Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Kenseth looking for Darlington repeat and first win of 2014

Matt Kenseth is 7/1 to win Saturday at Darlington 
Matt Kenseth/No. 20 Home Depot Husky Toyota Preview
Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway
No. 20 Home Depot Husky Toyota News and Notes:

KENSETH’S DOUBLE-DUTY: In addition to competing in Saturday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500, Kenseth will also pilot the No. 20 GameStop/Call of Duty Ghosts Toyota in Friday’s VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway. Kenseth’s last Nationwide Series start at Darlington was in 2013 where he started third and finished fifth.

JOE GIBBS RACING AT DARLINGTON: Joe Gibbs Racing has 65 Sprint Cup Series starts at Darlington Raceway and has earned four wins, 16 top-five, and 37 top-ten finishes. The organization also has led for a total of 1,143 laps, has an average start of 15.5 and an average finish of 12.0 at the 1.37-mile historic track.

KENSETH BY THE NUMBERS: In 20 Sprint Cup Series starts at Darlington, Kenseth has completed 6,616 of 6,841 laps (96.7 percent) and has led for a total of 171 laps. Kenseth has earned one win, two top-five finishes, nine top-ten finishes and one pole award at the South Carolina historic track. Kenseth earned his first victory at Darlington in the Sprint Cup Series last year, and enters the weekend as the defending race winner.

RACE INFO: Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (1.37-mile) begins at 6:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 12th. The race will be broadcast live on FOX, Sirius XM Channel 90 and MRN Radio.
  
Kenseth’s 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Season Stats:
Starts
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Poles
Laps Led
Earnings
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
7
0
1
5
1
222
$1,508,528
12.4
8.3
Kenseth’s Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Stats:
Starts
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Poles
Laps Led
Earnings
Avg. Start
Avg. Finish
515
31
139
253
12
9,148
$101,050,792
18.4
14.1

From the Cockpit:
Matt Kenseth:
“Winning the Southern 500 last year was definitely special because that’s one of the biggest races of the year in my opinion. It’s such a historic and prestigious race because the Southern 500 is one of the three or four races that you always hear people talking about. It’s certainly one you always want to win, and to say that we were able to get to Victory Lane last year was really a highlight for me. Darlington is such a fast race track, and the narrow lanes of the track make it a really challenging place to get around. It’s such a great race track though and I’m ready to get there this weekend.”

From the Pit Box:
Jason Ratcliff:
“I love racing at Darlington. Of course, being fortunate enough to have won last year was fantastic because this is a really big race in regards to the history of this track. I think that Darlington fits into the intermediate track category, even though it’s very unique, it’s very high-speed, and just shy of being a mile-and-a-half track. It’s close to home for the majority of us and it’s just always been one of my favorite tracks. Some of the best tracks on the circuit in my opinion are places that you have to race hard, but at the same time, where you need to race the racetrack. It’s all about surviving the intensity at a place like that.”

- Joe Gibbs Racing

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