Here is a series of articles I will be doing (and I don't know if I'll have specific days I'll update) where I will go through one driver at a time and his history via his paint schemes. I will try to get all of a driver's primary paint schemes but keep in mind decent quality photos pre-2000 are somewhat hard to come by so I'll do my best. I'll also highlight, if relevant, notable special schemes, like Jeff Gordon's infamous Jurassic Park scheme used in the 1997 Winston. As for the drivers I choose to highlight, it'll mostly be based on what's actually going on on the track. This week it will be Matt Kenseth since he's the focus of attention right now with his Daytona 500 victory and becoming one of the very few drivers to win the first two races of the season. So here we go.
Matt Kenseth#17 DeWalt Ford Fusion
Roush Fenway Racing
Starts (as of 2/27/09): 330
Wins: 18
Top 5s: 89
Top 10s: 164
Poles: 3
Matt Kenseth was born in Cambridge, Wisconsin on March 10, 1972. He is currently married to Katie Kenseth and has a son named Ross from a previous relationship. Kenseth would rise in the ranks of Wisconsin racers and win multiple titles in his home state, developing a rivalry with fellow race car driver - and future crew chief - Robbie Reiser. His big break came in 1997 when Reiser's driver in the Busch Series (now Nationwide Series) was injured and he needed a replacement. Kenseth received a phone call from his former rival and the two became a pair unseparable until 2008 when Reiser was promoted within the Roush organization and Kenseth had a new crew chief for the first time in his NASCAR career.
1998
With Bill Elliott deciding to skip the 1998 MBNA Gold 400 at Dover Downs International Speedway (now Dover International Speedway) in order to attend his father's funeral, Matt Kenseth was tapped to fill in for Elliott in his crazy looking #94 McDonald's Big Mac Ford. Kenseth would start his first career Winston Cup race, after previously failing to qualifying at Talladega in Roush's #60 Peterbilt Ford. What was even more astounding was Kenseth's sixth-place finish in his first Cup Series race, the third best debut in NASCAR history.
1999-2000
1999 would be Matt Kenseth's debut in the #17 DeWalt Ford he still drives to this day. It was a short rookie schedule of five races, to get Kenseth used to the rigors of Winston Cup racing. Like most rookies, his five-race campaign did not go very well, although he did have a fourth-place finish to highlight his first year with DeWalt and Roush at the Cup level. However, he had DNFs in three of the five races and had finishes of 14th, 35th, 37th, and 40th to go with his fourth-place finish.
In 2000, he would start a very successful career at NASCAR's highest level of racing. As a rookie, he earned his first win in the Coca-Cola 600, garnered 4 top 5s and 11 top 10s, and finished 14th in the standings, beating NASCAR's favorite son Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for Rookie of the Year. His full-time debut in the Cup Series is far from the level of consistency he showcases today.
The paint scheme used from 1999 to 2000 exhibits the familiar black and gold colors of the DeWalt brand, a long standing partnership that has been together for ten years. While the design of the scheme itself would change over the years, the black and gold DeWalt colors would remain the same.
2001
The 2001 season was somewhat of a sophomore slump for Kenseth, although he did finish one spot higher in the points in 13th. An extra two races were added to the schedule to increase it from 34 to 36 but Kenseth merely tied the number of top 5s he earned in 2000 and fell short of top 10s with nine. He also failed to win a race, something that would not happen again until 2008. Once again, he was still in the process of becoming the highly consistent driver of today.
His 2001 paint scheme was essentially the same as the previous year except the black trim along the bottom was replaced with a silver trim. AT&T also sponsored the #17 for a few races.
2002
Kenseth's breakout year came in 2002 when he won a career high five races (Rockingham, Texas, Michigan, and Richmond), which was also the most wins by a single driver that year (where has that parity gone when we had three drivers win two-thirds of the races in 2008?). He also recorded his first career pole, at Dover, something that is a very rare occurrence (his other two poles came in the same year in 2005). His consistency would begin to show up here, a trait that would essentially change the face of NASCAR in the future, despite what the bigwigs say. Kenseth would also finish in the top ten for the first time, in eighth, and would continue to finish in the top ten in points every year until 2008.
Here his paint schemes would become a little more elaborate and detailed. For 2002, he sported a riveted look, as if it was put together by one of the DeWalt tools that sponsor him. AT&T continued to be a primary sponsor on the #17 for a select few races.
2003
Matt Kenseth would definately become the model of consistency in 2003, a year where he steadily whupped the competition with quality finishes (a whopping 25 top tens) to win Roush Racing's first ever championship... despite only winning one time, at Las Vegas. His average finish of 10.2 easily put him ahead of his competition as NASCAR looked towards 2004 for a change in the points system and the introduction of the Chase, a development many attribute to Kenseth's dominating performance for the championship in 2003.
The championship winning paint scheme continues the riveted look but places the focus back on DeWalt's yellow colors. Smirnoff Ice would join the stable of associate sponsors and would be the primary for a few races. Carhartt would also rise as one of Kenseth's biggest sponsors, with a one-race primary sponsorship at Charlotte.
2004
It looked as if Matt Kenseth would be a serious threat to win a second championship when he started the season with four top tens, with two wins in a row at the final race at Rockingham and at Las Vegas. But the Chase was a new beast and Kenseth's typical consistency failed him in the final ten races of the season when he recorded only one top five and one top ten, a second place finish at the Chase opening race in New Hampshire. In the Chase he would suffer three DNFs and seven finishes of 16th or worse. He would finish out the season eighth in points.
Smirnoff Ice would continue to be primary for a few more races and Carhartt gave it another go at Michigan.
2005
2005 would be another lacking year for Kenseth with only one win, from the pole at Bristol, and a seventh-place finish in the final standings. He would also record his final two poles of his career (so far). He would make the Chase again, and also would do better in it, after learning the nuances of the new format the previous year, but he did not come close to winning a second championship.
Smirnoff Ice would leave the #17 team for the #97 team since alcohol and power tools didn't exactly mix and USG would replace Smirnoff Ice for a few select races. Carhartt continued to be a major secondary sponsor for Kenseth and upped its primary sponsorship to three races. Trex Decking and Railing would also sponsor Kenseth for a race.
2006
Matt Kenseth would explode, as far as he's concerned, with wins in 2006, garnering four of them to come up one win short of matching his career high. He won at California, Dover, and had back-to-back victories at Michigan and Bristol. He also went back to his highly consistent ways, as evidenced by 21 top ten finishes, only 1 DNF, and an incredible 9.6 average finish. However, he fell short in the Chase, finishing second to Jimmie Johnson for the championship.
While although the paint scheme remained unchanged from 2005, Ford retired the Taurus from NASCAR competition and introduced the new Ford Fusion. USG and Carhartt continued their relationship with Kenseth with R+L Carriers joining them as another major secondary sponsor for Kenseth.
2007
Kenseth had another respectable year in 2007, winning two races, at California and Homestead, and finishing fourth in the final points standings. His run for a second championship was interrupted during the Chase by a stretch of four races where he finished 26th or worse. But he came out of his slump to record top fives in the remaining five races of the season, including a win at the season ender at Homestead. One interesting note during this streak was he never finished in the same position twice. His run in the Chase was far surpassed by the amazing performances of Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and a surprising Clint Bowyer.
USG, Carhartt, and R+L Carriers continued being major contributors to Kenseth's paint schemes while Arby's, Kenseth's Busch Series sponsor, would be on the car for one race at Bristol.
2008-2009
2008 would become a rather dismal year for Matt Kenseth. Despite being only one of two drivers to make ever Chase since its inception in 2004 (the other being Jimmie Johnson), he finished outside the top ten (since the Chase field expanded from 10 drivers to 12) for the first time since 2001 and also failed to win a race for the first time since 2001. Part of this may be attributed to the absence of long-time crew chief Robbie Reiser, who was promoted and replace by crew chief Chip Bolin. While he did manage to record 20 top tens during the season, he had to fight his way into the Chase after starting the year off in poor form. The lack of bonus points from having no wins and five finishes of 15th or worse during the Chase, including three DNFs, relegated Kenseth to an 11th-place points finish... barely missing the top ten by three points to Kyle Busch.
But 2009 would start with a bang. At the Daytona 500, Kenseth would pass Elliott Sadler just before a red flag came out for rain. Kenseth would lead only one lap to win the rain-shortened Daytona 500 and give Roush his first ever Daytona 500 victory. The following race in California he held off the dominant car of Jeff Gordon to win his second race in a row and become only the fifth driver in NASCAR history to win the first two races of the season. He now heads to Las Vegas, a track he is exceptionally good at with 2 wins, 4 top 5s, 5 top 10s, and an average finish of 9.0 in nine starts at the track, and hopes to make history by winning the first three races of a season. Obviously the excuse of a new crew chief in 2008 proved to be false as Kenseth had yet another crew chief for 2009, young Drew Blickensderfer who is proving to be one of the top crew chiefs on the circuit only two races into the season.
This would be the first time Kenseth would race in the same paint scheme with the same make of Ford (the previous time he had the same paint scheme consecutively, he switched from a Taurus to a Focus). USG, Carhartt, and R+L Carriers remained as sponsor for Kenseth for 2008 and will continue into 2009. Dish Network, a Roush Fenway sponsor, was on the car for one race in 2008 at Bristol.
Notable Special Schemes
2001 9/11This scheme was run at Dover, the race after the attacks of September 11, 2001. New Hampshire was originally supposed to be run as the first race after 9/11 but it was pushed back to the end of the season because of those stupid goat loving terrorists.
2002 AT&TA paint scheme promoting AT&T's broadband service (this would be the old AT&T, not the new "at&t" of today). It ran at Sonoma and the July Daytona race.
2002 FlamesThis was a special Charlotte scheme run for The Winston and the Coca-Cola 600. The 600 scheme added Operation Overdrive to the area just above the Ford logo.
2003 Winston Cup Victory LapThis paint scheme was actually never raced but it was created in celebration of Kenseth winning the final Winston Cup championship. All season long the past champions during the Winston Cup era had special paint schemes, including ones not actively racing.
2004 Smirnoff IceThis was Smirnoff's way of getting around NASCAR's hard alcohol sponsorship ban that has since been lifted. It essentially paved the way for sponsors like Jim Beam, Jack Daniel's, and Crown Royal to be able to get into the sport.
2004 Carhartt
2005 USG
2006 R+L Carriers
2007 DeWalt Nano
2009 Carhartt
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