Matt Kenseth – Page 3 – The MotorSportsNews.Net(work)

NXS Daytona International Speedway – Brandon Jones – No. 19 Menards/Jeld-Wen Toyota Supra

February 9, 2021

Brandon Jones and the No. 19 Menards/Jeld-Wen team charge into Daytona for the 2021 Xfinity Series season kickoff this Saturday. Jones finished 2020 with his personal best performance with a career-high three wins and his first career Truck Series win while notching a career-high 10 top-five and 19 top-10 finishes. (more…)

KYLE BUSCH – Checking the Final Box

February 5, 2021

HUNTERSVILLE, North Carolina (Feb. 4, 2021) – As the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season is set to begin with on-track activities starting Tuesday, Feb. 9 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Kyle Busch has turned his attention to checking the most important remaining box on his career to-do list.

Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’S Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), is hoping to check the box of Daytona 500 champion by finally securing the Harley J. Earl Trophy that goes annually to the Daytona 500 winner as he makes his 16th career start in The Great American Race slated for Sunday, Feb. 14. (more…)

Criteria Set for Historic 2021 Busch Clash At DAYTONA on Iconic DIS Road Course

November 17, 2020November 17, 2020

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Nov. 17, 2020) – NASCAR and Daytona International Speedway today announced the criteria for eligibility for NASCAR Cup Series drivers to compete in one of the most unique and anticipated events in all of motorsports – the historic 2021 Busch Clash At DAYTONA on the iconic DAYTONA Road Course. (more…)

Jimmy Fennig to Lead Competition at Roush Fenway Racing

November 12, 2020November 12, 2020

Long-time Roush Fenway Employee/Championship Crew Chief Named EVP of Competition

CONCORD, N.C. (Nov. 11, 2020) – Roush Fenway Racing has named Jimmy Fennig executive vice president in charge of competition. Fennig, who joined the organization in 1997 and played a major role in several of the team’s greatest successes, will oversee all aspects of competition for Roush Fenway’s racing operations that currently fields two entries in the NASCAR Cup Series. (more…)

Kevin Harvick Wins Again (And Kyle Busch HATES Being Second)

September 21, 2020

Kevin Harvick battled Kyle Busch through the end of the final stage of racing and came out on top. Again. Harvick winning really put the dagger through the heart of a few teams hoping against hope to advance to the Round of 12. (more…)

Kevin Harvick Sweeps Michigan…. Where Will Erik Jones Wind Up?

August 10, 2020

Michigan might be an historically good track for Joe Gibbs Racing, but as I alluded to last week, they all had to beat Kevin Harvick. That proved to be a tall order. (more…)

Cole Custer is the First Rookie to Win at Kentucky

July 13, 2020July 13, 2020

In a surprising finish, rookie Cole Custer stole the show from the veteran drivers on the final restart to win not only his first Cup race, but he became the first rookie to win at Kentucky. All past winners at Kentucky Speedway are Cup champions, which could speak to Custer’s future. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.

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Erik Jones – No. 20 STANLEY Toyota Camry Preview (NCS) – Food City Presents Supermarket Heroes 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway

May 29, 2020

No. 20 STANLEY Toyota Camry News and Notes:

JONES AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY: Erik Jones will make his seventh NASCAR Cup Series start at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 31, 2020 for the ninth race of the 2020 season. In his previous six starts at the track, his best finish was in 2017 during his rookie season when he won his first Cup Series pole and led 260 laps before finishing second to Kyle Busch. In the Xfinity Series, Jones has six starts with two wins in 2016 and 2017. With one start at the Tennessee short track in the Truck Series, Jones has a sixth-place finish.
JGR AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY: Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) has 138 total starts at Bristol Motor Speedway in Cup Series competition. In those starts, the team has earned 13 wins, 34 top-five finishes, 52 top-10 finishes and 11 pole starting positions. The team has led 5,833 laps, completed 64,391 of 68,934 attempted laps (93.4%) and earned an average start of 14.8 and an average finish of 17.3. Kyle Busch leads the team with seven wins, followed by Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth with two wins each and Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards with one win each.
STARTING LINEUP: With the starting lineup set by random draw, Jones will start Sunday’s race from the 15th position.
THIS WEEK ON THE NO. 20 CAMRY: This weekend, the No. 20 Toyota Camry will carry the STANLEY colors for the second time of the 2020 season.
POINTS UPDATE: With his 26th-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Jones remains in the 13th position in the Cup Series point standings.
ALSCO UNIFORMS 500 RECAP: By virtue of their finish in the Coca-Cola 600, Jones and the No. 20 Toyota team started the Alsco Uniforms 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway from the 10th position. Jones ran as high as sixth before a late-race pit road mishap forced the team to pit road for a one-lap penalty. Once the penalty was served, Jones returned to the track in the 35th position and was able to advance to 26th before the race ended.
RACE INFO: The Food City Presents Supermarket Heroes 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway is scheduled for Sunday, May 31, 2020. Coverage will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1, Sirius XM Channel 90 and PRN Radio.

Jones Career NASCAR Cup Series Stats at Bristol Motor Speedway:

Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
6	0	2	2	1	293	9.2	16.0

Jones 2020 Season NASCAR Cup Series Stats:

Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
8	0	1	3	0	27	15.9	16.1

Jones Career NASCAR Cup Series Stats:

Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
119	2	25	52	2	609	13.4	16.0

From the Driver’s Seat: Erik Jones

Erik Jones: “I’m always excited to go to Bristol. It’s been a great track to me for a lot of years and I’ve been really close to a Cup win there the last few years. Hopefully this is the one where we can put it all together and end up in Victory Lane. We’ve always got really good speed and been fast and always feel like we are in contention for a win, so hopefully we can keep it clean all day and get ourselves in position to have a shot at the win late in the race. Excited to get there, definitely our first short track in a while and I think we’ll have a good shot to go out there and grab a win.”

About STANLEY:

STANLEY has set the precedent for quality tools and engineered solutions for professionals around the globe for more than 175 years. With a legacy of reliability, STANLEY is the No. 1 tapes manufacturer in the world and continues to drive the industry forward with innovations including the STANLEY FATMAX® product line as well as hand tools and accessories that make like easier. For more information visit www.STANLEYtools.com or follow STANLEY on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Martin Truex Jr. – No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry Preview – Food City Presents Supermarket Heroes 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway

May 29, 2020

No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry News and Notes

TRUEX AT BRISTOL: Martin Truex Jr. has earned two top-five finishes and three top-10s in NASCAR Cup Series competition at Bristol Motor Speedway. Most recently, Truex matched his career-best starting position (third) and led 52 laps when the Cup Series visited the ‘World’s Fastest Half-Mile’ last August. He posted finishes of 17th and 13th in two starts at Bristol in 2019 despite running in the top five during both events.
CHARLOTTE RECAP: Truex claimed a pair of top-10 finishes in two starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway earlier this week. In the Coca-Cola 600, he ran inside the top five throughout the race before ultimately finishing sixth. On Thursday night, Truex battled a loose handling condition throughout the race and ran as low as 28th before mounting a late charge to finish ninth.
BREAKTHROUGH MOMENT: In March 2004, Bristol Motor Speedway played host to Truex’s first NASCAR national series victory when he won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race. He led a race-high 134 laps that afternoon and fended off Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch for the first of six victories during his 2004 Xfinity Series championship season.
SINCE THE RETURN TO RACING: The No. 19 team is tied for the most points scored since NASCAR’s return to racing on May 17. Counting the two Darlington races and a pair of events at Charlotte, Truex and overall points leader Kevin Harvick have each earned 167 points. Over that stretch, Truex jumped from 15^th to seventh in the series standings.
STRONG IN THE STAGES: Through eight races, Truex ranks second in stage points. His 92 stage points trail only Alex Bowman in that category.
NASCAR LOOP DATA: According to NASCAR’s Loop Data, Truex ranks seventh or better in multiple categories. He leads all drivers as being the fastest on restarts. The No. 19 driver is also fourth in fastest laps run and percentage of laps run on the lead lap. Additionally, he is fifth in fastest drivers early in a run and sixth in average running position, green flag speed, laps in the top 15, laps led and speed by segment. Truex currently has the seventh-best driver rating.
AUTO-OWNERS: Sunday marks the first race this season that Auto-Owners Insurance will be featured as primary sponsor of Truex’s No. 19 Camry. The Lansing, Michigan-based company offers multiple lines of insurance, including life, home, auto and business to customers in 26 states. In their first season with Joe Gibbs Racing, Auto-Owners was on board for monumental moments like Truex’s first victory for the team at Richmond in April, his 500th career start at Michigan in August and the No. 19 team’s dominant Martinsville win that propelled them to a Championship 4 appearance.
JGR AT BRISTOL: Joe Gibbs Racing owns 13 NASCAR Cup Series victories at Bristol Motor Speedway, including both races last season and four of the past five overall. In 138 combined starts, the organization has amassed 34 top-five finishes, 52 top-10s, 11 pole awards and 5,833 laps led the .533-mile concrete oval. Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart have each raced JGR entries to victory lane at Bristol.
TUNE IN: Coverage of this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway begins Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1, PRN Radio and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Martin Truex Jr., Driver of the No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry

Talk about going to Bristol on Sunday and racing with no practice…

“Bristol is always wild, so you go in there expecting anything can and probably will happen. Going there without practice and running the low downforce package will be exciting and a challenge for everyone for sure. I feel like we’ve actually ran pretty well there the last few times and just crazy stuff happens to knock us out of contention. We just need to be able to put a full race together without any mistakes. If we can do that, I feel good about our chances to have a solid day.”

Truex NASCAR Cup Series Stats at Bristol Motor Speedway

Starts		Wins		Top 5		Top 10		Poles		Laps Led		Avg. Start		Avg. Finish
28		0		2		3		0		282		16.0		20.6

Truex 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Season Stats

Starts		Wins		Top 5		Top 10		Poles		Laps Led		Avg. Start		Avg. Finish
8		0		0		4		0		118		15.0		16.1

Truex NASCAR Cup Series Career Stats

Starts		Wins		Top 5		Top 10		Poles		Laps Led		Avg. Start		Avg. Finish
521		26		102		209		19		9,024		14.4		15.7

About Auto-Owners Insurance

Established in 1916 and headquartered in Lansing, Michigan, Auto-Owners Insurance Group is the 15th-largest property/casualty insurance group in the nation, based on written premium of over $7.4 billion. The company also ranks 375th on the Fortune 500 list. Auto-Owners is one of nine insurance carrier groups in the U.S. to receive the highest rating possible, A++ Superior, by A.M. Best, which is a nationally recognized rating agency for insurance companies. Auto-Owners offers auto, home, business and life insurance through more than 44,000 licensed independent agents in its 26 operating states. Auto-Owners owns Atlantic Casualty Insurance Company which sells excess and surplus lines polices in 49 states and is affiliated with Concord General Mutual which sells property & casualty products in four states. Auto-Owners employs over 5,000 associates nationwide. Find your agent at auto-owners.com, and connect with Auto-Owners Insurance on Facebook and Twitter (@AutoOwnersIns).

Roush Fenway Weekly Advance | Charlotte II

May 27, 2020

Roush Fenway Weekly Advance | Charlotte II

The NASCAR Cup Series hits the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway for its second event in four days with a shorter, 310.6-mile event under the lights. After Chris Buescher’s top-10 finish in Sunday’s Coke 600, Jack Roush has 80 top-10 runs at the oval at CMS all-time, the fourth-most of any track on the circuit for the NASCAR Hall of Fame owner.

Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5-Mile)
Alsco Uniforms 500

Wednesday, May 27, 2020 | 8 p.m. ET

FS1, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90

Ryan Newman, No. 6 Roush Performance Ford Mustang
Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang

NASCAR Returns to Action

NASCAR continues its return to racing Wednesday with the fourth Cup Series event in a 10-day span as Charlotte Motor Speedway hosts its second consecutive race – this time a condensed, 310.6-mile shootout.
From Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 to Wednesday, cars will turn nearly 1000 miles this week alone as the series is slated for its eighth points race overall of 2020, and fourth in the return of the sport. Following Wednesday’s race, the NCS will then hit five different tracks from May 31 – June 21 in the remainder of the announced scheduled to date.
Four weeks of NASCAR action were completed prior to the hiatus with races at Atlanta, Homestead, Texas, Bristol, Richmond, Talladega, Dover and Martinsville postponed.

Wednesday Recap, Sunday Preview

Ryan Newman appeared poised for a strong run in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, having powered his Roman Ford inside the top-10, before a faulty battery dropped the team off the pace just over halfway through the race.
Newman recorded a 10^th-place finish in stage one, but with only four cautions over the final 150 laps, he was unable to gain all his laps back to settle for a 28^th-place finish.
Buescher picked up three spots during a hectic final two-lap shootout to bring his Fifth Third Ford home 10^th in the Coke 600. He and the 17 team overcame an early pit road penalty to record their second top-10 of 2020.

Invert Determines Starting Lineup for Wednesday

The NASCAR Cup Series held a qualifying session for Sunday’s Coke 600 – the first and only scheduled qualifying thus far in NASCAR’s return – as Newman qualified 18^th with Buescher 19^th. The top-20 invert is back for Wednesday’s race, with Buescher rolling off 11^th after a 10^th-place run. Newman will fire off 28^th after his finish on Sunday.

Golden Sombrero

Roush Fenway won a record four-consecutive Coca-Cola 600’s from 1999-2002 with drivers Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin. During that span, Roush Fenway led 427 laps, including 201 of 400 laps in the 1999 event.

2006 Dominance in the Coca-Cola 600

Roush Fenway had its best overall outing in the Coca-Cola 600 in 2006, when its five entries averaged a 5.4 finish. Roush Fenway Fords finished third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth while leading 52 laps in the event. In 2002, Roush Fenway posted a one-two finish in the event with Martin and Kenseth battling feverishly for the win and combining to lead 67 laps in the race (with Martin taking the win).

Tale of the Tape

Roush Fenway has started 212 NCS races at Charlotte, recording eight total wins with 46 top-five and 80 top-10 finishes. RFR Fords have an average finish of 16.3 with 2627 laps led all-time.

Roush Fenway Charlotte Wins

1992-2 Martin Cup

1995-2 Martin Cup

1998-2 Martin Cup

1999-1 Burton Cup

2000-1 Kenseth Cup

2001-1 Burton Cup

2002-1 Martin Cup

2011-2 Kenseth Cup

1993-2 Martin NXS

1995-2 Martin NXS

1996-1 Martin NXS