The day arrived in 1988, when Roy turned over the keys to Matt and he entered his first stock car race. Two races later, Matt already had his first feature-event victory. By 19 years old, Matt had moved up to the competitive Wisconsin late model circuit, where he became the youngest ARTGO Challenge Series winner in history, a record that was previously held by his Roush Racing teammate, Mark Martin.
Over the next three years, Matt earned 46 super-late model victories, including the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Race and track championships at Madison International Speedway and Wisconsin International Raceway. He also became the youngest winner of the Miller Genuine Draft National Championship.
Matt got his first taste of NASCAR competition in 1995 while competing in the All-Pro Series. He then finished third in the Hooters Series in 1996 and he was raced his way second in the ASA Series in 1997 when Robbie Reiser called with an opportunity for Matt to run in the Busch Series.
In his first Busch series start, Matt finished 11th. He went on to get seven top-10 finishes in 21 starts in his rookie campaign of 1998. A year later, Matt got his first three Busch Series wins, 17 top-five’s and 23 top-10 finishes. Matt’s success caught the eye of Bill Elliott, as he tabbed Matt to be his fill-in driver in September of 1998 at Dover. Matt wasted no time making an impression, finishing seventh in his Cup debut. In 1999, Matt continued his success in the Busch Series, getting four more wins and 20 top-10 finishes. He added five Cup starts for Roush Racing in that season, highlighted by a fourth-place finish at Dover.
Matt's first full year in Cup racing was historic, as he became the first rookie to win the prestigious Coca-Cola 600. This effort cemented Matt Kenseth as one of the top stars in NASCAR's most elite series. Matt is currently in 9th place in the Chase for the Nextel cup with 2 wins this season. He trails leader Kurt Busch by 257 points with 3 races left.
