A couple of weeks ago I tweeted out a question, “Is Matt Kenseth a NASCAR Hall of Fame driver?” I can tell you the vast majority of the responses indicated that Matt would get in on the first ballot.
If you just break down the numbers it would appear he is a layup. Matt has 25 career wins. That means he’s tied for 23rd on the all-time win list. Matt sports a Sprint Cup title and two Daytona 500 trophies. Oh yeah, and just for good measure he’s got 26 Nationwide Series wins, that’s 7th on the all-time list.
Matt doesn’t draw a lot of attention to himself, and in today’s world of endless self-promotion that’s very refreshing. The truth is that Matt has built a great track record but he is often overshadowed by drivers with bigger personalities but with much less talent.
I had the pleasure in 2000 of calling Matt’s first career win in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. I would like to say that at the time I saw a future Hall of Famer, I didn’t. In the time since then, Matt just keeps putting up the numbers while others grab the headlines. I’m pretty sure that Mr. Kenseth is going to add to his totals. He could easily win another 10-20 races and a couple of more titles before he hangs up the helmet.
Is Matt Kenseth a future NASCAR Hall of Famer? You bet he is. With Matt Kenseth you may not get a lot of sizzle but you get a lot of steak!