Matt Kenseth: # 17, Ford Taurus

Born in 1972, in Cambridge, Wisconsin, Matthew Roy Kenseth is a stock car racing driver for the Roush racing team in NASCAR’s Nextel Cup series. Matt began stock car racing in 1988 at the age of 16, and won the feature in his third night of racing.

Kenseth made a name for himself while driving at several Wisconsin tracks for Mike Butz in the # 8 late model, beating nationally known drivers such as Dick Trickle and Robbie Raiser. In 1994 and 1995 he won the track championships at Wisconsin International Raceway. Likewise, track championships at Madison International Speedway, including the 1994 late model track championship over Robbie Reiser.

In 1996, Kenseth made his Busch Series debut at Lowe’s motor Speedway with car owner Carl Wegner. The Following year he was called by Robbie Reiser, his former competitor and rival, to fill a free place. The combination proved successful, cumulating in a second and third place finishes in the Busch points. In his Winston Cup series debut in 1998, he finished sixth, the third best position of any driver.

By 2000 Matt joined the Rosh Racing organization, where he won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, and is still the only rookie to win the famed 600 mile event.  In 2003 he dominated in the points standings for almost the entire season and became the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup champion, the last driver to ever hold that title. In so doing, he also became only the second Wisconsinite to win the championship. Kenseth also had a series best 25 top 10 finishes.

Kenseth has driven his whole NASCAR Nextel/Winston Cup career in the # 17 Ford car, which has been sponsored by De Walt Power Tools and owned by teammate Mark Martin of Roush Racing.