That first year of the Chase saw Kenseth’s Roush Racing teammate Kurt Busch take the title in dramatic fashion — literally losing a wheel at one point at the perfect position to allow him to enter pit road and replace it. If that happens anywhere else on track, he is not the champion.
So the end result is Kenseth and Busch, Roush teammates, won the last non-playoffs Cup title and the first Chase Cup title — The only two Cup titles Roush has ever earned.
Why am I discussing this right now? Because this dynamic duo will be back at it again in 2020.
Yes, in the strangest of twists in this strangest of years, Matt Kenseth will be back in a Cup car, a couple years after he officially retired. This is his second fill-in stint back, after he filled in driving the 6 car for Roush.
The circumstances couldn’t be more unpredictable. It’s like the ultimate butterfly effect. Kyle Larson says a word he shouldn’t have said, is promptly out of a ride. Most fans assume Ross Chastain will be the one to take over the ride due to his relationship with Ganassi. But Chip is the ultimate wild card.
He is like that NFL general manager, looking for the “best player available” in the draft, not just someone he is connected with. So he looks in the not-so-wayback machine and finds a recently retired driver like Kenseth, and lures him to come back. Pretty brilliant actually.
I still think Chastain is in the 42 next year, but in the meantime we get this great duo of champions, Busch and Kenseth, together again to make another stab at a title and try to get Ganassi what he’s never won in this series — a Cup title.
Can the 48-year-old Kenseth (provided he gets a waiver) and 41-year-old Busch use their collective wisdom and make Ganassi’s team good enough to take down Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney for the championship?
I don’t know, but it’ll be fun to watch. And this pairing is one Chip Ganassi should be very happy about, even if it ends after 2020. The circumstances that led to it are not ideal, but it’s a pairing that many fans of the sport, myself included, are excited to see happen.
Forget the young guns, let’s see what the old dogs can do.
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Matt Myftiu can be reached on Twitter @MattMyftiu, or email him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
