He races today with the same businesslike attitude he used when he raced in his home state and isn't about to alter that approach. The effect of the victory on the team has been profound. We started up this program, and we told all our race team that we could do this. The guys know that, yeah, right now we're at Michigan and we qualified 23rd, but tomorrow, stand back. We'll work this out, we'll come back with a strong race car, we'll have a strong performance on pit road and we'll come back with a good finish.
Reality has a way of keeping confidence in perspective.
Kenseth and his team were pumped up by the Charlotte victory when they arrived in Dover but quickly stubbed a toe by being among the slowest in first-round qualifying. His performance in practice and qualifying at Michigan lagged behind expectations, as well. You'd hope that we could have a chance to win another race. This stretch of the season has played into the hands of Kenseth, who traditionally has fared better on faster, midsize tracks, such as California, Charlotte, Michigan and Dover. Those are the places we need to work the hardest to get better.