FORT WORTH, Texas — The champion’s breakfast for the winner of the Daytona 500 typically takes place the day after the race, but Matt Kenseth had to wait seven weeks for his celebration.
The first rainout in the history of the 500 squeezed the breakfast out of the calendar — given that teams had to race at Phoenix the following Sunday. The makeup date for Kenseth, who on Feb. 27 won the Daytona 500 for the second time — was April 11.
Kenseth got to see his winning car, which is on display at the speedway until the next running of the race, for the first time since driving it to Victory Lane.
“Yeah, it was a little different,” Kenseth said of his trip to Daytona for what became a celebratory luncheon. “The race got extended a long time, so I guess we’re extending all this stuff, too, which is fun. It was really neat to see the car. I haven’t seen the car since it left Victory Lane. It is always neat to see that thing sitting there all dirty with all the confetti on it.
“The morning after was really neat in 2009 because all the crew guys could be there. That part of it was more cool then, that part of the experience, but it was neat to come back and relive that and have that feeling when you saw the car again and kind of remember it — since it has been a couple of months.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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