Joe Gibbs Racing recently announced that Matt Kenseth will no longer drive the #20 Toyota in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2018. Where will Kenseth end up?
Young NASCAR drivers such as William Byron, 19, Alex Bowman, 24, Erik Jones, 21, and Ryan Blaney, 23, have all secured themselves full-time rides in the Cup Series in the 2018 season. Where does that leave someone like Matt Kenseth, a 45-year-old veteran and former champion, who will be looking for a ride next season?
Joe Gibbs Racing, the team for which Kenseth currently drivers, announced that they will be releasing him following the conclusion of the 2017 season. No sooner did they release that information than they announced that current Furniture Row Racing rookie Erik Jones would be his replacement in the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
With so many young drivers securing rides for next season, there are not many left for a veteran driver like Matt Kenseth. But the fact remains that there are some seats available, meaning there is still hope for Kenseth’s Cup Series career to continue past this season. After all, he is still producing on a high level and is in a position to make this year’s playoffs even despite the fact that he has not won a race in over a year. Let’s have a look at some of his options.
No. 41 – Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford
The current driver of the #41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford is Kurt Busch, and Stewart-Haas Racing did not pick up the option on his contract for beyond the 2017 season, thus making him officially a free agent. Despite the fact that he did win this year’s Daytona 500, he has not had a great season compared to his recent seasons.
Matt Kenseth, the 2003 Cup Series champion, is, without a doubt, better than Kurt Busch, the 2004 Cup Series champion, at this very moment even despite the fact that Kenseth has not won a race yet this season while Busch won the Daytona 500.
While Kenseth is 45 years old and Busch is only 39, both drivers are veterans who are getting up there in age, and Stewart-Haas Racing may be willing to shake things up this offseason, even if it means grabbing a readily available driver who happens to be six years older than Busch.
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While there is still speculation that Stewart-Haas Racing did not renew Busch’s contract because they wanted him for longer than the option would have been for, they very well could have worked out a long-term deal in the meantime after picking up his option if this was indeed the case.
Why? Because nothing would have prevented them from keeping Busch on the team as long as they wanted to, as it’s not like he’s a highly desirable young driver that all of the other top-tier teams want a crack at signing. Sure, he did win this year’s Daytona 500, but other than that, his results have not been anything to write home about.
That said, the team did say on Twitter that they want Busch back in the 2018 season after the news broke that his option would not be picked up, so it is still a real possibility that he will return.
We don't comment on contract status, but we expect @KurtBusch back in our @MonsterEnergy / @Haas_Automation Ford in '18. Just sayin'.
— Stewart-Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) August 1, 2017
However, until Busch’s return to the team in 2018 is 100% confirmed, he is a free agent, and Kenseth may have a chance to snatch his seat next season. It would be great for both he and the team if he ends up being able to do so.
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.
No. 43 – Richard Petty Motorsports, Ford
The contract of Aric Almirola, the current driver of the #43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, expires at the end of this season. If he does continue racing, which is the most likely scenario, it will likely not be with this one-car Richard Petty Motorsports team seeing as how he carries sponsorship from Smithfield.
Almirola is also still higher than a few drivers in the championship standings despite the fact that he missed seven races due to a back injury he sustained in a wreck at Kansas in May. While he hasn’t won a race since the 2014 season when he won his first career Cup Series race at Daytona, he can definitely find a better ride, even if it isn’t with one of the sport’s top-tier organizations.
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Since many of the vacant seats in cars owned by the top-tier organizations are being filled by younger drivers in their teens and early 20’s, the one-car Richard Petty Motorsports operation is certainly on the table as an option for a 45-year-old driver and former Cup Series champion like Matt Kenseth, who has proven that he can still be a contender at most race tracks despite the fact that he is the oldest full-time driver in the series and hasn’t won a race in over a year.
If Kenseth can’t secure a ride with another top-tier team but still wants to drive full-time in the Cup Series, the #43 Ford would be a good option for both he and the team, as it gives him a car that will allow him to continue competing in the series full-time and it gives the team a very experienced driver who has had lots of success over the course of his career to put in that car.
No. 77 – Furniture Row Racing, Toyota
The current driver of the #77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota, Erik Jones, will not be driving the car beyond the conclusion of the 2017 season, his rookie season. In fact, he is the driver that makes this article possible, as he has been confirmed as the replacement for Matt Kenseth in the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota that Kenseth has driven since the 2013 season.
Kenseth would be a great option for the #77 machine, and this is probably his most likely landing spot if he does, indeed, continue driving beyond the conclusion of this season. Furniture Row Racing has an alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing, Kenseth’s current team, and Joe Gibbs Racing team owner Joe Gibbs did state that he “did not want to do this” in regard to letting Kenseth go after this season ends.
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- NASCAR: Matt Kenseth’s situation could be indicative of the future of the sport
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It is pretty obvious that Kenseth still has what it takes to compete on a high level despite the fact that he has not won a race yet in the 2017 season. He will likely make it to the playoffs this season even if he does not end up winning a race, and that is with very few spots left open.
It would definitely be beneficial if Kenseth does, in a way, stay within the Joe Gibbs Racing organization by driving the #77 machine for Furniture Row Racing in 2018. It would also pair him with the driver of the #78 Toyota, Martin Truex Jr., who is the current championship standings leader, playoff points leader, stage points leader and wins leader as well as the clear frontrunner to win this season’s championship. This team could be even more successful than it already is if the 2003 Cup Series champion comes on board and teams up with Truex Jr., the sport’s current top driver.
Retirement
We know Matt Kenseth still has what it takes to drive in the Cup Series at a high level. He is in the mix to qualify for the playoffs this season even despite the fact that this season has been a “down” year by his standards, particularly due to the fact that he has not yet won a race.
However, at 45 years of age, there is no way that retirement is not at least a viable option for Kenseth following the conclusion of the 2017 season. The 2003 Cup Series champion and two-time Daytona 500 champion has absolutely nothing left the prove. In fact, even if he did, he may not get the chance.
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- NASCAR: Matt Kenseth still deserves a full-time Cup Series ride
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- NASCAR: Matt Kenseth leaving racing after 2017 season
- NASCAR: Matt Kenseth’s situation could be indicative of the future of the sport
- NASCAR Buy or Sell: Matt Kenseth returning in 2018?
We have seen so far in this silly season that teams are going after younger and more unproven drivers as opposed to older and more proven drivers with more experience. Case in point, the fact that Erik Jones, 21, is taking over Kenseth’s current ride in the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota next season.
Also, drivers like William Byron, 19, and Alex Bowman, 24, replacing Kasey Kahne, 37, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., 42, will make Hendrick Motorsports’ average driver age 27 to start next season as opposed to the 35 it was this season. It really has been all about the young guns securing seats for the 2018 season this silly season.
Team Penske will add a third car next season, and they opted to put Ryan Blaney, 23, in it as opposed to a more experienced veteran. The young drivers have definitely been getting the nods over the more experienced drivers this offseason, and that may very well continue, thus forcing Kenseth to retire from his full-time driver role in the Cup Series.
Next: How silly will silly season get?
Where do you see Matt Kenseth ending up in the 2018 season? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to follow me on Instagram as well as Beyond the Flag on both Instagram and Twitter. Also, don’t forget to follow along with Beyond the Flag for the latest news, opinions, and analysis stemming from a number of different motorsports series. You don’t want to miss any of it.