Matt Kenseth

Kenseth was born in Cambridge, Wisconsin, and began stock car racing in 1988 at age sixteen at Madison International Speedway. He and his father Roy had an agreement: Roy would buy a car and race while Matt worked on it until old enough to drive. Kenseth’s first car — a 1981 Camaro previously driven to championships by Todd Kropf — proved immediately competitive; he won a feature race in his third outing, holding off Pete Moore and Dave Phillips. In 1989 he competed for the points title at Wisconsin Dells, finishing second with eight feature wins. After graduating from Cambridge High School, Kenseth worked at Left-hander Chassis, a racecar manufacturer, while continuing to race.

In 1991, Kenseth became the youngest winner in ARTGO history, taking the checkered flag at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway after passing notable drivers including Joe Shear and Steve Holzhausen. The 1994 and 1995 seasons consolidated his status as a short-track contender; in 1994 he won track championships at Wisconsin International Raceway on Thursdays and Madison International Speedway on Fridays, claiming twelve of seventeen feature wins at Madison. He also captured the Slinger Nationals title that year. Team owner Patty Butz said of him, “We knew by 1995 that Matt had too much talent to be with us for very long.”

In 1996, Kenseth moved to the Southern United States to race the Hooters Late Model Series for engine builder Carl Wegner and finished third in the Hooters Series standings. He made his NASCAR Busch Series debut that year at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in a car rented from Bobby Dotter, starting 30th and finishing 22nd.

In 1997, Tim Bender was injured, prompting crew chief and car owner Robbie Reiser to hire Kenseth despite only one prior Busch Series start. Kenseth secured two top-five finishes in their partial season together.

Kenseth made his first Cup Series attempt in 1998 at Talladega, driving the No. 60 Ford for Roush Racing; the car lacked a competitive engine and failed to qualify. His next Cup appearance came at Dover, filling in for Bill Elliott in the No. 94 Ford for Elliott-Marino Racing. Kenseth finished sixth — the third-best debut result by any driver at the time. Running full-time in the Busch Series, he won his first race on February 22, 1998, and finished second in the season standings driving the No. 17 Chevy.

In 2000, Roush Racing fielded the No. 17 team full-time in the Cup Series with DeWalt sponsorship. Kenseth edged out Dale Earnhardt Jr. to claim the Raybestos Rookie of the Year title and became the only rookie to win the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He finished fourteenth in the standings with eleven top-ten results.

In 2001, his crew chief Robbie Reiser and pit crew won the Unocal 76 World Pit Crew Competition. In 2002, Kenseth led the series in wins with five victories — at Rockingham, Texas, Michigan, Richmond, and Phoenix — and earned one pole position, but inconsistency relegated him to eighth place in the final standings.

Kenseth started 2003 with a 20th-place finish in the Daytona 500 but took the points lead with a fourth-place finish at Atlanta in the season’s fourth race. He held the top spot for 33 consecutive weeks, breaking the modern-era record of thirty weeks set by Dale Earnhardt in his 1980 championship season. Kenseth clinched the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup title on November 9 with a fourth-place finish at Rockingham in the penultimate race, finishing 90 points ahead of runner-up Jimmie Johnson. He recorded a series-best 25 top-ten finishes and spent 35 of 36 weeks in the top ten, with his sole win coming at Las Vegas.

Following the 2003 season, Kenseth’s championship sparked criticism of the Winston Cup points system. Critics including Roger Penske questioned how a driver could win the championship with only one victory in 36 races. Kenseth had already clinched the title with one race remaining, rendering the finale meaningless. In 2004, NASCAR introduced the Chase for the Nextel Cup — a ten-race playoff limiting championship contention to the top-ten points drivers after 26 races, with a greater premium on race wins. This change became informally known as “The Matt Kenseth Rule.” NASCAR denied that Kenseth’s championship directly influenced the creation of the Chase but acknowledged the 2003 outcome brought attention to the issue.

In 2004, Kenseth won the International Race of Champions (IROC) championship. He qualified for the inaugural Nextel Cup Chase and secured two wins, including the Subway 400 at Rockingham in a photo finish against Kasey Kahne, and also won the NASCAR All-Star Race. He finished eighth in the final standings.

In 2006, Kenseth finished runner-up in the Driver’s Championship, earning $9,524,966 in winnings. He won at California Speedway, Dover, and Bristol and led 1,132 laps — second-most that season.

In 2009, Kenseth claimed a rain-shortened Daytona 500 victory, passing Elliott Sadler moments before a caution on lap 146 following a crash involving Aric Almirola and Sam Hornish Jr.; the race was called at 152 laps. It was car owner Jack Roush’s first Daytona 500 victory after twenty years in the sport.

Kenseth’s 2012 season began with a second Daytona 500 victory. On June 26 it was announced he would leave Roush Fenway Racing at the end of the season. He subsequently won at Talladega in October and at Kansas — his 24th career win and final triumph with Roush Fenway Racing — before it was confirmed on September 4 that he would join Joe Gibbs Racing in 2013, driving the No. 20 Toyota in place of Joey Logano.

At JGR in 2013, Kenseth became only the third NASCAR driver — after Kyle Busch and Cale Yarborough — to win a race on his birthday, taking victory at Las Vegas. He ultimately won seven races that season, the most for the No. 20 car in a single season, including the first two Chase races at Chicagoland and Loudon. He finished the season second in the standings, nineteen points behind Jimmie Johnson.

In 2015, Kenseth accumulated five wins and advanced deep into the Chase before being suspended for two races after intentionally wrecking race leader Joey Logano at Martinsville Speedway in retaliation for Logano spinning him at Kansas two weeks earlier. During his suspension, Kenseth was replaced by Erik Jones. After serving the suspension, Kenseth admitted the move was deliberate and expressed no remorse.

In 2016, Kenseth won twice — at Dover and New Hampshire — and finished fifth in points. On July 11, 2017, JGR announced that Erik Jones would replace Kenseth in the No. 20 car for 2018, leaving Kenseth without a full-time ride. Despite this, Kenseth won at Phoenix in 2017 with two races remaining, ending a 51-race winless streak for his 39th career win, tying Tim Flock for 19th place on the all-time wins list. He finished seventh in the standings.

In April 2018, Roush Fenway Racing announced Kenseth would return part-time in the No. 6 Ford, sharing it with Trevor Bayne across seven races with Wyndham Rewards sponsorship.

On April 27, 2020, Kenseth was announced as the replacement for Kyle Larson in the No. 42 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing for the remainder of the season, after Larson was released for using a racial slur during an iRacing event. NASCAR granted Kenseth a waiver for 2020 playoff eligibility. His season-best result was a second-place finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 5. Chip Ganassi Racing announced in September 2020 that Ross Chastain would replace him in 2021. In a November 2020 interview, Kenseth said he was “almost 100 percent certain” he would not return to full-time NASCAR racing.

In July 2019, Kenseth returned to competition at the Slinger Nationals, extending his race-record victory total to eight by passing former Roush teammate Ty Majeski on the final lap. He also competed part-time in the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX), driving the No. 8 car.

On May 4, 2022, it was announced that Kenseth, along with Hershel McGriff and Kirk Shelmerdine, would be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2023. On October 10, 2023, it was announced that Kenseth would join Legacy Motor Club as the team’s competition advisor.

Kenseth established a fan museum in Cambridge in 2004 following his championship season; the museum later relocated to a downtown storefront before closing in 2017. He competed in the 2022 Boston Marathon, finishing 3,576th overall with a time of 3:01:40.

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