Matt Kenseth is ready for the challenge of competing at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend, though he admits that it hasn't exactly been his best track lately.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads into its first Saturday night race of the season, the Duck Commander 500 at Texas (7:30 p.m. ET, Fox; qualifying 2:45 p.m. ET Friday). Kenseth is preparing for the race at a track where he has won twice, in 2002 and 2011. He has been close in other races there, as he points out, which is why he has an average finish of 9.5 at the track.
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He's waiting to see what Texas brings this time.
"I can't really predict what's going to happen in the race," Kenseth, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, said. "Typically, this has been a great racetrack. It's got a lot of character with the bumps and real abrasive and kind of worn out. I think the track has always been pretty good with passing and I think that will continue to get better with the rules change."
Still, he didn't enjoy the racing at Texas that much last year, when he finished 25th and 23rd. Perhaps he will find success on the low-downforce rules in effect this season.
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"You enjoy it when you have a good car," he said. "Haven't done too well here in recent history, but before that it's always been a good track for us. I like the challenge of the different ends of the racetrack that are different and the worn out pavement. I think the low aero package is going to be different. I've always enjoyed the track."
Asked if he had been rusty after sitting out two races last season when he was suspended following at incident with Joey Logano at Martinsville Speedway late in the year, Kenseth replied that he raced in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and that some of his competitors weren't affected too much by being out of the car.
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"I was just thinking, (Gibbs teammate) Kyle (Busch) only raced half a year last year and won the championship, so I don't think the rust thing holds up," he said.
He's also aware of the fickle nature of sports. Asked about the stretch of races in the coming weeks, Kenseth was quick to note that one can only ride the wave of recent accomplishments at tracks.
Now, the 2003 series champion wants to add some more of those to his resume.
"It's really a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately sport," he said. "It doesn't matter if we won here four years ago, or whatever it was. You have to be able to perform every week. If you're going to be a contender for the championship, you have to be able to run good everywhere. I don't think you want to have any weak spots on the schedule. Yeah, you can have a track or two that's really not a great place. I feel like when we've been at our best at JGR as a whole, I feel like we're able to run good everywhere. For us in the 20, I think we've been able to run good at most places except for places like (Sonoma) and maybe a few of those that aren't good tracks for me.
"Other than that, I feel like when we've been at our best, we've been pretty well-rounded with short-track races and intermediate races as well. To answer your question, I don't look at this part of the schedule as any better than I do at the last four weeks. Those have always been good tracks for us in the past, too."