Kenseth, Reiser ready for new kind of title run

[Schwartz Fan]

Kenseth, Reiser ready for new kind of title run
Special to FOXSports.com

Updated: February 7, 2008, 6:18 AM EST

Matt Kenseth has a way of looking at a lot of changes and linking them to the past in such a way that there appears to be no need for a transition. He downplays taking on a new crew chief, takes an optimistic approach to the Car of Tomorrow's full-season debut and seems to be headed to yet another consistently strong season.

Perhaps that is because he is able to take so much in stride.

So as he and former crew chief Robbie Reiser cease to work as partners at Roush Fenway Racing, Kenseth seems on track for another championship run while Reiser, the organization's new general manager, seems to be helping the entire outfit step up and be title contenders once more.

Kenseth may not show his passion for racing by wading into controversies or raising his voice off and on all season, but in listening to him describe racing, it is clear that fire still burns in him.


After eight seasons of full-time Cup competition, the 35-year-old not only carries the title of champion — he won in 2003 — but has also become a perennial championship favorite.

Fiery passion? Look at Kenseth's closing stretch in 2007, a segment of the season in which he went from 12th in the standings to his final finish of fourth over five races.

Look at his intrinsic faith in Chip Bolin, the crew chief who has been with the team all along, just quietly laboring in the shadow of Reiser.

Look at his commitment to the program with the new car and with both Ford and Roush Fenway Racing's ability to bring this and all of the organization's teams back into solid contention for the Sprint Cup championship.


Then, listen to him speak of the upcoming season. Kenseth may not be flashy and flamboyant in his comments, but that doesn't mean he's not quietly confident about another successful run.

Nor is he worried about bonding with Bolin. After all, the two have an extensive work history together.

"It really hasn't been much different," he said during testing at California Speedway. "It's been really a good week actually. We've had a little bit of everything. I think it's been good. So I think the biggest adjustment probably is more for Chip than it is for me."

For him, the bottom line on their relationship is simple.

"We worked together for nine years," he says. "If we can't communicate by now, we've got a major problem."

Seriously, Kenseth and Bolin have been together since the No. 17 team was created. The driver sees Bolin as a "very, very huge piece" of the team from the start. He's picked up a few new things, but no one expects a lag during the adjustment phase.

Still, there's a certain level of comfort Kenseth finds in the move.


"If it was somebody from the outside, somebody I haven't worked with from a different team or something, I think I'd have a lot more anxiety and it would be a little more maybe hard to adjust," Kenseth says. "But this hasn't been a big adjustment. He's been part of the group for a long time."

Reiser's move to general manager of the Cup program could aid all of the Roush Fenway teams as well. Now he's able to oversee the overall program and focus on areas that the crew chiefs can't because they are too busy with their individual teams.

So while Kenseth will probably miss the weekend relationship he has with Reiser, he's certainly not ceased to work with him on some level with the continued common goal of winning a championship.

"It's hard to say what I'll miss about it because I haven't really missed it yet," Kenseth says. "I guess he's been my only Cup crew chief, except for when Chip filled this last year. Certainly he's been a huge part of it. It's going to be really different without him being there every day.

"Yet I really think with the role he took it's going to be better for everybody at Roush Racing. I don't know if it will necessarily be better for the 17, but I think it will be better for everybody as a group, and I think our production will go up as a company with him in that role. We've been needing somebody like him, in my opinion, in that role for a long time."

The other teams agree. Last season, the Roush teams fell behind with the car of tomorrow after they did not test at non-sanctioned tracks when others did. Team owner Jack Roush has always said he thought teams were prohibited from testing at non-sanctioned tracks and that NASCAR would crack down on the policy, so his team steered clear of the practice for quite some time.

"I was wrong," Roush says now. "I misread NASCAR. They wound up going with the flow of what teams wanted to do."

So Roush spent much of last season playing catch-up with the car of tomorrow but seemed to cover the gap well by season's end.

Now, Reiser will help them make up even more ground as Kenseth and the entire organization prepare to battle for the 2008 Cup championship.

"Robbie is gonna be a key ingredient in catching up to the other teams," Roush Fenway's Greg Biffle says. "Robbie is a very smart person. He's a very, very good organizer and we've lacked that position, so to speak, in the past.

"... I think Robbie is gonna help bridge that gap and close up quickly to the rest of the teams."


Rea White is a writer for NASCAR Scene, which is published weekly, 50 weeks per year. Visit NASCAR News - Covering NASCAR News on NASCARs Top Racing Series for more information. © 2007 Street & Smith Sports Group.




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[revvinjim]

It's actually about time Roush put somebody in the position that Reiser now has. It is necessary for the multi car teams. JGR has had Jimmy Makar in such a role for 8 years now, Robby Loomis is in that position for Petty, and Everham now has the opportunity to be there for the GEM crew chiefs. This is perhaps the best way to compete with the Hendrick dynasty.
I like Matt, and he is the kind of driver who will always be in the Chase for the Championship. He is smart as well as talented, and is probably the closest comparison NASCAR has to David Pearson these days. He will win another championship, and I will see that as revenge for the slap in the face NASCAR gave him with his 2003 championship by creating the Chase.