As Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series rides continue to be filled for the 2018 season, one veteran will possibly see his Cup career come to an end.
On Saturday, NBC Sports’ Nate Ryan reported Matt Kenseth intends to step away from the Cup Series next season, maybe for good. The 2003 champion lost his #20 ride to Erik Jones for 2018, and with other possible rides now out of the picture, Kenseth will likely put his career on hiatus. At 45 years of age, he is the oldest full-time driver in the Cup Series.
“I’ve put a lot of thought into it and pretty much decided after Martinsville, which I kind of already knew anyway, but we decided to take some time off,” he stated. “I don’t know what that means. I don’t know if that’s forever. I don’t know if that’s a month or I don’t know if that’s five months. I don’t know if that’s two years. Most likely when you’re gone, you don’t get the opportunity again. I just don’t really feel it’s in the cards.”
Kenseth, who currently sits 10th in points after being eliminated from the playoffs in the Round of 12, has not won a race since the 2016 New Hampshire 301. In 2017, he has 15 top-ten finishes, eight top fives, swept the poles at Richmond Raceway, and a best finish of 2nd at Watkins Glen International. It has been a frustrating stretch in the playoffs for the Wisconsin native; at Kansas Speedway, he was knocked out of playoff contention after he was parked for having too many men over the wall servicing his car. In Friday’s practice for Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, Kenseth was among the fastest cars but was unable to set a qualifying time after being stuck in technical inspection. As a result, he will start Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 in 35th.
In July, Joe Gibbs Racing announced Jones, who drives the #77 Camry for JGR affiliate Furniture Row Racing, would replace Kenseth in the #20 for the 2018 season. Speculation arose regarding Kenseth’s future, with some suggesting the #5 at Hendrick Motorsports as a potential landing spot. Rick Hendrick also described Kenseth as “a tremendous talent.” However, William Byron instead was tabbed to take over the car.
“Probably my biggest clue is when Rick put William in the 5 car, and I didn’t get that opportunity,” Kenseth added. “That was one I thought maybe I would get and hopefully go over there and get that car running better. I felt like I could really do that and maybe mentor some of the young drivers coming along, and that didn’t work out, either.”
Others brought up the #77, though that prospect ended when FRR announced plans to only run the #78 of Martin Truex Jr. in 2018. While some competitive rides like the #10 and #41 of Stewart-Haas Racing and the #27 of Richard Childress Racing have yet to be filled, other drivers are expected to take over those cars.
“I think I can drive next year if I really wanted to go drive,” he commented, pointing out he would want to drive for a championship-caliber team. “But do I just want to drive, or do I want to try to win races and championships? I think if any of that stuff was really meant to be, and someone really wanted you to be part of the organization, they would have figured out how to make it happen by now, certainly.”
Without a ride, Kenseth does not expect to be at the 2018 Daytona 500, but intends on spending time with his family. “I think it’ll be busier staying at home than going to the racetrack. Right now, it’s busy at home. It’s a fun busy, a great busy. I think it keeps you young. As much as I fought it and as much as I tried to deny it’s not time, it probably really is.”
In 20 years of Cup competition with Roush Fenway Racing and JGR, Kenseth has recorded 38 wins, 179 top fives, 324 top tens, and 20 poles. The final driver to win the championship under the pre-playoff format, he has two Daytona 500 wins.
With Kenseth’s departure, it continues a stretch of NASCAR’s veterans leaving the sport, a trend which dates back to 2015 when four-time champion Jeff Gordon retired. Three-time champ Tony Stewart and 2016 championship runner-up Carl Edwards did the same a year later, while 14-time Most Popular Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. is currently running his final season; coincidentally, Kenseth and Earnhardt shared the same rookie Cup Series rookie season (2000), meaning the two had not only begun their Cup careers together, but will also end them at the same time. Between Gordon, Stewart, Edwards, Earnhardt, and Kenseth, a combined 234 Cup wins and eight championships will have left the sport in the last three years.
“I feel like the way things have gone that for whatever reason — reasons I don’t understand that I think will become really, really clear in the future — that it’s just not meant for me to race next year. I think it’s that simple. Everything lined up this way because I wasn’t going to make the decision myself, so someone made it for me. It’s just not supposed to happen.”
“Even though I feel I can still get it done on the racetrack, I just think it’s probably time, and I need to accept that and move on.”
Barring any new ride openings, Kenseth’s 651st and likely final Cup race will be the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 19.
Featured image from NASCAR
