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January 27, 2006
Matt Kenseth Signs Long-Term Deal to Stay at Roush Racing
One driver who won't be involved in the rumor mill in relation to whether they might sign with a Toyota team in 2007 is Matt Kenseth. Today Roush Racing announced that they re-signed Kenseth to remain as driver of the #17 for several years to come. Jack Roush said,
"We are very pleased that Matt extended his contract with Roush Racing. Matt is one of the most talented drivers in the garage and he'll always hold a special place in our organization, having helped to bring us our first Cup championship in 2003. It's very assuring knowing that he will be staying on with us and I know that the first goal on his agenda is to take that championship trophy back."
Given the intense level of the competition these days in Cup, including from Kenseth's own teammates I'm not sure he's going to contend for the Championship this season but I have no doubt that quietly he will win a number of races over the next few years.
What's strange to me is that I could have sworn that Kenseth said that he was re-signing with Roush at the end of last season when there was some speculation that he was being courted by DEI to take Michael Waltrip's place in the #15. So I had already assumed that this was a done deal but I guess I misunderstood and Kenseth only said that he wanted to stay at Roush, not that he actually had a deal in place to stay. In any case, Toyota can scratch Kenseth's name off the list of available drivers.
Posted by silverdsl at January 27, 2006 04:54 PM