Matt Kenseth says he enjoys racing at Chicagoland Speedway. But the relationship – and his patience – have been tested over the past two years.
Kenseth endured terrible luck in each of the Chicagoland races in 2005 and 2006. In 2005, he led a race-high 176 laps, but crafty pit strategy gave Dale Earnhardt Jr. the win. Kenseth finished second.
Then, last year, Jeff Gordon got into the back of Kenseth’s car while he was leading. Kenseth settled for a 22nd place finish, though he again led the most laps (112).
Still, Kenseth holds no ill-will towards the 1.5-mile track, the site of this Sunday’s USG Sheetrock 400.
“We’ve had a car capable of winning the past two years but for one reason or another, that just hasn’t happened, ” Kenseth said. “Some might think that it’s really frustrating, and it is, but I also think we should be proud that we’ve had a car capable of putting us in position to win. ”
Despite an average finish of 12.0 over the past two Chicagoland races, Kenseth still has the best stats. He heads the field in Driver Rating (130.0), Average Running Position (3.4), Fastest Laps Run (128), Laps Led (288) and Laps in the Top 15 (529).
Kenseth also owns some of the single-race records at Chicagoland since Loop Data’s inception in 2005. Take a look at the top-five single race track bests in three key categories:
Driver Rating
Driver Race DR
1. Matt Kenseth 7/05 144.6
2. Jeff Gordon 7/06 131.7
3. Jeff Burton 7/06 124.1
4. Kevin Harvick 7/06 123.8
5. Greg Biffle 7/05 118.0
Average Running Position
Driver Race ARP
1. Matt Kenseth 7/05 1.7
2. Kevin Harvick 7/06 3.6
3. Jeff Gordon 7/06 3.6
4. Jeff Burton 7/06 4.2
5. Matt Kenseth 7/06 5.0
Fastest Laps Run
Driver Race FL
1. Matt Kenseth 7/05 83
2. Jeff Gordon 7/06 52
3. Matt Kenseth 7/06 45
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 7/06 36
5. Greg Biffle 7/05 24
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