PCGCampbell For Ford Racing, Press Release

Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 DeWalt Ford Fusion, is the two-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion for this weekend's the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway. . Kenseth, who was one NASCAR teleconference, spoke about his California success.

MATT KENSETH - No. 17 DeWalt Ford Fusion -

WHAT'S THE OUTLOOK FOR WINNING THREE STRAIGHT FEBRUARY RACES AT CALIFORNIA?

"I don't know. I never thought we'd win two, so you never really know. I always feel pretty confident going to California. It's been one of our better tracks throughout our time in the Nationwide Series and in the Cup Series, so it's one I certainly look forward to. You look forward to trying to go get some momentum back after a disappointing Daytona 500, so, hopefully, it'll be alright."

IT'S A FAVORITE PLACE FOR DRIVERS TO RACE ON?

"Yeah, it's just a real big, wide track. You get a little bit of everything there. You get a lot of speed, especially this new car has less drag, so you really go fast down the straightaways. It's got some pretty big corners where you can run around the bottom or you can run up high and you're always kind of searching for a groove, so it's always a lot of fun."

HAVE YOU TALKED TO DAVID RAGAN AFTER SUNDAY'S INCIDENT?

"No, I didn't."

IS THERE A DRAFT AT CALIFORNIA?

"The honest answer is, 'I don't know' because we haven't really run this car very much there yet, except for single-car runs. You do get some pull down the straightaways in general - at Michigan and California probably more so than any of the other tracks that we go to besides Daytona and Talladega - so you'll probably get a little bit of pull down the straightaway, but it won't be like Daytona. It won't be like you'll be able to help somebody like a teammate, but I certainly think that they will get some pull down the straightaways."

DOES IT HELP YOU BEING THE SECOND GUY IN LINE?

"I don't know if you're ever gonna necessarily see a slingshot, but, certainly, if you're moving forward on somebody on corner exit and you get a run on somebody - if you've got a car in front of you, certainly you're gonna get down the straightaway hopefully a little faster than he is."

WHAT WAS IT LIKE SEEING ROBBIE REISER AT THE TRACK AND NOT AS YOUR CREW CHIEF, AND DO YOU THINK HE'S HAPPY WITH THAT?

"I think he is. I think it's weird for him to be at the track, actually. It's just different for him. He's kind of a gamer. That's what he's always done, he's always been on the box calling the races and getting really involved in the race and do all that, so to stand on the sidelines and watch and listen is probably a little tough for him at this point."

HOW DID THINGS WORK WITH CHIP?

"Good. We got to do a five- or six-race trial last year and everything was good there, and I thought everything went good. Obviously, we had a disappointing finish, but we made some great adjustments on the car. We went from being good to getting it off to figuring out how to fix it and being pretty competitive right before we got wrecked. So, obviously, it was a disappointing finish but it wasn't certainly any of our guy's fault. We had good pit stops, good adjustments and had ourselves in contention, so I thought it was good."

DID ROBBIE SEEM LOST OUT THERE?

"I didn't get to see him much, to be honest with you. Daytona 500 morning is pretty busy and he just came on race day, so I didn't get to spend more than two or three minutes with him at the track, probably."

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM YOU AT CALIFORNIA WITH THIS NEW CAR?

"You never know for sure until you race. I was fairly pleased with our California test. I thought we learned a lot of stuff there. I was more pleased with that than I was with Vegas, but you just don't know really where everybody else is at and what they've learned since then, or what they were showing you or not showing you in the test. With this car it's a little bit of an unknown because we haven't done it before, but, overall, I feel pretty good about it. I thought we were pretty competitive out there compared to everybody who was running at the time and felt we learned some good things about the car, so I feel alright about it."

DOES RACING EVERY WEEKEND FILL THAT FEELING AMONG DRIVERS ABOUT A NEED FOR SPEED?

"You always want to win. If you won the week before or you won the year before or whatever it is, you always want to win. That's the goal. Obviously the longer you go in between wins, the more desperate you feel toward it or the more you're worried about ever winning again. That's how I get anyway, than if you just won the week before, but you're always ready to go to the track and you always want to win."

HOW DOES FORD STACK UP WITH HORSEPOWER?

"I don't know."

ARE YOU BEHIND A LITTLE BIT?

"NASCAR would probably have that information. They did all the chassis dyno tests all weekend. They tested the Nationwide cars and I think they tested the Trucks. I know they tested the Cup cars more than once, so they have that information. One thing about NASCAR is they're gonna make sure the playing field is level. If for some reason Toyota does have a substantial advantage, they're gonna figure out how to make it fair for everybody."

YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH THE POWER YOU'VE GOT?

"You only have what you have. Doug Yates and those guys do a great job on engines and they're constantly looking to make it better and more competitive. Next year, I think, is the year that we get our new engine and certainly as old as our engine design is compared to Toyota's or even Chevy's new engine, it should be down a little bit. I'm not sure it is, but it should be down a little bit, and I know when we get our new stuff it will be better."

RYAN SAID EARLIER THAT HE WANTED TO KNOW YOUR SETUP FOR THIS WEEKEND. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR FRIENDSHIP WITH HIM?

"Ryan and I have always gotten along pretty good and always enjoyed spending a little time together. Krissie and Katie became friends when she came around on the scene a little bit, and Ryan and I have always gotten along well and have done stuff together. That was a big win for him and that was pretty cool. I promised him I was gonna stay up and watch Letterman last night and I fell asleep, so I have to go home and watch it on my DVR when I get home because he promised me he was gonna say something funny. I don't know if he did or not, but he said he was."

DO YOU GUYS HELP EACH OTHER AT THE TRACK?

"No, I've got six teammates already, so I don't think we could really help each other too much necessarily at the track, but certainly we're friends and we get along good and like to race together."

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE SEASON WITH A NEW CAR AND NEW CREW CHIEF?

"Hopefully, it'll be productive. I know Chip is gonna do a great job. He's done a great job so far. He's been very involved and a big part of the DeWalt team ever since its inception, so I'm not super-worried about that part. Certainly the new car is a challenge, but, on the other hand, having one car to work on for the year, instead of two, I think will make it a little easier on the engineering staff and easier on the crew chiefs and everybody else. So I feel pretty good about it."

WHAT'S YOUR TAKE ON THE '08 ROOKIE CLASS?

"I don't know. Who are they all?

PATRICK CARPENTIER IS ONE.

"I think it's yet to be seen. He hasn't raced a whole bunch in these kind of cars. He's done well the little bit he has and certainly in other forms of racing he's been very successful, so I'm sure he'll adapt and do good."

WILL YOU LEARN A LOT AT CALIFORNIA THAT WILL HELP AT MICHIGAN, AND CAN YOU EXPLAIN HOW MUCH DIFFERENT IT IS FROM TESTING TO THE RACE WITH 43 CARS OUT THERE?

"At a track like California it's really not that different. You don't really worry about the draft or dirty air and setting your car up that much for that kind of stuff. It's not like doing single-car runs at a restrictor-plate race and then going to race, which is greatly different, so I don't think it's necessarily that much different. California and Michigan certainly have a lot of similarities and you can use a lot of what you learn at California at Michigan and vice versa. I remember those years when Kurt won both races in almost exactly the same stuff at both tracks, so what California likes Michigan will kind of like. You might not be able to run a carbon copy, but you'll certainly be able to use some of the stuff you learned."

DO YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS WITH EVERYTHING GOING ON AT ROUSH FENWAY AS FAR AS SPONSOR SEARCHES AND DRIVER CONTRACTS THAT ARE UP?

"Not really. Whenever you make the organization bigger and share engineering support and do whatever, you always worry about it a little bit, but as long as it's always a two-way street, I think it can help. So I think as long as you get teams that are contributing and helping and working both ways, I think it can help. The rest of the stuff doesn't really concern me. I've got enough to worry about myself and our team without really worrying about other team's sponsors and stuff like that, so I don't really put a lot of thought into that."

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Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!!
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