Since then, Kenseth has only challenged for the Sprint Cup title this late in the season twice—in 2006 when he lost the lead to Jimmie Johnson in the 34th race of the season, and this year, when he trails Johnson by seven points heading into the final two races of the year.
While Kenseth is still battling for championships, a lot has changed for him and the sport since he last won the Winston Cup title in 2003.
Let’s take a look:
New team
After 13 years at Roush Fenway Racing, Kenseth left the organization at the end of 2012 to replace Joey Logano at Joe Gibbs racing.
The decision somewhat blindsided team owner Jack Roush, who said Kenseth was going over to “the dark side” by joining the Toyota team. But without firm sponsorship, the opportunity to join another solid organization with major Toyota support was too much for Kenseth to pass up.
He looks like a genius now as he races for the championship and Roush Fenway has just three wins this year compared to Kenseth’s seven and JGR’s 11.
Five crew chiefs
Kenseth won the 2003 championship with friend Robbie Reiser as his crew chief. Following the 2007 season, Reiser was replaced by Chip Bolin, a talented engineer but not necessarily the greatest crew chief. Kenseth went winless in 2008 but made the Chase.
Bolin was replaced by Drew Blickensderfer in the offseason, and Kenseth won the 2009 Daytona 500 in their first race together and then won again the following week at Auto Club Speedway. But they didn’t win again the rest of the year and missed the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
One race into the 2010 season, Blickensderfer was replaced by Todd Parrott. Midway through the 2010 season, Parrott was reassigned and Jimmy Fennig was named Kenseth’s crew chief.
With the move to JGR, Kenseth has another new crew chief in Jason Ratcliff, who has proven to be pretty darn good.
New kids
Kenseth, whose eldest son Ross is now a student at Clemson University and a part-time racer, and wife Katie now have two young daughters.
Kaylin, 4, and Grace, 2, have made appearances on pit road and in victory lane and Kenseth has often talked about how this would be a different championship celebration with his two young girls by his side.
New series name
Actually, two. Kenseth won the last “Winston Cup” championship.
The following year, the name was changed to Nextel Cup with the switch in series sponsor.
With Sprint buying out Nextel, the series name changed again in 2008, this time to Sprint Cup.
New cars
Actually, two as well. NASCAR introduced the “car of tomorrow” for select races in 2007 and then rolled it out full time in 2008. That car was designed to create a common template for every manufacturer. But it was so boxy and generic—and had an ugly spoiler for a while—that it was panned by both drivers and fans. For the record, Kenseth won nine COT races, but went winless twice.
NASCAR debuted another new car in 2013 and dubbed it the “Gen-6.” Each manufacturer was able to add body characteristics to the cars to give them more manufacturer identity.
Jimmie becomes “Five-Time”
Jimmie Johnson has won five championships since Kenseth won his first.
Johnson entered the series in 2002—two years after Kenseth—and immediately became a championship contender, finishing second to Kenseth in 2003.
Johnson didn’t just win five overall, he won five straight, capturing the title each year from 2006-2010.
The rise of Rowdy
Kyle Busch made his Cup debut in 2004, running six races that year for Rick Hendrick. Since then, he has won 28 Cup races—the only newcomer to eclipse Kenseth’s 24 victories since the start of the 2004 season.
Busch also has won a total of 124 races over NASCAR’s three national series and has become one of the sport’s most polarizing figures, developing a love-hate relationship with fans.
Only two other drivers have more Cup wins than Kenseth in the last 10 years—Johnson (60) and Tony Stewart (31). Jeff Gordon, with 24, is tied for fourth with Kenseth among race winners of the last 10 years.
Other newcomers
Several drivers have emerged on the scene since Kenseth last won his title.
Twenty current full-time drivers had never run a Cup race before 2004. Included are 2013 Chase drivers Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne and Joey Logano as well as other accomplished drivers such as defending Cup champion Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin (22 wins) and Martin Truex Jr.
Of those, none have won a championship, though Edwards, Hamlin and Bowyer have each finished second in points.
Earnhardt Jr. was winning
Earnhardt Jr., who beat Kenseth in 1998 and 1999 for the Nationwide Series titles, entered the Cup series as a rookie with Kenseth in 2000. Earnhardt won two Cup races that season, but Kenseth captured the Rookie of the Year award.
Earnhardt won nine races in his first four seasons and then six in 2004, while Kenseth had nine wins in his first five seasons.
Since then, Earnhardt has won just four races. Granted, he is one of only five drivers to make the Chase in each of the last three years (Kenseth, Johnson, Gordon, Harvick are the others), but he still hasn’t won as much as he did back when Kenseth won his last title.
No longer around
Looking back at the 2003 standings, eight of the top 20 drivers are no longer running full time: Bill Elliott (ninth), Terry Labonte (10th), Rusty Wallace (14th), Michael Waltrip (15th), Robby Gordon (16th), Mark Martin (17th), Sterling Marlin (18th) and Jeremy Mayfield (19th).
There were 16 other full-time drivers that season who are no longer full-time Cup drivers: Ward Burton, Elliott Sadler, Ricky Rudd, Johnny Benson, Dale Jarrett, Ricky Craven, Jimmy Spencer, Kenny Wallace, Todd Bodine, Steve Park, Tony Raines, Jeff Green, Ken Schrader, Kyle Petty, John Andretti and Mike Skinner.
Teams gone
There are several full-time teams no longer around, either closing or being bought/merged since 2003.
Among them: Dale Earnahrdt Inc., Evernham Motorsports, Bill Davis Racing, Robert Yates Racing, MB2 Motorsports, Morgan-McClure Motorsports, Carter Racing, Bill Davis Racing, BACE Motorsports, Foyt Racing, BAM Racing, Ultra Motorsports and PPI Motorsports.
And you probably should add Petty Enterprises to that list, considering that Richard Petty Motorsports is pretty much a new team and not in the same shop.
Some full-time teams/owners also have come and gone, including: Ginn Racing, Gillett Evernham Motorpsorts, Red Bull Racing, Hall of Fame Racing, Yates Racing, Robby Gordon Motorsports, TRG Motorsports, Mayfield Motorsports, Peak Performance Motorsports, Latitiude 43 Motorsports, Max Q Motorsports and Whitney Motorsports.
Favre retired (we think)
Can’t have a story about Wisconsin native Matt Kenseth without mentioning former Packers quarterback Brett Favre, can we?
In 2003, Favre threw for 3,361 yards, leading Kenseth’s Packers to a 10-6 record and one win in the playoffs.
Favre remained with the Packers until 2007 before spending one year as quarterback of the New York Jets and two years with the Minnesota Vikings until finally retiring (for real, we think) after the 2010 season.
Although injured, Aaron Rodgers is now the Packers QB and leader of the Cheeseheads.
