Kenseth: Memories of Dover

att Kenseth, driver of the #17 Best Buy Ford, sits in his car in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway on June 1, 2012 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images for NASCAR)
att Kenseth, driver of the #17 Best Buy Ford, sits in his car in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway on June 1, 2012 in Dover, Delaware. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images for NASCAR)

DOVER, Del. — Fourteen years have passed since Matt Kenseth made his first Cup start at Dover, but Sept. 20, 1998 made an indelible impression on the 2003 series champion.

Kenseth was a last-minute substitute for Bill Elliott, whose father, George Elliott, had passed away that week. In fact, Kenseth was so last-minute that he had no fire suit matching the McDonald’s car Elliott fielded and drove at the time.

In a suit borrowed from one of his crewmen, Kenseth drove Elliott’s No. 94 to a sixth-place finish, the best result for a driver making his first Cup start since Rusty Wallace finished second in his debut at Atlanta in 1980.

“I was wearing one of the crew uniforms for my driver’s suit, with somebody else’s name on it and knee pads for changing tires,” Kenseth said. “McDonald’s gave me that suit and took the guy’s name off it and put it in a box.

“I’ve got it up at my place in Wisconsin. I put it in a glass case — pretty cool.”

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. 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.