{"id":1027,"date":"2011-08-19T08:00:37","date_gmt":"2011-08-19T12:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/?p=1027"},"modified":"2011-08-20T01:40:38","modified_gmt":"2011-08-20T05:40:38","slug":"a-conversation-with-nascar-champion-matt-kenseth-and-his-wife-katie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2011\/08\/a-conversation-with-nascar-champion-matt-kenseth-and-his-wife-katie.html","title":{"rendered":"A conversation with NASCAR champion Matt Kenseth and his wife Katie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click “Like” to share this with your friends!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t confuse Matt Kenseth\u2019s mild-mannered demeanor for a lack of passion. The former Cup Series champion (2003) and Daytona 500 winner (2009) has a smoldering fire in the belly that has fueled his 20 Cup wins and 26 Nationwide (formerly Busch) Series wins in nearly 15 years as one of NASCAR\u2019s premiere drivers.<\/p>\n

In this conversation, Inspiring Athletes had a chance to sit down with Kenseth, driver of the Roush-Fenway Racing #17 car, and his wife Katie to talk about Matt\u2019s reputation, driver safety and the role faith plays in their lives:<\/p>\n

Chad Bonham: You have a pretty good reputation for being levelheaded on the racetrack. How do you do it?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Matt Kenseth takes the checkered flag and the win at the FedEx 400 at Dover International Speedway on May 15, 2011 (Photo courtesy of NASCAR).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Matt Kenseth: I really don\u2019t (stay calm) all the time. I just try to. Part of not just racing but in life, I try not to let the highs be too high and the lows be too low. I try to stay somewhere right in the middle. In racing it\u2019s not always easy to do. You can get too excited or overconfident when things are going good and it\u2019s easy to get too far in the ditch when things are going bad. So I try to keep it even and keep it all in the right perspective.<\/p>\n

Katie Kenseth: Of the two of us, I\u2019m usually the one that gets more fired up. I wasn\u2019t really around when Matt and his dad raced at the short tracks, but from the stories I\u2019ve heard, Matt has always been the one who was calming and saying, \u201cIt\u2019s okay. It\u2019s alright.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bonham: What do you do to try to maintain your integrity?<\/p>\n

Matt Kenseth: I\u2019m far from perfect. There\u2019s a lot of times you\u2019ll say something that you regret or do something that you regret and wish you wouldn\u2019t have said it or done it. But if you try to take a moment and think about it and try to make good decisions and think about the consequences or how the other person might feel instead of just react, that\u2019s probably the best thing to do. In our business that\u2019s kind of hard to do because things happen too fast. But when you at least try to do that, things turn out better more times than not.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Does it seem like your career has gone by quickly or does it seem like you just started yesterday?<\/p>\n

Matt Kenseth: With my personality, I generally don\u2019t like change a lot. I reflect back on things quicker than I should at times. So it seems like it\u2019s gone by really quick. The older you get, the faster it seems to go by.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How has the sport changed since you broke in back in 1997?<\/p>\n

Matt Kenseth: The makeup of the drivers has changed a lot with so many young drivers coming and a lot of the legends moving on. Compared to when I started, it\u2019s gone through a lot of changes. The cars have changed a lot and the approach to racing. There are a lot more employees. It\u2019s become a much bigger business and more corporate.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How much concern goes into your personal safety from week to week?<\/p>\n

Katie Kenseth: There\u2019s been times when I\u2019ve been nervous or worried, but I kind of worry about Matt more when he leaves on his motorcycle or something like that other than his race car. But I just know how lucky he is to do what he loves and the rest, I just put in God\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Matt and Katie Kenseth celebrate Matt's May 15, 2011, FedEx 400 victory at Dover International Speedway with daughters Grace and Kaylin (Photo courtesy of NASCAR).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Matt Kenseth: From the naked eye it\u2019s really hard to watch what you think is bad. A lot of it\u2019s what happens in the car and how much energy is displaced and how fast the car is moving down the track. I believe that when it\u2019s your day (to go), it\u2019s your day. God\u2019s more in control than we are. Obviously you still take all the precautions and safety measures inside your car. When you go through a period like when Dale (Earnhardt Sr.) died and Adam (Petty) died and Kenny Irwin and Tony Roper and those guys, it was a really tough time and you can\u2019t help but think about it You can\u2019t help think about what\u2019s going and that you could be next if you make a mistake. I think everyone is pretty comfortable right now because of the new safety measures but I try to stay in the middle and not worry too much but I don\u2019t want to become complacent either.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How does NASCAR\u2019s support of open displays of faith make it unique?<\/p>\n

Matt Kenseth: We\u2019re one of the only professional sport that has a public prayer before the race and its on TV and all the fans hear it. I think that\u2019s pretty cool.<\/p>\n

Bonham: As a guy who grew up Methodist in Wisconsin, how important is it for you to have access to a ministry like Motor Racing Outreach?<\/p>\n

Matt Kenseth: Chapel services on race day have a calming effect. It\u2019s a nice time for us to worship and try to get the message and hear some music and have a little fellowship together before we get to racing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click “Like” to share this with your friends! Don\u2019t confuse Matt Kenseth\u2019s mild-mannered demeanor for a lack of passion. The former Cup Series champion (2003) and Daytona 500 winner (2009) has a smoldering fire in the belly that has fueled his 20 Cup wins and 26 Nationwide (formerly Busch) Series wins in nearly 15 years…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,382,388,5],"tags":[491,490,489,492,140,494,198,401,10,25,241,24,493],"class_list":["post-1027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-athletes","category-qa","category-racing","category-sports-features","tag-adam-petty","tag-dale-earnhardt-sr","tag-katie-kenseth","tag-kenny-irwin","tag-matt-kenseth","tag-methodist","tag-motor-racing-outreach","tag-mro","tag-nascar","tag-nationwide-series","tag-roush-fenway-racing","tag-sprint-cup","tag-tony-roper"],"yoast_head":"\nA conversation with NASCAR champion Matt Kenseth and his wife Katie - Inspiring Athletes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2011\/08\/a-conversation-with-nascar-champion-matt-kenseth-and-his-wife-katie.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A conversation with NASCAR champion Matt Kenseth and his wife Katie - Inspiring Athletes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Click “Like” to share this with your friends! Don\u2019t confuse Matt Kenseth\u2019s mild-mannered demeanor for a lack of passion. 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Chad is currently working on five new books including Sooner Legacy, Husker Legacy and Lessons From Sooner Football (Cross Training) as well as The Faith of Stock Car Racing (Judson Press). When he's not writing, Chad lends his efforts to various independent television and film projects. He was the coordinating producer for Choosing Life (2010) and Life Happens (2011). Chad is currently serving as producer on a forthcoming documentary about Super Bowl champion Brian Kinchen. 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