Matt Kenseth 2010 Fantasy NASCAR Preview
Categories: Drivers Previews
[picapp align="left" wrap="true" link="term=matt+kenseth&iid=6986460" src="5/1/2/e/OReilly_Challenge_Practice_7224.jpg?adImageId=8823456&imageId=6986460" width="234" height="156" /]Matt Kenseth
2009 Stats: Points Finish 14th, 2 Wins, 7 Top Fives, 12 Top Tens, Average Finish 15.5, Average Position 16.2, Laps Led 245, Driver Rating 83.5
No one started the 2009 season hotter than Matt Kenseth who won the first two races of the season. Despite his early victories Matt Kenseth missed the Chase for the first time since its inception. Matt Kenseth is a first-rate driver so don’t let the fact that he missed the Chase scare you off. I would like to inform you that things will be fine for Matt Kenseth in 2010. This winter I re-watched the fall Lowes race and it was mentioned on TV that Matt Kenseth was running the 2010 Roush Fenway new chassis. How did he do? He finished 2nd. A few weeks later he ran the same chassis again and finished 3rd at Texas. You can rest assured things will get turned around on the 17 team in 2010.
Strengths- Just like every Roush driver their primary strength lies on the intermediate tracks. Roush had a down year on these tracks in 2009, but the early indications say things will be better this season.
Weaknesses- Kenseth struggles on the shorter flat tracks (as most Roush cars normally do) such as New Hampshire and Phoenix. Kenseth also isn’t the best pick at the road courses.
Intermediate Track Grade- A-, Kenseth didn’t perform like an A- driver on these tracks for much of 2009 but as I mentioned earlier his 2010 equipment is going to be really good. Remember that when it comes to fantasy racing, “Intermediates win championships”.
Flat Track Grade- B-, New Hampshire and Phoenix both were unfriendly to Kenseth in 2009. Richmond has similar characteristics to these two and as you remember Kenseth couldn’t perform there if his Chase hopes depended on it. His best traditional flat track has always been Indy where he’s been close to winning a couple of times. He’s good at Pocono, but I certainly wouldn’t ever pick him to win there.
Restrictor Plate Grade- B+, Kenseth won the Daytona 500 in 2009 but lets remember he was only in the lead for 5 seconds before the rain came down. He’s been a consistent front-runner at these tracks for years now. I would always favor him at Daytona over Talladega.
Short Track Grade- C, The only short track I would ever consider picking Kenseth at is Bristol. Roush cars have never been good at Martinsville and I’m sure you remember how poorly he ran at Richmond last year.
Road Course Track Grade- C, Kenseth actually had one of his better road course years in 2009. He finished 18th at Infineon and 14th at Watkins Glen. In my opinion don’t even mess fire and don’t pick Kenseth at a road course.
How to use Kenseth from a fantasy racing perspective in 2010?
Really focus on using Kenseth at the intermediate tracks. There tracks are his bread and butter and there isn’t any particular track where he’s a bad pick. If you’re looking to pick him for a restrictor plate race I would strongly favor him at Daytona over Talladega.
Click HERE for more Matt Kenseth Stats
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Trackbacks/Pingbacks
[...] won a race. The whole Roush Fenway organization had a down year in 2009, but as I mentioned in the Matt Kenseth preview they will have a new chassis in 2010 and its highly competitive. Also lets not forget that by [...]
[...] will they start to utilize it? Roush Fenway Racing also successfully tested a new race Chassis by Matt Kenseth at Lowes and Texas. Matt finished 2nd at Lowes and 3rd at Texas. Things may certainly be looking up [...]
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[...] Matt Kenseth- Last years win wasn’t a fluke. Matt will be leading the way for Roush Fenway Racing. The [...]
[...] Matt Kenseth- The defending race champion was strong at the end of the year on the intermediate tracks using the new Roush chassis. It will be interesting to see how it works out at California. [...]
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[...] Matt Kenseth – Expect a strong showing from Matt at Las Vegas. Kenseth’s led 438 laps out of the 2,292 laps he’s completed at Vegas. [...]
[...] Matt Kenseth – Matt Kenseth was really good at Las Vegas. I think this team might be the best Roush Fenway Racing team now. [...]
[...] Matt Kenseth – Last year was not a good year for him at Bristol, but other than that he’s been spot on since 2006. [...]
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[...] Matt Kenseth – The 17 is a good top 8-15 driver at Martinsville. In the last four years Kenseth has finished better in the fall race then he has in the spring race. [...]
[...] Matt Kenseth – After what he did last year even I’m surprised I’m grading him this high. This team was downright awful on these tracks last year. Proceed with caution if you pick Kenseth. [...]
[...] Round Talladega: If Bowyer were to run into Kenseth at Texas I would eliminate him in a heart beat. Kenseth is a good restrictor plate driver but my [...]
[...] Matt Kenseth – Earlier this year Matt finished 2nd at Atlanta and he’s the only driver who doesn’t have a double-digit finish average at Texas. The last time Kenseth didn’t finish in the top 10 at Texas was back in 2006 when he finished 12th. [...]
[...] Matt Kenseth – Mr.Consistent has been consistent at Darlington and has finished in the top ten four consecutive races. [...]
[...] Matt Kenseth – At Dover Kenseth has four consecutive top five finishes. In the last 5 years Kenseth could easily be a perfect 10 top tens in 10 races if incidents didn’t get in the way. He had this race won in the fall 2007 race but a late engine failure ruined his day. His other non top ten finish over the last 5 years happened when Kenseth famously nailed the wall while coming to pit road. (Yahoo B-List) [...]
[...] Matt Kenseth- Last fall Matt Kenseth finished second at Charlotte. He finished second at Atlanta earlier this year and ran strong at Texas until he had problems late in the race. (Yahoo B – List Driver) [...]
[...] Matt Kenseth – Kenseth’s Pocono numbers look pretty mundane but he’s extremely consistent on this triangular track. Only once since 2006 has Kenseth finished outside the top 15 and that was a 16th place finish. (Yahoo B Driver) [...]
[...] Matt Kenseth (Contender) – If you want to pick a Ford this weekend look no further than Matt Kenseth. Michigan has always been a Roush track and to me there’s no question who’s been the best Ford driver this year. Matt Kenseth’s been a top ten car at every high speed intermediate track this year except Texas where he had problems late in the race. [...]
[...] Matt Kenseth – Check out what I said about him in my Michigan Contender or Pretender post. (Yahoo B Driver) [...]
[...] Matt Kenseth (Pretender) – One basic fantasy racing rule of thumb about using Matt Kenseth is don’t use him on a road course. If you’re in an allocation league and you use Kenseth then you obviously don’t plan on winning. Matt Kenseth has openly said he hates these tracks and his numbers back it up. At Infineon Raceway Matt Kenseth has never cracked the top five and only once in his career has he finished in the top ten here. [...]
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