Kenseth expects smooth transition

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Kenseth expects smooth transition
by Reid Spencer, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service



(Daytona Beach Fla.)- Despite starting a NASCAR Sprint Cup season for the first time without Robbie Reiser as his crew chief, Matt Kenseth expects a smooth transition with Chip Bolin atop the pit box.



With Reiser promoted to general manager of the Roush Fenway organization, Bolin, who has been a part of Kenseth's team since its inception, takes over as crew chief.



Not a problem, Kenseth says.



"Chip has been there," Kenseth said Tuesday, after posting the 16th-fastest speed (182.685 mph) in the morning test session at Daytona International Speedway. "He was our original team engineer when we put this thing together in '99 and ran a five-race deal, (then) started full time in 2000.



"He's been there a long time. We know each other really well. We haven't made too many other changes on the road crew, so it's really not -- so far, anyway -- that different from what I'm used to. Chip actually did the (Daytona) 500 last year (when Reiser was serving a four-race suspension), so he's kind of, I think, maybe a little bit ready for it."



The Hendrick teams are another matter. Kenseth acknowledges they have set a standard that other teams must try to match.



"Those guys were so good last year," Kenseth said. "They've always been good, really. But you've just got to figure out how to do things better than they do it. You've got to try to make your cars better. You've got to try to call races better. You've got to try to do all that -- the whole thing.



"You've got to work on the whole thing, from driving the car to setting it up to pitting it to everything. You've got to try to dot all your i's and cross all your t's --do everything the best you can to beat them guys. Right now, they're the guys you're looking at the top that you're trying to knock off."
 
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