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Sprint Cup
CUP: Kenseth Joins Joe Gibbs Racing
Joe Gibbs confirms Matt Kenseth’s arrival with Toyota team…
Matt Kenseth (Center) is joined by Joe Gibbs Racing president J.D. Gibbs (Left) and JGR team owner Joe Gibbs (right) at a press conference Tuesday announcing Kenseth's move to the organization in 2013. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Joe Gibbs Racing confirmed Tuesday that Matt Kenseth will be joining its Sprint Cup driver lineup for next season.
Kenseth appeared with team owner Joe Gibbs at a Tuesday afternoon press conference at the JGR shop.
Kenseth will be replacing Joey Logano in the team’s No. 20 cars. Logano is expected to fill the vacancy in the No. 22 cars at Penske Racing.
“This is a very unique opportunity,” said Kenseth, who has raced virtually his entire career with team owner Jack Roush. “Not many people get this sort of opportunity – to leave a winning organization and get to go to another winning organization. I’m really thankful for it and plan to make the most of it.”
Kenseth will work with crew chief Jason Ratcliff. The team cars will be sponsored by Home Depot and Dollar General.
Kenseth said he hopes to also run some Nationwide races with JGR.
JGR drivers Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch attended the press conference.
Terms of Kenseth’s agreement with Gibbs were not released, but Kenseth, 40, said he hopes that this team-to-team move – only his second – will be his last.
“I’m not a guy who likes change,” he said.
Kenseth won the Daytona 500 for Roush Fenway Racing this year and is third in Sprint Cup points entering Saturday night’s race at Richmond International Raceway, the final event of the Sprint Cup regular season. Kenseth has qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup and will begin pursuit of his second Cup championship Sept. 16 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Although Roush Fenway has struggled with sponsorship issues in recent years, Kenseth said that didn’t play a large role in his decision to leave the team.
“There are a lot of things – too many to list,” Kenseth said. “At the end of the day, it was just really a unique opportunity. It’s somewhere where it’s not only a good fit, but it’s all about winning races and championships.”
Team president J.D. Gibbs said the 20 team’s sponsors played no role in pushing out Logano or approving Kenseth. “No sponsor was telling us to get rid of anybody,” he said. “We felt like Matt was a great fit and brought a great future to JGR. I think the partners agree with that.”
Kenseth said his decision to leave RFR and Tuesday’s announcement confirming his relocation at Gibbs won’t impact his run for this year’s championship.
“I feel good about what we’ve done over there,” he said. “Now we’ll go out and try to compete for the championship. Today is about 2013. I feel like everything is still fine over there.
“There’s a line between this and Roush. Everything I do for the rest of this year will be about Roush, and then I start here next year. I won’t let one interfere with the other.”
Joe Gibbs said pursuing Kenseth was a no-brainer once it became known that he might be available.
“Obviously, the reason you stay in one place for a long time is you’re very good and they want to keep you,” Gibbs said. “It’s the same way we feel about Denny and Kyle. We want to keep them forever. This is a big deal for us. He’s won a championship, and we all know how hard that is.
“Having Denny and Kyle and Matt all sitting in a meeting and talking things over, I would think it would be hard for us to miss something.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
Kenseth appeared with team owner Joe Gibbs at a Tuesday afternoon press conference at the JGR shop.
Kenseth will be replacing Joey Logano in the team’s No. 20 cars. Logano is expected to fill the vacancy in the No. 22 cars at Penske Racing.
“This is a very unique opportunity,” said Kenseth, who has raced virtually his entire career with team owner Jack Roush. “Not many people get this sort of opportunity – to leave a winning organization and get to go to another winning organization. I’m really thankful for it and plan to make the most of it.”
Kenseth will work with crew chief Jason Ratcliff. The team cars will be sponsored by Home Depot and Dollar General.
Kenseth said he hopes to also run some Nationwide races with JGR.
JGR drivers Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch attended the press conference.
Terms of Kenseth’s agreement with Gibbs were not released, but Kenseth, 40, said he hopes that this team-to-team move – only his second – will be his last.
“I’m not a guy who likes change,” he said.
Kenseth won the Daytona 500 for Roush Fenway Racing this year and is third in Sprint Cup points entering Saturday night’s race at Richmond International Raceway, the final event of the Sprint Cup regular season. Kenseth has qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup and will begin pursuit of his second Cup championship Sept. 16 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Although Roush Fenway has struggled with sponsorship issues in recent years, Kenseth said that didn’t play a large role in his decision to leave the team.
“There are a lot of things – too many to list,” Kenseth said. “At the end of the day, it was just really a unique opportunity. It’s somewhere where it’s not only a good fit, but it’s all about winning races and championships.”
Team president J.D. Gibbs said the 20 team’s sponsors played no role in pushing out Logano or approving Kenseth. “No sponsor was telling us to get rid of anybody,” he said. “We felt like Matt was a great fit and brought a great future to JGR. I think the partners agree with that.”
Kenseth said his decision to leave RFR and Tuesday’s announcement confirming his relocation at Gibbs won’t impact his run for this year’s championship.
“I feel good about what we’ve done over there,” he said. “Now we’ll go out and try to compete for the championship. Today is about 2013. I feel like everything is still fine over there.
“There’s a line between this and Roush. Everything I do for the rest of this year will be about Roush, and then I start here next year. I won’t let one interfere with the other.”
Joe Gibbs said pursuing Kenseth was a no-brainer once it became known that he might be available.
“Obviously, the reason you stay in one place for a long time is you’re very good and they want to keep you,” Gibbs said. “It’s the same way we feel about Denny and Kyle. We want to keep them forever. This is a big deal for us. He’s won a championship, and we all know how hard that is.
“Having Denny and Kyle and Matt all sitting in a meeting and talking things over, I would think it would be hard for us to miss something.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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