Despite finishing 38th in the 39-driver starting field at Richmond, Kenseth will go to Chicagoland Speedway next Sunday with a chance to contend for his first season title since 2003, the final year before the playoff format was introduced.
Though he is a former winner at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the scheduled site of the championship race in November, Kenseth’s approach to this year’s playoffs is simple: take things one race and one round at a time.
“We’ve got a few rounds to get through first (before we can think about Homestead),” Kenseth said. “The first round I feel like we go to some good tracks for us and we should perform well there. Hopefully we won’t have any trouble and we can get some (consistent) finishes and move on to the second round.”
“I think it’s always a little bit of a moving target. I think that first one … if you get three solid runs, typically you’re okay. Then after that, the way the points work, you carry them over and everything so you’re probably going to need wins to get to Homestead.”
And as for this being his final season with Joe Gibbs Racing? Kenseth isn’t thinking about that either, nor is he thinking about the fact that he’s a free agent going into the offseason.
“(Not having a guaranteed ride for 2018) doesn’t really matter to me. That’s pretty far from my mind,” Kenseth admitted. “I’ve been racing for a long time and I certainly could do a lot better job controlling a lot of things. Even tonight, there was an ambulance parked in our way, but I still should have been able to somehow anticipate that better. I was trying to get better.”
“I’m not worried about next year at all, though. I’m worried about the next 10 weeks. I’ve got a great race team and a great opportunity. We haven’t been able to win races yet this year, which has been disappointing, but I really do feel that even though we’re coming off a DNF, we’re hitting our stride. Our guys on pit road have been unbelievably good the last three weeks; it’s probably been the best three weeks since I’ve been (at JGR). The car has been faster. (Crew chief) Jason (Ratcliffe) has been doing a good job. I feel like we’re actually finding a good rhythm and I’m excited for the next 10 weeks.”
Kenseth and the rest of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff contenders will begin their respective runs for a championship next Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway, with the running of the Tales of the Turtles 400 (
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.
Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: speed77radio@gmail.com
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
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