Matt Kenseth, the 2003 NASCAR Cup champion, will make his 300th series start this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway.
The Roush Fenway Racing driver is scheduled to hit the mark in Saturday’s Subway Fresh Fit 500.
“It’s hard to believe I’ll be making my 300th start,” Kenseth said. “It doesn’t seem that long ago when I was racing for the Reiser family in the Busch Series, with no sponsor, just hoping I could have the opportunity to race in this series some day.”
He and crew chief Robbie Reiser came into NASCAR together after that, working together through last season. Now, Reiser is a general manager at Roush Fenway while Chip Bolin is Kenseth’s crew chief.
Kenseth has 16 wins, 80 top-five and 146 top-10 finishes in his Cup career, as well as the 2003 title. He has completed 113,328.6 miles in Cup races and led a total of 4,973 laps.
“I’ve been very fortunate throughout my career,” he said. “It’s pretty cool to have lasted this long in such a competitive series, but I could not have done it without the support of a lot of great people.”
