July 27, 2005

By Rebecca Gladden

Prior to Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 in Pocono, Matt Kenseth was asked about an on-track incident with Jamie McMurray that occurred the previous week in New Hampshire.

Matt Kenseth

His answer was stunning.

While indirectly related to the situation with McMurray, Kenseth took the opportunity to drop a few bombshells about his status at Roush Racing - including the possibility that he might leave Roush when his contract expires at the end of the 2006 season.

McMurray was interviewed first in Pocono and acknowledged that Kenseth had called him earlier in the week to discuss events in New Hampshire. "We haven't talked yet," said McMurray. "He tried to call me on Monday, but I was so upset, I figured I'd wait a week or so before I talked to him. You just have to put that out of your mind and go on."

Kenseth was then asked what he would have said if McMurray had answered his phone call. "You always want to work things out, you know. He will probably be a teammate in a year or two. He might be, but he might not be. You know, he's starting in '07. My deal (with Roush) is done in '06. We might be teammates. We might not. But you want to be able to work together with people. I'm gonna be the senior driver at Roush after Mark's gone. I never got asked or anything about who they should put in (the 6 car). I learned about it at NASCAR online.

"You definitely want to have a teammate you can work with and work things out. I think he's gonna need as much help from me and the 16, the 99 and 97 as we're gonna need from him. Hopefully, we can talk and work it out. If we can't, we can't. I did my part and I tried, and I haven't heard from him."

Prior to Kenseth's interview, the biggest question at Roush Racing was whether Mark Martin would return to the 6 car in 2006, since McMurray most likely will be fulfilling his contractual obligation at Ganassi through the '06 season. The more important question now could be whether Kenseth can overcome the resentment he apparently feels about McMurray's hiring and his lack of participation in the process.

Jamie McMurray

The two drivers have a history of bad blood, including a tangle at Bristol last season in which McMurray spun Kenseth on pit road after the race had ended, earning McMurray a $10,000 fine and five months of probation from NASCAR. Still, it was unlike Kenseth to put the 42 in the wall just 27 laps into the race. Kenseth got a 10th-place finish on the day, while the wreck left McMurray in 40th place and dropped him out of the top 10 in points.

"I just basically ran him over," Kenseth said after New Hampshire. "It was all my fault. I was racing him hard and I was giving him a lot of room. He ran over my left front off the corner and we were real close getting into Turn 3. I was just too close to him. I knew I was too close.

"I was a little mad he ran over my fender there, so I was staying close to him. Just my fault. I misjudged it and just plain ran him over. I feel bad about that. You never want to wreck anybody, and never want to see anybody hit the wall with the chance of getting hurt. I feel really bad about that and it was 100 percent my fault."

For his part, McMurray was unmoved by Kenseth's explanation. "After the race last week, I just wanted to find him so I could punch him. It would have made me feel better," McMurray said on Saturday at Pocono. "It just takes time for me. I will talk to Matt, but I know if I talk to him now it won't come out right.

"I don't believe you should ever wreck anybody intentionally," he added.

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN. Although we may not always agree with what is said, we do feel it's our duty to give a voice to those who have something relevant to say about the sport of auto racing.