Matt Kenseth opens up to Dale Earnhardt Jr. about his nerves coming back to NASCAR

“I’m already a little anxious about that first lap at Darlington,” the 48-year-old driver told Dale Jr.

For the first time since November 2018, Matt Kenseth will be behind the wheel competing in a NASCAR Cup Series race. But the 48-year-old veteran will be jumping in a car he’s never raced before, working with a new crew chief and spotter and doing it all with no qualifying, practice or test laps.

“How would you like to be one of those suckers lined up around me?” Kenseth joked on this week’s episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast about possibly being a wildcard. “You think I’m nervous?”

Kenseth will make his 2020 Cup Series debut Sunday at Darlington Raceway for NASCAR’s return to the track after missing eight events this spring because of the global COVID-19 crisis. He’ll race full-time for the rest of the season in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, replacing Kyle Larson, who was fired last month after using the N-word during a virtual iRacing event.

Away from NASCAR for about 18 months, the 2003 Cup Series champ explained on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s podcast that when the team called him about taking over the ride full-time, he discussed the commitment with his wife, Katie, and how it might affect their four daughters, all of whom are under the age of 11.

He said that had this opportunity been presented to him in February, his answer “almost for sure” would have even no.

But between being quarantined at home with not much to do and the No. 42 team’s strong performances in the first four races of the season, Kenseth said the timing was perfect, adding that he wouldn’t have agreed to come back if he had doubts about being able to “put 100 percent effort in.”

“I’m pretty excited,” the two-time Daytona 500 winner said. “This is as excited as I’ve been to go racing in as long as I can remember, to be honest with you. I’m looking forward to getting back to the track.”

Kenseth continued on the Dale Jr. Download:

“This just kind of came up out of nowhere, and honestly, it’s like one of those things you think about it for a little bit, talked to Katie a lot about it, and just seemed like the right deal at the right time for me. It’s a competitive car. I think they’ve got a great team over there. …

“Usually when you make a driver change or a crew chief change or all that, it’s almost always performance-related, right? So to have that opportunity to get in a car that’s currently running well — I know you’re already part way into the season and all that — but it’s currently running well and really, they just needed a driver. I just thought it was a good opportunity for me to take another stab at it.”

The last time Kenseth was in a Cup car, he was driving for Roush Fenway Racing. To help guide a rebuilding team, he split the ride with former No. 6 Ford driver Trevor Bayne that season, earning two top-10 finishes in 15 races.

But this time around, he’s getting into a car that showed some speed early in the NASCAR season. Through the first four races before the schedule was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, Larson and the No. 42 team had three top-10 finishes, most recently coming in fourth at Phoenix Raceway in early March.

And Kenseth wants to pick up right where the team left off.

Although he said nothing replaces practice or test laps in a car, he’s utilizing all the resources available to him, from talking to new teammate Kurt Busch, analyzing data from past races, watching film, reading through notes from last year’s Darlington race and talking with his crew chief, Chad Johnston.

When Earnhardt asked what his goals are for this 2020 stint, Kenseth said:

“I hope to be competitive. Obviously, it’s going to be a steep learning curve, you know, it sounds like the first six races there’s not going to be any practice. And never driving for this team and a different spotter, crew chief, equipment, car, steering, fit — you know all the things that go into that to make you feel confident and make you feel comfortable and to be able to help you relay information. So it’s going to be pretty interesting.

“I’m already a little anxious about that first lap at Darlington. But I mean, really, my goals aren’t any different than what they used to be. I’d say I adjusted my goals in 2018 just because I knew there were probably some things we had to change and things like that. But every other I really raced, my goals haven’t really been that different. It’s just be the best I can be. You go out, and you hope you can put everything together and figure out how to win.”

Kenseth has 39 career Cup victories in 18 full-time seasons, dating back to 2000 when he edged out Earnhardt for rookie of the year.

His last full-time NASCAR season was in 2017 with Joe Gibbs Racing — he won the penultimate race of the season at Phoenix Raceway — before he was replaced by Erik Jones, who is 24 years Kenseth’s junior.

He told Dale Jr. and podcast co-host Mike Davis that he never found an opportunity he deemed the “right fit” after that season, so he decided to walk away. But he said he doesn’t think he “was every totally at peace with the whole situation” of how this full-time career in NASCAR seemingly ended.

And he doesn’t like to use the word “retired” because, as he sees it, he’s clearly not done racing. Last summer, he even won a super late model race in Wisconsin.

“I actually never used the R-word. Like everybody’s saying — I don’t really read much of what people say, but people will be like, ‘Oh, he’s coming out of retirement for the second time.’ I was like, ‘Well, I never went into retirement. I wasn’t currently racing, but I never really retired.”

But he was quick to admit he does miss racing. Kenseth continued on Earnhardt’s podcast:

“Yes, there’s a lot of things I missed about it. It’s not the things that everybody would think. I really missed the camaraderie. I really miss being part of a team, part of a unit, a group, that is trying to go out and beat the best teams and beat the best teams that build stock cars, to try to be the best you can be and be part of that link in that chain.

“So it takes everybody doing their job at a high level to be able to be successful at this sport or be able to win. So I really miss being part of the group, the interaction with your team, just the little things, going to the shop. That’s what I miss the most.”

NASCAR’s (and Kenseth’s) first race back is Sunday, May 17 at Darlington Raceway at 3:30 p.m. ET (FOX).

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