Guest Columnist Matt Kenseth: Still looking good atop the standings

Tuesday, July 1, 2003 | 9:09 a.m.

Matt Kenseth, NASCAR Winston Cup points leader and driver of the DeWalt Power Tools Ford for Roush Racing, looks ahead to the second half of the season in this column for the Las Vegas Sun.

As I'm getting geared up for Saturday's Pepsi 400 race at Daytona and the second half of the season, I see no reason to change the approach that has helped earn me the current Winston Cup points lead.

It still surprises me when I look at the top of the points standings and see some of the great names I'm being mentioned alongside -- guys like Jeff Gordon, Rusty Wallace and Bobby Labonte, just to name a few. But as we all know, everything can change in a single race, so we've just got to keep working hard and do our best every week because there's a whole lot of racing left to do and a whole lot of talent within reach ready to pounce on my mistakes and snatch the lead away from me.

I think the success I'm having this year really started about two years ago. The 2001 season was a bad year for us, but it was kind of a rebuilding year, figuring out what we needed for cars and engines and setups and stuff like that. Toward the end of 2001, we had some real good finishes. But even when we didn't finish well, we ran great and were able to figure out what we needed to do to be successful moving forward. We took that knowledge and experience into 2002 and were able to get off some good runs and win some races.

Heading into Daytona International Speedway this year, I'd say there have been two key contributors to the level of success I'm enjoying this year compared to 2002. Having better luck in the restrictor-plate races on the superspeedways this year is one of the main reasons. The second is we haven't had any parts break yet -- knock on wood -- like we did at the end of last year, and we didn't get into a big wreck at Daytona or Talladega.

Last year, my car got destroyed in three out of the four big wrecks at the speedways, leaving me with terrible finishes in all of them. This year, the car has been running at the end of each race and I've been lucky not to tear anything up yet. One thing to always keep in mind -- to finish first, you must first finish -- that's an approach that my team has clung to all season long.

This is the second time NASCAR is visiting Daytona this year and things will certainly be different for us this time around compared to our first trip here in February. For one, this will be a prime-time race under the lights, something the fans really seem to love. Second, I'll be running in the colors of my largest associate sponsor, Smirnoff Ice Triple Black, for the first time in race competition this year.

I'll tell you, there's nothing like a sleek, black car burning rubber under speedway lights to get a crowd going. Smirnoff Ice Triple Black has partnered with us for an awesome cause; their sponsorship with Roush Racing and me arose as part of their "Be Smart, Drink Intelligently" program to promote responsible drinking -- an issue I take very seriously and support 100 percent.

This program is getting important information about responsible drinking to not only the great NASCAR fans, but also to those outside the racing world. I am excited that they chose me, a racecar driver, as the spokesperson for this program because I know as well as anyone how important it is to stay in control on the racetrack or in life to perform at your best.

If the second half of the season ends up being as successful as the first, my team and I will have quite a bit to smile about as the series enters its final event at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. As any racecar driver will tell you, there are circumstances within your control and then there is luck. This year, I feel like we've had even luck. We've had a few things go wrong, but then again, as the points leader, I guess you could say we've had a couple of things go right, too. It's hard to complain too much when you're sitting on top of the points standings.

Here's hoping that trend continues through the end of the year.