Report: Matt Kenseth returning to Roush Fenway Racing, will split time in the No. 6
By Nick Tylwalk
SB Nation says the official announcement of Kenseth’s return to the team that gave him his Cup Series start will come during a press conference on Wednesday.
If you thought the NASCAR Silly Season began early in 2017, it’s apparently not even waiting until All-Star Race weekend to get fired up this year. Not when Matt Kenseth, who was for all intents and purposes retired against his will, is ready to make a comeback soon.
SB Nation cites multiple sources while reporting that Matt Kenseth is returning to Roush Fenway Racing, with an official announcement to be made on Wednesday. He will take over the No. 6 Ford currently driven by Trevor Bayne but compete in only a partial schedule for the remainder of the season, with Bayne continuing to drive the car in some races. However, the report phrases Bayne’s workload as “rounding out the races Kenseth does not compete in,” making it sound like it will be mostly Kenseth’s ride the rest of the way.
The 46-year-old Kenseth got his first full-time NASCAR Cup Series seat from what was then simply Roush Racing for the 2000 season, He won a championship in 2003, but never repeated the feat before moving to Joe Gibbs Racing, where he competed for five years before finding himself unceremoniously out of a ride following the 2017 campaign.
Bayne has driven the No. 6 full time for Roush Fenway racing, but the 27-year-old former Daytona 500 champion has never placed higher than 22nd in points and is off to his worst start for the team through eight races, and it couldn’t come at a worse time since teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is slowly but steadily trending in the opposite direction. He is supposedly signed through 2019, so it will be interesting to see if this spurs him to perform better or crushes his confidence.
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Kenseth’s first race in the 6 will supposedly be at Kansas in just a few weeks, so keep an eye on how this development affects how Roush Fenway Racing looks going forward.