An unfair ending for future Hall of Famer Kenseth
If Matt Kenseth’s NASCAR career is over, he will be well remembered for closing it out with a big win at Phoenix in the next to last race of the season. The first win for him at Phoenix in 15 years and his 39th career NASCAR Cup victory.
It does not seem right that Matt Kenseth will probably not get a retirement tour. The way it looks now, Kenseth will have no Cup ride for 2018 and will not be honored at the different tracks and receive retirement gifts. He has given so much to the sport. It was an outstanding gesture by Phoenix Raceway as they presented him with a beautiful painting of him and his race car. He deserved the opportunity to do a farewell tour just as Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. did. But then again he has not said he is retiring and hopefully when the entry list for the 2018 Daytona 500 comes out Kenseth will have a ride with someone.
There have been those who suggest Kenseth take over the Stewart-Haas Cup entry that has been driven by Kurt Busch. The negotiations to continue have been on-going for a while with Busch apparently wanting a better deal than the one being offered.
The way Matt Kenseth is being forced to end his career, surely a Hall of Fame NASCAR Cup career, is disappointing. For so many years Kenseth has been an outstanding performer in Cup racing.
I remember a season or two back that Matt was in Philadelphia, at a Phillies game, to talk about NASCAR racing at Dover International Speedway. I asked him about getting credit from many for making NASCAR change the point system that is used to decide the champion. “Don’t blame me for that,” he responded. He won the title in 2003 with a with margin between him and second place. NASCAR decided they did not want that to happen again so they came up with the Chase and now the Playoffs. You could tell by the tone of his response that he was not a fan of the new system.
Each week SB Nation’s NASCAR reporter Jordan Bianchi answers questions about the latest news and happenings within the sport.
“I look at the guys who have rides next season and Matt Kenseth is better than at least 20 of them. Are you really telling me that no team wouldn’t want Kenseth driving one of its cars next season? How can it be where a driver who’s still good finds himself on the sidelines?” asked reader Mike.
Bianchi said there are few if any team owners who wouldn’t want Kenseth driving for them and couldn’t improve their organizations on and off the track.
“I’d love to have Matt in one of our cars. He’d help us a lot in a lot of areas,” a team executive told SB Nation this summer. Then the same team executive who lauded Kenseth’s virtues added the all important caveat: “But, unless he’s going to come for cheap or bring sponsorship with him, we can’t afford him.”
These comments underscore the current situation where veteran drivers are finding themselves out of favor because of the high contracts they demand. Amidst a time when sponsorship is hard to come by for many teams while budgets remain robust, owners have taken steps to save costs with one of the biggest expenditures they’ve trimmed is what they are paying the person behind the wheel. Especially if the performance tradeoff in going with a young driver is minimal compared to what the higher priced veteran produces -- such as Joe Gibbs Racing electing to go with 21-yearold Erik Jones over the 45-yearold Kenseth.
Although not necessarily fair, this is the current reality. In many aspects it is no different than how stick-and-ball sports teams manage its rosters where often a veteran players finds himself jettisoned for someone cheaper because the team must get underneath the salary cap. And in this instance Kenseth is essentially a cap casualty.
Were an upper echelon team in need of a driver because of injury or underperformance, Kenseth is absolutely on any team owner’s short list of replacements. But he isn’t going to return just because. He’s made that much clear.
For Kenseth to eventually come back will require the right combination of team and situation. One where he feels he can be competitive and challenge for wins. Ending his end career on a high note and not with a whimper like so many greats wrapped up their careers is something Kenseth has stressed is important to him. And it’s unlikely that ideal opportunity will materialize.
When Matt Kenseth exclusively told reporter Nate Ryan at Texas that he was stepping away from NASCAR racing after this season, it was more of him taking a hiatus rather than outright retirement.
During a recent NASCAR America program, Jeff Burton, Kyle Petty and writer Nate Ryan discussed what they believe the future holds for Kenseth.
Here are some of their thoughts:
BURTON: “I think rightfully so, he’s got his feelings hurt a little bit. He’s done what Joe Gibbs Racing hired him to do. He’s done a nice job, is still contending for wins, but there’s not a place for him. That’s a hard place for a guy like Matt Kenseth to be. He’s very quiet but has a lot of pride. There’s no way not to take this personal. It’s impossible.”
PETTY: “He does take it personal. But in the end, it was a business decision that was out of his control, and that’s the problem. He said he’d like to go out on his own accord, the way he wants to go out, the way Dale Jr.’s gone out, the way Tony Stewart‘s gone out, the way Jeff Gordon‘s gone out. They made the decision and followed through with it. This was not Matt’s decision.”
RYAN: “He never used the word ‘retirement.’ But you know what it’s like for a race car driver, especially one like this, who still feels like he can win — and proved Sunday that he can still lead laps. … He’s stepping away in 2018 and it’s for an indefinite period of time and it’s as declarative or definitive statement as you’re going to get. This is tantamount to him saying retirement.”
With all that being said and written, I would not be surprised if a Cup team finds a spot for him for the Daytona 500 ... at least.