Bowyer as the field stacked up due an ambulance at the entry of pit road. Still, he managed to beat out Bowyer, Erik Jones, and Joey Logano for the last Playoff spot. Had Logano(who finished 2nd) beaten Kyle Larson(who won) on the final restart, Kenseth would've missed the Playoffs for the first time since 2009 due to Logano's "Encumbered win" in Spring being made up thus the incident remains controversial.

On July 11, JGR announced that Kenseth would be replaced in the No. 20 by Erik Jones in 2018, leaving Kenseth with no 2018 ride. As a result, Kenseth eventually announced plans "to take some time off" from the sport on November 4.

With two races remaining for 2017 season, Kenseth has yet to win a race. He was knocked out of the playoffs when an 8th pitcrew member came over the wall to help fix his car that was involved in a wreck. He was disqualified from the race and knocked out of the playoffs. He is still without a ride for the 2018 season. Offers did come to him, but from lower unknown owners to drive for them. He turned them down. Many are saying this is Kenseth's goodbye, but he still wants to race.

At Phoenix, Kenseth passed Chase Elliott with 9 laps remaining to win his first race of the year, also ending his 51 race winless streak. “Yeah, it’s really not describable,” Kenseth said. “With only two (races) left, I didn’t think we probably had a good chance of getting back to Victory Lane. It’s been, I don’t know how many races – somebody’s probably going to tell me tonight – but it”s been at least 50 or 60, so it’s been a long time. We’ve had a lot of close ones. Just felt like it was never meant to be, and today it was meant to be…. I’ve got to be honest with you, I never dreamed I’d win one of these races, so obviously I’ve been so incredibly blessed throughout my whole career.” This marked his 39th victory tying him with Tim Flock for 19th place on the all-times wins list.

DeWalt sponsored Kenseth for his final race at Homestead, with his car resembling his rookie paint scheme from 2000. Kenseth finished in 8th place in the race and ultimately ended up in 7th place in the official points standings.

Personal life

Kenseth racing against his son Ross

Kenseth is the son of Roy and Nicola Sue Kenseth. The name Kenseth goes back to the 1850s when his ancestors came to Wisconsin. Tosten Eriksen Kjenset-Ødegard came over from County Oppland in Norway and settled in Deerfield, Wisconsin. In 2000, Kenseth married Katie Martin, also from Cambridge. Kenseth has a son, Ross Kenseth, from a previous relationship. Matt and Katie have three daughters, Kaylin Nicola born on July 6, 2009, two days after Kenseth finished eighth in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, Grace Katherine, born on February 22, 2011, two days after the Daytona 500 Kenseth had finished 34th in the race after being involved in two crashes, and Clara Mae was born on March 25, 2014 two days after the Auto Club 400. Ross raced a legends car for one year in Wisconsin before starting in limited late model racing as a 14-year-old. As a 16-year-old, Ross won the 2009 championship in the Big 8 Series, a late model touring series in Wisconsin and northern Illinois. He qualified the second fastest for the Snowball Derby in December 2009.

Kenseth's fan museum

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Monster Energy Cup Series

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	MENCC	Pts	Ref
1998	Roush Racing	60	Ford	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL DNQ	CAL	CLT	DOV	RCH	MCH	POC	SON	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	NHA	DAR	RCH												57th	150
	Elliott-Marino Racing	94	Ford																										DOV 6	MAR	CLT	TAL	DAY	PHO	CAR	ATL
1999	Joe Gibbs Racing	18	Pontiac	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR QL†	TEX	BRI	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	MCH	POC	SON	DAY	NHA	POC	IND	GLN																49th	434
	Roush Racing	17	Ford																						MCH 14	BRI	DAR 37	RCH	NHA	DOV 4	MAR	CLT 40	TAL	CAR 35	PHO	HOM	ATL
2000				DAY 10	CAR 37	LVS 14	ATL 40	DAR 6	BRI 12	TEX 31	MAR 21	TAL 18	CAL 3*	RCH 15	CLT 1	DOV 2	MCH 17	POC 14	SON 32	DAY 20	NHA 19	POC 5	IND 26	GLN 10	MCH 8	BRI 39	DAR 33	RCH 32	NHA 17	DOV 12	MAR 34	CLT 9	TAL 10	CAR 25	PHO 42	HOM 21	ATL 9			14th	3711
2001				DAY 21	CAR 28	LVS 17	ATL 37	DAR 19	BRI 14	TEX 20	MAR 6	TAL 19	CAL 17	RCH 8	CLT 18	DOV 16	MCH 15	POC 6	SON 21	DAY 16	CHI 7	NHA 16	POC 14	IND 42	GLN 23	MCH 4	BRI 33	DAR 23	RCH 35	DOV 29	KAN 32	CLT 12	MAR 36	TAL 4	PHO 4	CAR 10	HOM 27	ATL 17	NHA 4	13th	3982
2002				DAY 33	CAR 1*	LVS 14	ATL 4	DAR 8	BRI 6	TEX 1	MAR 2	TAL 30	CAL 20	RCH 6	CLT 2	DOV 40	POC 35	MCH 1	SON 39	DAY 30	CHI 14	NHA 33	POC 8	IND 3	GLN 33	MCH 11	BRI 5	DAR 37	RCH 1	NHA 10	DOV 4	KAN 7	TAL 14	CLT 34	MAR 19	ATL 9	CAR 8	PHO 1	HOM 40	8th	4432
2003				DAY 20	CAR 3	LVS 1	ATL 4	DAR 8	BRI 2	TEX 6	TAL 9	MAR 22	CAL 9	RCH 7	CLT 2*	DOV 7	POC 3	MCH 4	SON 14	DAY 6	CHI 12	NHA 3	POC 13	IND 2	GLN 8	MCH 9	BRI 4	DAR 14	RCH 7	NHA 7	DOV 9	TAL 33	KAN 36	CLT 8	MAR 13	ATL 11	PHO 6	CAR 4	HOM 43	1st	5022
2004				DAY 9	CAR 1*	LVS 1*	ATL 6	DAR 31	BRI 5	TEX 16	MAR 8	TAL 42	CAL 4	RCH 5	CLT 3	DOV 22	POC 21	MCH 7	SON 20	DAY 39	CHI 12	NHA 4	POC 8	IND 16	GLN 9	MCH 8	BRI 9	CAL 22	RCH 28	NHA 2	DOV 32	TAL 14	KAN 17	CLT 11	MAR 16	ATL 41	PHO 36	DAR 20	HOM 19	8th	6069
2005				DAY 42	CAL 26	LVS 8	ATL 31	BRI 16	MAR 11	TEX 18	PHO 42	TAL 11	DAR 26	RCH 12	CLT 37	DOV 7	POC 32	MCH 4	SON 11	DAY 9	CHI 2*	NHA 10	POC 36	IND 5	GLN 18	MCH 3	BRI 1*	CAL 7	RCH 2	NHA 3	DOV 35	TAL 3	KAN 5	CLT 26	MAR 12	ATL 5	TEX 3*	PHO 32	HOM 3	7th	6352
2006				DAY 15	CAL 1	LVS 2*	ATL 13	BRI 3	MAR 24	TEX 2	PHO 3	TAL 6	RCH 38	DAR 3	CLT 5	DOV 1	POC 5	MCH 13	SON 17	DAY 5	CHI 22*	NHA 14	POC 14	IND 2	GLN 21	MCH 1*	BRI 1	CAL 7	RCH 8	NHA 10	DOV 10*	KAN 23	TAL 4	CLT 14	MAR 11	ATL 4	TEX 12	PHO 13	HOM 6	2nd	6419
2007	Roush Fenway Racing			DAY 27	CAL 1*	LVS 4	ATL 3	BRI 11	MAR 10	TEX 2	PHO 5	TAL 14	RCH 10	DAR 7	CLT 12	DOV 5	POC 9	MCH 42	SON 34	NHA 9	DAY 8	CHI 2	IND 10	POC 14	GLN 12	MCH 4	BRI 39	CAL 7	RCH 14	NHA 7	DOV 35*	KAN 35	TAL 26	CLT 34	MAR 5	ATL 4	TEX 2	PHO 3*	HOM 1*	4th	6298
2008				DAY 36	CAL 5	LVS 20	ATL 8	BRI 10	MAR 30	TEX 9	PHO 38	TAL 41	RCH 38	DAR 6	CLT 7	DOV 4	POC 7	MCH 3	SON 8	NHA 18	DAY 3	CHI 7	IND 38	POC 11	GLN 12	MCH 5	BRI 9	CAL 5	RCH 39	NHA 40	DOV 2*	KAN 5	TAL 26	CLT 41	MAR 8	ATL 4*	TEX 9	PHO 15	HOM 25	11th	6184
2009				DAY 1	CAL 1*	LVS 43	ATL 12	BRI 33	MAR 23	TEX 5	PHO 27	TAL 17	RCH 13	DAR 10	CLT 10	DOV 4	POC 16	MCH 20	SON 18	NHA 22	DAY 8	CHI 23	IND 10	POC 11	GLN 14	MCH 14	BRI 10	ATL 12	RCH 25	NHA 23	DOV 3	KAN 39	CAL 13	CLT 2	MAR 14	TAL 24	TEX 3	PHO 18	HOM 13	14th	4389
2010				DAY 8	CAL 7	LVS 5	ATL 2	BRI 5	MAR 18	PHO 6	TEX 20	TAL 28	RCH 13	DAR 13	DOV 3	CLT 10	POC 17	MCH 14	SON 30	NHA 17	DAY 15	CHI 13	IND 12	POC 18	GLN 13	MCH 5	BRI 10	ATL 11	RCH 14	NHA 23	DOV 18	KAN 7	CAL 30	CLT 6	MAR 15	TAL 16	TEX 2	PHO 7	HOM 9	5th	6294
2011				DAY 34	PHO 12	LVS 11	BRI 4	CAL 4	MAR 6	TEX 1*	TAL 36	RCH 21	DAR 25	DOV 1	CLT 14*	KAN 6	POC 8	MCH 2	SON 14	DAY 2	KEN 6	NHA 20	IND 5	POC 16	GLN 17	MCH 10	BRI 6	ATL 9	RCH 23	CHI 21	NHA 6	DOV 5	KAN 4	CLT 1	TAL 18	MAR 31	TEX 4	PHO 34	HOM 4	4th	2330
2012				DAY 1	PHO 13	LVS 22	BRI 2	CAL 16	MAR 4	TEX 5	KAN 4	RCH 11	TAL 3*	DAR 6	CLT 10	DOV 3	POC 7	MCH 3	SON 13	KEN 7	DAY 3*	NHA 13	IND 35	POC 23	GLN 8	MCH 17	BRI 25	ATL 9	RCH 5	CHI 18	NHA 13	DOV 35	TAL 1	CLT 14	KAN 1*	MAR 14	TEX 4	PHO 14	HOM 18	7th	2324
2013	Joe Gibbs Racing	20	Toyota	DAY 37*	PHO 7	LVS 1	BRI 35	CAL 7	MAR 14	TEX 12	KAN 1*	RCH 7*	TAL 8*	DAR 1	CLT 15	DOV 40	POC 25	MCH 6	SON 19	KEN 1	DAY 33	NHA 9	IND 5	POC 22	GLN 23	MCH 15	BRI 1*	ATL 12	RCH 6	CHI 1*	NHA 1*	DOV 7	KAN 11	CLT 3	TAL 20	MAR 2*	TEX 4	PHO 23	HOM 2	2nd	2400
2014				DAY 6	PHO 12	LVS 10	BRI 13*	CAL 4	MAR 6	TEX 7	DAR 4	RCH 5	TAL 37	KAN 10	CLT 3	DOV 3	POC 25	MCH 14	SON 42	KEN 4	DAY 20	NHA 4	IND 4	POC 38	GLN 9	MCH 38	BRI 3	ATL 2	RCH 41	CHI 10	NHA 21	DOV 5	KAN 13	CLT 19	TAL 2	MAR 6	TEX 25	PHO 3	HOM 6	7th	2334
2015				DAY 35	ATL 5	LVS 9	PHO 16	CAL 31	MAR 4	TEX 23	BRI 1	RCH 7	TAL 25	KAN 6	CLT 4	DOV 39	POC 6	MCH 4	SON 21	DAY 23	KEN 5	NHA 7	IND 7	POC 1	GLN 4	MCH 1*	BRI 42	DAR 21	RCH 1*	CHI 5	NHA 1	DOV 7	CLT 42	KAN 14*	TAL 26	MAR 38	TEX	PHO	HOM 7	15th	2234
2016				DAY 14	ATL 19	LVS 37	PHO 7	CAL 19	MAR 15	TEX 11	BRI 36	RCH 7	TAL 23	KAN 4	DOV 1	CLT 7	POC 7	MCH 14	SON 20	DAY 28	KEN 8	NHA 1	IND 2	POC 17	GLN 10	BRI 37	MCH 13	DAR 6	RCH 38	CHI 9	NHA 2	DOV 5	CLT 2	KAN 9*	TAL 28	MAR 4*	TEX 7	PHO 21	HOM 7	5th	2330
2017				DAY 40	ATL 3	LVS 9	PHO 37	CAL 36	MAR 9	TEX 16	BRI 4	RCH 23*	TAL 24	KAN 12	CLT 4	DOV 12	POC 10	MCH 11	SON 20	DAY 27	KEN 17	NHA 4	IND 5	POC 9	GLN 2	MCH 24	BRI 4	DAR 6	RCH 38	CHI 9	NHA 3	DOV 11	CLT 11	TAL 14	KAN 37	MAR 9	TEX 4	PHO 1	HOM 8	7th	2344
† - Qualified for Bobby Labonte

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
2000	Roush Racing	Ford	24	10
2001			16	21
2002			40	33
2003			35	20
2004			21	9
2005			14	42
2006			11	15
2007	Roush Fenway Racing		10	27
2008			28	36
2009			39	1
2010			24	8
2011			9	34
2012			4	1
2013	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	12	37
2014			3	6
2015			35	35
2016			2	14
2017			9	40

Xfinity Series

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	NXSC	Pts	Ref
1996	Wegner Racing	55	Chevy	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	NSV	DAR	BRI	HCY	NZH	CLT 31	DOV	SBO	MYB	GLN	MLW	NHA	TAL	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	CLT	CAR	HOM										93rd	70
1997	Reiser Enterprises	17	Chevy	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	LVS	DAR	HCY	TEX	BRI	NSV 11	TAL 7	NHA 40	NZH 34	CLT 22	DOV 11	SBO 6	GLN 36	MLW 12	MYB 17	GTY 27	IRP 6	MCH 8	BRI 20	DAR 12	RCH 22	DOV 3	CLT 12	CAL 3	CAR 32	HOM 6						22nd	2426
1998				DAY 6	CAR 1	LVS 24	NSV 33	DAR 4	BRI 3	TEX 8	HCY 5	TAL 8	NHA 16	NZH 4	CLT 5	DOV 40	RCH 3	PPR 1	GLN 17	MLW 5	MYB 8	CAL 3	SBO 12	IRP 6	MCH 3	BRI 34	DAR 6	RCH 4	DOV 1*	CLT 2	GTY 2	CAR 27	ATL 4	HOM 4					2nd	4421
1999				DAY 4	CAR 3*	LVS 30	ATL 25	DAR 1*	TEX 18*	NSV 15	BRI 35	TAL 4	CAL 1	NHA 8	RCH 3	NZH 1	CLT 3	DOV 32	SBO 6	GLN 16	MLW 5	MYB 3	PPR 7	GTY 6	IRP 4	MCH 22	BRI 1*	DAR 3	RCH 20	DOV 38*	CLT 7*	CAR 4	MEM 21	PHO 8	HOM 38				3rd	4327
2000				DAY 1	CAR 9	LVS 5	ATL 2	DAR 2	BRI 27	TEX 2	NSV	TAL 21	CAL 1	RCH 2	NHA	CLT 30	DOV 3	SBO	MYB	GLN	MLW	NZH	PPR	GTY	IRP	MCH 8	BRI DNQ	DAR 8	RCH 8	DOV 1*	CLT 1	CAR 7	MEM	PHO 6	HOM 8				17th	3022
2001				DAY 3	CAR	LVS 34	ATL 30	DAR 2*	BRI 1	TEX 5	NSH	TAL 21	CAL 20	RCH 4	NHA	NZH	CLT 2	DOV 2	KEN	MLW 2	GLN	CHI 30	GTY	PPR	IRP	MCH 12	BRI 30	DAR 7	RCH 2	DOV 10	KAN 4	CLT 16*	MEM	PHO 22	CAR 2	HOM 5			18th	3167
2002			Ford	DAY 3	CAR	LVS 39	DAR	BRI 43	TEX 9	NSH	TAL	CAL	RCH	NHA	NZH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	GTY	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	ATL	CAR	PHO	HOM		77th	245
2003				DAY 2	CAR	LVS 42	DAR	BRI	TEX 7	TAL	NSH	CAL 1	RCH	GTY	NZH	CLT 1	DOV 4*	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI 2	NHA 3	PPR	IRP	MCH 18	BRI 25	DAR	RCH 6*	DOV	KAN	CLT QL†	MEM	ATL 2*	PHO 19	CAR	HOM 38		24th	1925
2004				DAY 5	CAR				TEX 1	NSH	TAL	CAL 4*	GTY	RCH	NZH	CLT	DOV 35	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI 16	NHA 1	PPR	IRP	MCH 42	BRI 2	CAL 12	RCH	DOV		CLT 2	MEM	ATL 1*	PHO 8		HOM 6		25th	2253
	Roush Racing	9	Ford			LVS 6*	DAR	BRI																							KAN 33					DAR 5
2005		17		DAY DNQ	CAL 9	MXC	LVS	ATL 4	NSH	BRI 4	TEX 7	PHO	TAL	DAR 1*	RCH 8	CLT	DOV DNQ	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI 8	NHA 9	PPR	GTY	IRP	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH 3	DOV 38	KAN 7				PHO 3	HOM 36	24th	2049
		9																																CLT 25	MEM	TEX 6
2006		17		DAY	CAL 6	MXC	LVS 2	ATL 4	BRI 3	TEX 5	NSH	PHO 7	TAL	RCH 3	DAR 2*	CLT 38*	DOV 26	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI 5	NHA	MAR	GTY	IRP	GLN	MCH 4	BRI 1	CAL 7	RCH 3	DOV 2	KAN 2*	CLT 4	MEM	TEX 26	PHO 1*	HOM 1*	18th	3221
2007	Roush Fenway Racing			DAY 12	CAL 1*	MXC	LVS 40	ATL 9	BRI 2	NSH	TEX 1	PHO 2	TAL	RCH 2	DAR 37	CLT 7	DOV 5	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA 3	DAY	CHI 2	GTY	IRP	CGV	GLN 6	MCH 2	BRI 34	CAL 28	RCH 4	DOV 3	KAN 2*	CLT 31	MEM	TEX 5	PHO 2	HOM 3	10th	3451
2008				DAY 5	CAL	LVS	ATL 1	BRI	NSH	TEX	PHO	MXC	TAL	RCH 12	DAR 28	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI 17	GTY	IRP	CGV	GLN 3	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN 5	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	49th	993
2009				DAY 10	CAL	LVS																																	22nd	1992
		16					BRI 4	TEX 6	NSH	PHO	TAL 35	RCH 3	DAR 1	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY 14	CHI	GTY	IRP 3	IOW	GLN	MCH	BRI 5	CGV	ATL	RCH	DOV 11	KAN	CAL	CLT 33	MEM 11	TEX 4	PHO 7	HOM 10
2010				DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI	NSH	PHO	TEX	TAL	RCH 10	DAR 30	DOV	CLT	NSH	KEN	ROA	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	IOW	GLN	MCH	BRI	CGV	ATL 5	RCH	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	GTY	TEX	PHO	HOM	81st	362
2011				DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	TAL	NSH	RCH	DAR	DOV	IOW	CLT 1	CHI	MCH	ROA	DAY	KEN	NHA	NSH	IRP	IOW	GLN	CGV	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	PHO	HOM		96th	01
2013	Joe Gibbs Racing	18	Toyota	DAY 16	PHO 8	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX 6	RCH	TAL	DAR 5	CLT 8	DOV 3	IOW	MCH	ROA	KEN	DAY 1	NHA 9	CHI	IND 7	IOW	GLN	MOH	BRI	ATL	RCH 35	CHI 7	KEN	DOV	KAN 1	CLT 5	TEX 4	PHO 6	HOM 4			89th	01
2014		20		DAY 14	PHO 5	LVS 6	BRI 5	CAL 7	TEX 6	DAR 3	RCH	TAL	IOW	CLT 6	DOV 4	MCH	ROA	KEN 36	DAY	NHA 3	CHI	IND 3	IOW	GLN 5	MOH	BRI	ATL 11	RCH 12	CHI	KEN	DOV	KAN 6	CLT 3	TEX 5	PHO	HOM 1			82nd	01
2015				DAY	ATL 8	LVS	PHO 2	CAL	TEX	BRI	RCH	TAL	IOW	CLT	DOV 2	MCH	CHI	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	IOW	GLN	MOH	BRI	ROA	DAR	RCH	CHI 2	KEN	DOV	CLT	KAN 2*	TEX	PHO	HOM			89th	01
† - Qualified for Jeff Burton

^* Season still in progress.
¹ Ineligible for series championship points.

24 Hours of Daytona

(key)

24 Hours of Daytona results
Year	Class	No	Team	Car	Co-drivers	Laps	Position	Class Pos.	Ref
2005	DP	49	Multimatic Motorsports	Ford Multimatic DP	Scott Maxwell Kurt Busch Greg Biffle	588	27 DNF	15 DNF

International Race of Champions

(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)

International Race of Champions results
Year	Make	1	2	3	4	Pos.	Points	Ref
2004	Pontiac	DAY 3	TEX 12	RCH 1*	ATL 1	1st	72
2005		DAY 4*	TEX 9	RCH 3	ATL 3	3rd	55
2006		DAY 1*	TEX 5	DAY 10	ATL 2	2nd	65

See also

• List of all-time NASCAR Cup Series winners
• List of NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race drivers
• List of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions
• List of people from Wisconsin

External links

• Matt Kenseth driver statistics at Racing-Reference

Sporting positions
Preceded by Tony Stewart	NASCAR Winston Cup Champion 2003	Succeeded by Kurt Busch
Preceded by Kurt Busch	IROC Champion IROC XXVIII (2004)	Succeeded by Mark Martin
Achievements
Preceded by Ryan Newman Trevor Bayne	Daytona 500 Winner 2009 2012	Succeeded by Jamie McMurray Jimmie Johnson
Preceded by Jeff Burton	Coca-Cola 600 Winner 2000	Succeeded by Jeff Burton
Preceded by Denny Hamlin	Sprint Unlimited Winner 2015	Succeeded by Incumbent
Awards
Preceded by Tony Stewart	NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year 2000	Succeeded by Kevin Harvick