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NASCAR: Five Possible Landing Spots for Matt Kenseth in 2018

By Asher Fair

WATKINS GLEN, NY - AUGUST 06: Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 Toyota Care Toyota, drives during qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series I Love NY 355 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on August 6, 2017 in Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)
WATKINS GLEN, NY - AUGUST 06: Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 Toyota Care Toyota, drives during qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series I Love NY 355 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on August 6, 2017 in Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) /
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LOUDON, NH – JULY 14: Danica Patrick, driver of the #10 Aspen Dental Ford, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton’s 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 14, 2017 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)
LOUDON, NH – JULY 14: Danica Patrick, driver of the #10 Aspen Dental Ford, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton’s 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 14, 2017 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images) /

No. 10 – Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford

There are many ways to describe Danica Patrick’s five-year full-time NASCAR Cup Series career up to this point, and none of them are positive, so we’ll save that for another article. Patrick, the current driver of the #10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, has not had a great career at all, especially given the fact that she has driven for a top-tier team in each of her five full-time seasons.

In 176 career races, she has finished in the top 10 just seven times and has never finished in the top 5. Over the course of the last 86 races, she has just one top 10 finish, and that was only a 10th place finish at Dover earlier this season.

Also, she had never finished in the top 15 in two consecutive races before up until this season, when she finished in 15th place and Kentucky and 13th place at New Hampshire. Then, she went on to add two more top 15 finishes to that streak, with an 11th place finish at Indianapolis and a 15th place finish at Pocono.

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Somehow, that streak of four straight top 15 finishes was considered a “hot streak” despite the fact that she did not finish any of those four races in the top 10. Sure, it was the first time she had ever finished back-to-back races in the top 15, and she reeled off four straight top 15 finishes, but she’s driving for one of NASCAR’s top teams. No “hot streak” for any other driver on any of NASCAR’s top teams consists of four straight non-top 10 finishes.

Stewart-Haas Racing is in a position to potentially shake things up in the 2018 season, and with Patrick having sponsorship issues, this opens the door for a veteran driver such as Matt Kenseth to take her seat and continue his full-time Cup Series career driving for one of the sport’s top teams.

Kenseth would definitely be a huge upgrade from Patrick even if he was not still driving on a high level. However, he is still competing with the best of them, so this move would definitely be mutually beneficial for both he and the team. It would give him a ride on a top-tier team for him to continue his full-time Cup Series career, and it would give Stewart-Haas Racing a much-needed upgrade in the driver’s seat of the #10 Ford.

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