Trio of NASCAR stars hits MIS ... in their 'spare time'
The grind of a 36-race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule is tough enough on its own, but a handful of the series' top drivers often find slivers of time in their hectic schedules to race at short tracks or make personal appearances.
Count Cambridge native Matt Kenseth as one of those drivers. Kenseth, fellow former Cup champ Tony Stewart and series points leader Kyle Busch will compete Tuesday night in the 100-lap super late model Swiss Colony All-Star Challenge at Madison International Speedway in the town of Rutland.
The stock-car stars all will be two days removed from stellar performances at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. Busch posted his fifth victory of the season, while Kenseth and Stewart finished eighth and 10th, respectively, at the road-course circuit.
Kenseth currently is riding a swell of momentum on NASCAR's premier circuit. The 2003 Cup champion has strung together six consecutive top-10 finishes, catapulting himself forward 10 spots to 12th in the Chase for the Cup standings. It's an impressive turnaround, considering he started the season with finishes of 30th or worse in five of the first six races of the season.
Kenseth, who is working with first-year crew chief Chip Bolin, said he is pleased with the recent showings for his Roush Fenway Racing team.
"I think we've got some work to do, but overall, we're a lot closer and I think we're at the point where we can be a contender if we can keep things going right and keep our cars running the way they've been running the last month or two," Kenseth said in a recent telephone interview.
Meanwhile, Busch has come under scrutiny of late for perhaps putting too much on his plate. Three weeks ago, the 23-year-old became the first driver to compete in three NASCAR series races in one weekend -- jumping on airplanes to travel to Pocono (Pa.), Fort Worth (Texas) and Nashville (Tenn.). One week later in the same weekend, he competed in the Cup and Trucks races at Michigan International Speedway and also got behind the wheel in the Nationwide Series race in Kentucky.
In a Toyota teleconference call several weeks ago, Busch told reporters one reason he is pushing himself is to create excitement for fans.
"It's fun for the fans I think, too, to see me be able to be as crazy or as stupid as I might be and trying to run all these," Busch said. "They get the excitement of seeing whether or not I'll succeed or fail."
Kenseth, 36, said he doesn't mind how much extracurricular racing Busch does, as long as he's beatable at the Cup level. Busch did focus only on the Cup race in Sonoma this past weekend, and did not run Nationwide and Busch races at The Milwaukee Mile.
"Having to race against him on Sundays, I hope he does do too much," Kenseth said. "I mean, everybody is different. When I was that age and we were still racing the short track stuff and doing all that, that was part of it -- to survive, to advance your career and do all that work. It's different these days, but right now, he's enjoying that.
"I think his year started going so good he was honestly planning on winning all three championships. I think that was his goal, whether he talked about it in public or not. He was really thinking he could miss a couple Truck races and miss a couple (Nationwide) races and still win all three (championships). That's a tall order. Just doing the Cup deal is tough."
For the record, Busch is running seventh in the Nationwide standings but 16th in Trucks.
Busch, Kenseth and Stewart all have experience at MIS.
Busch finished third at the track's season opener in May. Kenseth, a former track champion, took the checkered flag at MIS in his last appearance in June 2007. Stewart finished seventh in the 2007 race, his second event at MIS and fifth race on an asphalt oval.
Kenseth once again will drive a car custom built by friend Joe Wood at Pathfinder Chassis. He said Busch brings his own car, and that the car and equipment all are top-notch.
In a race promoted by his father, Roy Kenseth, Matt added that he is looking forward to competing at his home track, which he reigned over in 1994. Kenseth has collected three wins in six starts there since 2003.
"It will be fun and not just to race against (Busch and Stewart), because you get to race against them every week," Kenseth said. "It's always fun to go race against local guys and guys that are really good at that track and at the different (area short) tracks."
All-Star Challenge at MIS
What: Swiss Colony All-Star Challenge, a 100-lap super late model race
Where: Madison International Speedway, a one-half mile oval in the town of Rutland
When: Tuesday, with qualifying at 4 p.m., super late qualifier races at 7 p.m. and main race at 8 p.m.
Featured drivers: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regulars Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and Nationwide Series regular David Stremme
Tickets: $25 for adults and $10 for children age 10 and younger
Need to know: Spectator gate opens at noon. Other races include a super late model semi-feature and Big 8 Series race, a limited late model event that will include Kenseth's son, Ross Kenseth
Information: Call MIS at 608-835-9700 or visit the track's Web site at www.madisoninternationalspeedway.com
File photo
Tony Stewart, left, and Matt Kenseth, right, will race in the Swiss Colony All-Star Challenge at Madison International Speedway.
