Kenseth: Vickers rivalry behind him

March 10, 2012 Greg Engle Archives 0


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LAS VEGAS — Brian Vickers’ six-race Cup deal with Michael Waltrip Racing raises the prospect of a renewal of the rivalry with Matt Kenseth that came to a head last October at Martinsville — but Kenseth says that’s not likely to happen.

Hard racing at Martinsville led to intentional retaliation on the part of both drivers, and repeated contact between their cars effectively eliminated Kenseth’s title hopes. After a conversation at Homestead during championship weekend in November, the drivers had a chance to talk at Daytona, and Kenseth feels they have an understanding.

Matt Kenseth, driver of the #17 Zest Ford, sits in his car in the garage during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 9, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Matt Kenseth, driver of the #17 Zest Ford, sits in his car in the garage during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 9, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

“I ran into him at Daytona — that’s probably a bad choice of words,” Kenseth said Friday at Las Vegas. “I saw him at Daytona, and we talked for a few minutes, nothing about anything racing, but I just saw him in the motor home park.

“But we talked at Homestead, and from my end, I’m not worried about anything there. So I think that’s in the past, and I’ll kind of leave it there.”

Vickers got the MWR deal after Elliott Sadler withdrew at the insistence of full-time Nationwide team owner Richard Childress. Vickers will race twice at Bristol, twice at Martinsville and twice at New Hampshire this season. His MWR debut is set for April 18 at Bristol.

 

Greg Engle
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About Greg Engle 7420 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.