Driver Spotlight: Matt Kenseth (Preseason Addition)

Matt Kenseth's 2014 Preview

By Richard Tix

A look at previous Driver Spotlight's

7 wins, 12 top 5's, 20 top 10's, 2 Poles, and no Championship to show. That is Matt Kenseth's 2013 season in a nutshell.

Nascar Behind the Wall is going to take a bit larger look at Kenseth's amazing 2013 season. Kenseth left RCR where he was comfortable and spent most of his career (including one Sprint Cup Championship in 2003) and moved onto Joe Gibbs Racing to fill the void of Joey Logano. Matt Kenseth not being brought back to RCR and taking a spot at JGR was the biggest driver news of the 2013 preseason.

The move started a lot of whispering that it may take him some time to settle in and a lack of chemistry will have him starting out slow. Then NASCAR headed to Vegas and Kenseth got his first win at JGR, he then followed that up with 6 more wins along the way. The skeptics quieted very quick in 2013 after Matt Kenseth proved them wrong and finished the season runner up.

So, normally you would figure year two a team can get stronger, but is that possible? I do think that even though Kenseth was strong he has room for improvement in 2014. The #20 team seemed to be inconsistent at times and blazing fast others. In 2014 it is very possible he will post more top 5's and 10's but might fall off in the wins category and yet it could be a good thing. Consistency is what matters at the end of the day as long as you can get a few wins in the Chase.

Kenseth is hungry and ready to get Title number 2, and bring a title to Joe Gibbs for the first time since 2005 (Tony Stewart). If the #20 team can smooth a few things out and help Kenseth be more consistent I think he can still be a threat to Jimmie Johnson in 2014. So watch out for Kenseth once he finally becomes comfortable at JGR.

So what do you think? Let me know on Twitter. Can Kenseth win his second title? Will he win more then 7 races this year? Let the Countdown to Daytona Continue!