NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth, the pride of Cambridge, tests his #17 DeWalt Tools car along with his Roush Racing team on Thursday at the Milwaukee Mile.
Gates open at 9 a.m. and admission is free for fans who want to watch the testing.
Kenseth, who was the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup champion, finished fifth in the Pepsi 400 Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway -- his series-leading 10th top-five finish of 2006 -- and is currently eight points behind leader Jimmie Johnson in the NEXTEL Cup standings.
He will be racing this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, where he has had excellent success. Kenseth has completed all but one lap in five races at Chicago and his average finish is 9.4. He's never finished worse than 14th.
"The track is starting to age a little bit, so it's becoming a really good track," Kenseth said of the Chicagoland Speedway. "We had an excellent car there last year and did everything right up until the end and got beat on pit strategy. But, Chicago's a fun track. It's wide and has a lot of banking for a mile and half (track). This weekend is going to be big for us.
"This is the closest we'll come to a home game since a lot of our guys on this team are from Wisconsin. So, we'll have a lot of support and, of course, everyone wants to perform well in front of their friends and family. Also, our sponsor USG, is the title sponsor for the weekend and they're going to have a lot of their execs and employees in attendance, so we should have a big cheering section all around this weekend."
Gates open at 9 a.m. and admission is free for fans who want to watch the testing.
Kenseth, who was the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup champion, finished fifth in the Pepsi 400 Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway -- his series-leading 10th top-five finish of 2006 -- and is currently eight points behind leader Jimmie Johnson in the NEXTEL Cup standings.
He will be racing this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, where he has had excellent success. Kenseth has completed all but one lap in five races at Chicago and his average finish is 9.4. He's never finished worse than 14th.
"The track is starting to age a little bit, so it's becoming a really good track," Kenseth said of the Chicagoland Speedway. "We had an excellent car there last year and did everything right up until the end and got beat on pit strategy. But, Chicago's a fun track. It's wide and has a lot of banking for a mile and half (track). This weekend is going to be big for us.
"This is the closest we'll come to a home game since a lot of our guys on this team are from Wisconsin. So, we'll have a lot of support and, of course, everyone wants to perform well in front of their friends and family. Also, our sponsor USG, is the title sponsor for the weekend and they're going to have a lot of their execs and employees in attendance, so we should have a big cheering section all around this weekend."
Host of “The Drew Olson Show,” which airs 1-3 p.m. weekdays on The Big 902. Sidekick on “The Mike Heller Show,” airing weekdays on The Big 920 and a statewide network including stations in Madison, Appleton and Wausau. Co-author of Bill Schroeder’s “If These Walls Could Talk: Milwaukee Brewers” on Triumph Books. Co-host of “Big 12 Sports Saturday,” which airs Saturdays during football season on WISN-12. Former senior editor at OnMilwaukee.com. Former reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
