Matt Kenseth returning to ride again with Roush
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Roush Fenway Racing wants to be among NASCAR’s elite again and recognized it needed help for its ongoing rebuild.
So the organization called on Matt Kenseth, one of its former cornerstone drivers, and asked him to come back. When Kenseth took the call from team owner Jack Roush, the racing veteran had just one question.
What took him so long to reach out?
“What took so long is there was a rawness from him leaving me,” Roush said Wednesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Kenseth launched his Cup Series career with Roush in 1998, and he won a season championship and two Daytona 500s driving for the once-storied team. But in 2013, he moved to Joe Gibbs Racing, the organization he earned 15 of his 39 career Cup Series victories with, and it took Roush some time to get over the perceived betrayal.
In the time Kenseth was gone, Carl Edwards also moved to JGR, and a stumbling sponsorship problem in NASCAR forced RFR to gradually downsize from five cars to the two Cup entries they’re fielding this year. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won two races last year and made the playoffs, but the organization has struggled to build consistency and get Stenhouse and former Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne running equally.
“We see a potential for Matt being involved with the company and race team past his driving,” Roush said. “We certainly feel like he’s come home to us. He’s a significant part of the history and legacy. It’s a chance to look at our cars and find out if there’s something glaring that Matt will see from his experience.”
Kenseth will split time in the No. 6 Ford with Bayne, with Kenseth’s first race coming next month at Kansas Speedway. Kenseth will also enter the All-Star race in May at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but the rest of his schedule is being determined. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts joined the organization as a sponsor Wednesday and will likely be on the car when Kenseth drives.
Bayne, who has personal sponsorship from AdvoCare, was not thrilled with the split time.
“He’s a fierce competitor. He wants to be in the car every week,” RFR team president Steve Newmark said of Bayne. “We continue to have a dialogue, and I think he’ll see this as an opportunity to continue to excel, but there’s no doubt that when we had the dialogue about it that his first reaction was, ‘I want to be in the car every week.’
“We wouldn’t want it any other way. If we had a driver who just kind of acquiesced, that would be an inherent problem in itself.”
Bayne, who won the 2011 Daytona 500 in just his second career Cup Series start, has 16 top-10 finishes in 175 starts. He’s currently 26th in the standings through nine races, and his highest finish this year is 12th. Bayne’s deal with RFR and AdvoCare, which is signed on for 15 races this season, runs through 2019.
Kenseth was available to return to his one-time home because he lost his ride last season when JGR had to let a veteran go to make room for Erik Jones amid a wave of younger NASCAR drivers hitting the circuit. Kenseth turned 46 in March but is still considered among the top talents in the Cup Series garage.
His salary, though, made him too expensive for any of the open rides.