CUP: Kenseth Confident About Sponsor Search

Sprint Cup

CUP: Kenseth Confident About Sponsor Search

Despite finishing fourth in the Chase, Matt Kenseth is still without a primary sponsor for 2012…

Mike Hembree | Posted December 06, 2011 Charlotte, NC

Matt Kenseth won three times and had 20 top-10 finishes in 2011. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Even in a tough economy, the fact that Matt Kenseth is riding into the off-season with a blank quarter-panel is a mystery.

With Crown Royal’s last sponsorship dollars having been poured from the glass, Kenseth’s No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing team is looking toward 2012 from a rather lonely position. The team does not have a major sponsor for next season, and time is rapidly running out.

Major sponsorship dollars are hard to gather in these times, of course, but Kenseth has a lot to sell. He finished fourth in the Chase (his second straight top-five Chase run), won three times, had 20 top-10 finishes in 36 races and even turned himself into a qualifying master, winning three poles – a total he had never reached.

It’s a good seasonal worksheet and an attractive sponsor play, even for a quiet guy from Wisconsin.

Kenseth said he remains hopeful that his Fords will carry major sponsorship when the team reports to Daytona International Speedway in February.

“I think they’ll find something,” he said. “I think we have too competitive of a team to be unsponsored. From my standpoint, it’s frustrating because I don’t know how the whole process works. But, from a driver standpoint, if you perform well and don’t act like an idiot too much, things are good.

“I thought our performance was pretty good this year. For our team, it’s the best we’ve performed since the COT cars came out, and it was our most competitive Chase by far. I feel like we’re as good as we’ve ever been.”

Kenseth’s recent success coincided with the return to the 17 team of veteran crew chief Jimmy Fennig, who had been working in research and development for Roush Fenway. He rejoined Kenseth’s team in June 2010.

Fennig, at 58, is one of the oldest crew chiefs in the business, but he remains a driving force for Kenseth.

“Jimmy has always had the talent and the drive,” Kenseth said. “But it’s all about the combination. It’s not about just one person. I kind of learned that over the years. It’s all about that group and how the whole group interacts together.

“You can have a crew chief that you really relate to and he can be your best buddy and you like how he does everything, but if he doesn’t have that whole group behind him, it’s not going to work. I think that’s the big thing. A lot of my group has been there for a long time. Jimmy is fairly no nonsense. He’s all about racing. He’s kind of strict and has a certain way about him.

“When he came in, I think the group really respected him and looked up to him. I’ve always really appreciated his abilities. You could just feel the whole thing was going to be better.”

Kenseth and Fennig had another productive season, falling out of only three races – all because of accidents. He figures to be in the hunt for a second championship again next season – sponsor or none.

“After you win one, it’s your goal every year,” Kenseth said. “You’re somewhat disappointed if you don’t do it. It’s kind of weird how it all works out, but you just never know. The cars are all so close to the same. It’s just the little things. If you’re off a little, all of a sudden you’re mid-pack.”

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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Mike Hembree

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