Dollar General Corporation

300px
Type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: DG
Industry	Discount, Variety store
Founded	1939
Headquarters	Goodlettsville, Tennessee, U.S.
Number of locations	10,000+[1]
Key people	Richard Dreiling, CEO
Products	Low cost items
Revenue	$11.796 billion (2010)
Operating income	$953.258 million (2010)
Net income	$339.442 million (2010)
Employees	79,800
Website	DG.com or / Dollar General.com

Dollar General store in Oscoda, Michigan

Dollar General Corp. is a U.S. chain of variety stores headquartered in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. As of January 2012, Dollar General operated over 10,000 stores^[1] in 40 U.S. states.^[2][3]

The stores were founded in 1939 by Cal Turner in Scottsville, Kentucky as J.L. Turner & Son, Inc. In 1968 the business changed its name to Dollar General Corporation. In 2007 the company was acquired by the private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), which took the company public in 2009.^{[4][dead link]}

Dollar General stores are typically in small shopping plazas or strip malls in local neighborhoods.^{[citation needed]} The stores tend to locate in smaller communities than those where Walmart would go.^[1] The company acquired the 280 stores of the P.N. Hirsh Division of Interco, Inc. (now Furniture Brands International, Inc.) in 1983 and in 1985 added 206 stores and a warehouse from Eagle Family Discount Stores, also from Interco, Inc. In recent years, the chain has started constructing more stand-alone stores, typically in areas not served by another general-merchandise retailer. In some cases, stores are within a few city blocks of each other.

Dollar General offers both name brand and generic merchandise — including off-brand goods and closeouts of name-brand items — in the same store, often on the same shelf. Although it has the word "dollar" in the name, Dollar General is not a dollar store. Many of its offerings are priced at more than one dollar. However, goods are usually sold at set price points of penny items and up to the range of 50 to 60 dollars, not counting phone cards and loadable store gift cards.

Dollar General often serves communities that are too small for Wal-Marts (although many locations are in relatively close driving distance to a Wal-Mart store). It competes in the dollar store format with national chains Family Dollar and Dollar Tree, regional chains such as Fred's in the southeast, and numerous independently owned stores.

Since the turn of the century, Dollar General has experimented with stores that carry a greater selection of grocery items. These stores (similar to the Wal-Mart Supercenter, but much smaller) operate under the name "Dollar General Market".

History[link]

The first Dollar General store opened in Scottsville, Kentucky, on June 1, 1955, the concept was that no item in the store would cost more than one dollar. The idea became a success, and other stores owned by J.L. Turner and his son Cal Turner were quickly converted. By 1957, annual sales of Dollar General’s 29 stores were $5 million. The Turners did not reach this level of success without obstacles. James Luther (J.L.) Turner’s father died in an accident in 1902 when J.L. was only 11. J.L. had to quit school so he could work the family farm and help provide for his mother and siblings. He never completed his education. J.L. knew his limited education demanded that he become a quick study of the world around him. After two unsuccessful attempts at retailing, J.L. became a traveling dry goods salesman for a Nashville wholesale grocer. J.L. left the sales job after 10 years and settled his family in Scottsville, Kentucky. During the Depression, he began buying and liquidating bankrupt general stores. J.L.’s only child, Cal Turner, Sr., accompanied his father to these closeouts at a young age, gaining valuable business knowledge and skills.

In October 1939, J.L. and Cal opened J.L. Turner and Son Wholesale with an initial investment of $5,000 each. Wholesaling quickly gave way to retailing – J.L.’s third and final attempt at retailing. The switch to retailing resulted in annual sales above $2 million by the early 1950s.

J.L. died in 1964. Four years later, the company he co-founded went public as Dollar General Corporation, posting annual sales of more than $40 million and net income in excess of $1.5 million. In 1977, Cal Turner, Jr., who joined the company in 1965 as the third generation Turner, succeeded his father as president of Dollar General. Cal Jr. led the company until his retirement in 2002. Under his leadership, the company grew to more than 6,000 stores and $6 billion in sales.

Acquisition and spinoff[link]

On July 6, 2007, all shares of Dollar General stock were acquired by private equity investors for $22 per share. An investment group consisting of affiliates of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), GS Capital Partners (an affiliate of Goldman Sachs), Citigroup Private Equity and other co-investors completed an acquisition of Dollar General Corporation for a total enterprise value of $7.3 billion.^[5]

As a part of the transition to a privately held company, Dollar General assessed each location at the end of its lease against a model known as "EZ Stores". This assessment included evaluating whether the location had a loading dock, garbage dumpsters, adequate parking, and acceptable profitability. Stores that did not pass this evaluation were relocated or closed. Over 400 stores were closed as part of this initiative.^[6]

In August 2009, the company announced it will file for an initial public offering, turning the company, again, into a publicly traded corporation.^[7] Although the timing of the Initial Public Offering (IPO) was not announced by Dollar General or KKR, Dollar General filed on August 20, 2009 for an initial offering of up to $750 Million^[8] The return of Dollar General to public ownership has been estimated to deliver up to a 30% increase in value to KKR over the two-year period it will have been private, making it a rare gem in KKR's current portfolio.

Motorsports connection[link]

For several years, Dollar General has had a connection with motorsports, particularly in NASCAR. The company is currently the primary sponsor for the #32 Turner Motorsports Nationwide Series team, which is being driven primarily by Reed Sorenson. Dollar General and Turner (formerly Braun Racing) have been partnered together since 2008, with the team previously sponsoring cars for Frank Cicci Racing and Kevin Harvick Incorporated. In 2010 Dollar General sponsored some races in the Camping World Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports with Kyle Busch in the number 18 Toyota Tundra and is the title sponsor for Nationwide Series races held in Concord, North Carolina every fall and Joliet, IL every summer.

Dollar General is also active in the IZOD IndyCar Series since 2008, serving as the primary sponsor for owner/driver Sarah Fisher's Sarah Fisher Racing team, in 2010 both Sarah Fisher and Graham Rahal drove part time for the team finishing 9th at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Sarah also lead the field at the Peak Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway. In 2011 Dollar General will continue to sponsor Sarah Fisher Racing, the team will still be part time but Ed Carpenter (racing driver) will be driving the car for 9 races this season starting at the 2011 Indianapolis 500

DG Brand[link]

Dollar General created its acronym, the letters "DG" as a brand for "inexpensive" household products sold through the Dollar General stores. DG is also the company's NYSE ticker symbol. In 2010 Dollar General was able to outbid the famous Italian Fashion House Dolce and Gabbana that sells very expensive fashion products under another "DG" label in the acquisition of the "DG" symbol as the Internet address. The domain "DG.com" was purchased in a private sale from EMC Corporation, the successor to the defunct Data General computer manufacturer in June 2010, making Dollar General the 107th large company in the world to own their initials as a 2-letter Internet address.^[9] The DG symbol is used by the company for a variety of in-house products like DG Home,^[10] DG Baby,^[11] DG Health and DG Body.

In March 2010, Dollar General announced that it would become the exclusive distributor for Rexall products. Rexall vitamins and supplements had already started appearing at Dollar General stores with a full line of Rexall products followed by Fall 2010.^[12]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dollar General

• Dollar General Website

Aaron Lee Soon Yong (born 7 June 1972 in Malaysia) is a Singaporean prize-winning poet who writes in English.

Aaron began writing poetry during his days at Raffles Institution, a secondary school in Singapore where he befriended other students who would also eventually go on to become published Singaporean writers. By 1990, he had, along with other ex-school mates, Jonathan Kuan Wei Han, Tong Jo Tze, Alvin Pang and Jeffrey Lim, interested a Singapore publisher, VJ Times, in the publication of an anthology of poems contributed by the five writers. This collection, "In Search of Words", was published in 1991.^[1]

Lee's first collection of poems, A Visitation of Sunlight, was named one of the best books of 1997 by The Straits Times.^[2] The collection was well received and played a part in a late 1990s resurgence of interest in Singapore poetry centred around a new generation of Singapore poets.

In 1999 the title poem of his book was selected for the National Arts Council’s "Poems on the Move" programme, a national initiative to bring poetry to the masses on public transport.

Lee’s work has been anthologised in such publications as Rhythms: a Millennial Anthology of Poetry (Singapore), the New Straits Times (Malaysia), Anglistik (Germany), and Fifty on 50 (Singapore).

Lee is the co-editor of No Other City: the Ethos Anthology of Urban Poetry ^[3] and Love Gathers All: the Philippines- Singapore Anthology of Love Poetry ^[4] (for which the editors were given an award by the Singapore International Foundation). He has given talks and readings in Malaysia, Germany, the US, the Philippines and Australia.

In 2007, Lee released his second, long awaited poetry collection, "Five Right Angles".^[5] The book went on to become a finalist in the Singapore Literature Prize awards 2008.

He is active in the literary scene in mentoring young poets and conducting school workshops and seminars on creative writing. He is married to an artist and educationist, Namiko Chan. He is a Christian, and his work displays a range of Christian themes and imagery.

References[link]

1. ^ http://www.thecore.nus.edu.sg/post/singapore/literature/poetry/soonyong/bio1.html, accessed 17 September 2007
2. ^ A Visitation of Sunlight, Ethos Books, 1997, ISBN 981-00-9536-8, http://www.ethosbooks.com.sg/store/mli_viewItem.asp?idProduct=69, accessed 17 September 2007
3. ^ No Other City: The Ethos Anthology of Urban Poetry, Ethos Books, 2000, ISBN 981-04-2276-8

   http://www.ethosbooks.com.sg/store/mli_viewItem.asp?idProduct=79, accessed 17 September 2007

4. ^ Love Gathers All: The Philippines-Singapore Anthology of Love Poetry (PB) , Ethos Books, 2002, ISBN 981-04-5101-6 (PB); http://www.ethosbooks.com.sg/store/mli_viewItem.asp?idProduct=78, accessed 17 September 2007
5. ^ Five Right Angles, Ethos Books, 2007, ISBN 978-981-05-8368-2; http://www.ethosbooks.com.sg/store/mli_viewItem.asp?idProduct=198, accessed 17 September 2007

Matthew Roy Kenseth
Born	(1972-03-10) March 10, 1972 (age 40) Cambridge, Wisconsin, United States
Achievements	2003 Winston Cup Series Champion International Race of Champions XXVIII Champion 2009 Daytona 500 Winner 2012 Daytona 500 Winner
Awards	2000 Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
448 race(s) run over 15 year(s)
Car no., team	No. 17 (Roush Fenway Racing)
2011 position	4th
Best finish	1st – 2003
First race	1998 MBNA Gold 400 (Dover)
Last race	2012 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)
First win	2000 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)
Last win	2012 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles 22 217 7
NASCAR Nationwide Series career
248 race(s) run over 16 year(s)
2011 position	96th
Best finish	2nd – 1998
First race	1996 Red Dog 300 (Charlotte)
Last race	2011 Top Gear 300 (Charlotte)
First win	1998 GM Goodwrench Service Plus 200 (Rockingham)
Last win	2011 Top Gear 300 (Charlotte)
Wins Top tens Poles 26 168 16
NASCAR Canadian Tire Series career
1 race(s) run over 1 year(s)
Best finish	67th - 2002
First race	2002 Canada Day Shootout (Cayuga)
First win	2002 Canada Day Shootout (Cayuga)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 1 0
Statistics current as of May 27, 2012.

Matthew Roy "Matt" Kenseth (born March 10, 1972) is a NASCAR driver. He currently drives the No. 17 Ford Fusion in the Sprint Cup Series for Roush Fenway Racing.

Kenseth started racing on several short tracks in Wisconsin and he won track championships at Madison International Speedway, Slinger Super Speedway and Wisconsin International Raceway. He moved to the ARTGO, American Speed Association, and Hooters Late Model touring series before getting a full-time ride in the NASCAR Busch Series (now Nationwide Series) for his former Wisconsin short track rival Robbie Reiser. After finishing second and third in the Busch Series (now Nationwide Series), he moved up in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series (later NEXTEL Cup Series and now Sprint Cup Series). He won the series' Rookie of the Year title in 2000 and the championship in 2003. The International Race of Champions invited Kenseth to race in their 2004 season as the reigning champion and he won the season championship. In 2009, he won a rain-shortened Daytona 500. He repeated as Daytona 500 winner in 2012.

Early life and career[link]

Kenseth's Sportsman car from Columbus 151 Speedway

Kenseth was born in Cambridge, Wisconsin. He made an agreement with his father, Roy, that Roy should buy a car and race, and Matt would work on the car until he was old enough to race.^[1] Kenseth began stock car racing in 1988 at the age of 16 at Madison International Speedway.^[2] "My dad bought a car when I was 13 and raced it at Madison," Kenseth said. "Neither of us knew much and it was a learning experience. He continued to race in 1988 and 1989. My first car – what might be considered a sportsman – was a 1981 Camaro that Todd Kropf had driven to championships at Madison and Columbus 151 Speedway. On the third night out I won a feature. I ran 15 features in 1983 and won two of them."^[2] "The first night out in the Kropf car Matt won a heat race," said Kenseth's father Roy. "The third night he won the feature by holding off two of the best drivers at the track, Pete Moore and Dave Phillips, for 20 laps. Matt was smooth. I knew then he was going to be a racer."^[2] He ran for the points title on Saturday nights at Wisconsin Dells) in 1989. He finished second in points and won eight features.^[2] On Friday nights, he ran about half of the races at Golden Sands Speedway and half at Columbus 151 Speedway.^[2] In 1990, he bought a late model from Rich Bickle.^[2] In the season-opening race at Slinger Super Speedway, Kenseth inherited the lead and won his only race of the season when track champion Tony Strupp had a flat tire.^[2] He finished sixth in season points and won the track's rookie of the year award.^[2] Kenseth entered fifteen ARTGO events that season and raced in 40 features that year.^[2] After graduating from Cambridge High School that summer, Kenseth worked for four years selling and shipping parts for Left-hander Chassis, a late model racecar chassis manufacturer just south of Wisconsin in Illinois.^[1] In 1991 he won the ARTGO race at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway to become the youngest winner in the series' history.^[2] He passed Joe Shear and Steve Holzhausen, and held off Steve and Tom Carlson for the win.^[2] 1992 was a difficult year for Kenseth. He won three races and blew up more engines than he could count.^[2] He was ready to quit racing after the season.^[2] "I felt we were at a standstill", he said. "I wasn't gaining. My dad and I had some major discussions at the end of the year. We had to find the dollars for a good program or I told him I would rather not race."^[2] Kipley Performance loaned a motor to Kenseth for the season-final race at La Crosse and the team ran better.^[2] Kenseth built a new car for 1993 using a Kipley engine.^[2] He used the car at Madison to win eight features and finished second in the points.^[2] Mike Butz offered Kenseth the chance to race his late model, and it took some time for the combination to stop struggling before they started winning features.^[2] At the end of the season, they won the final short track series race at Madison, La Crosse, and I-70 Speedway.^[2]

The 1994 and 1995 seasons established Kenseth as a short track star.^[2] Kenseth made a name for himself while driving at several Wisconsin tracks, beating nationally known drivers such as Dick Trickle and Robbie Reiser. He raced 60 times in three different cars in 1994, winning track championships at both Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR) on Thursday nights and Madison on Friday nights.^[2] Kenseth competed against Reiser at Madison, and won 12 of 17 features at the track.^[2] He won the 1994 Slinger Nationals at Slinger Super Speedway.^[1] In 1995, he repeated with back-to-back championships at Madison and WIR, plus he won the Red, White, and Blue state championship series at WIR on three Saturday nights.^[2] Butz's wife Patty Butz said "We knew by 1995 that Matt had too much talent to be with us for very long."^[2]

Kenseth decided to move across the country in 1996 to the Southern United States to race for engine builder Carl Wegner in the Hooters Series Late Model championship.^[2] The plan was to run the Hooters Series, five NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races, and five Busch Series (now Nationwide Series) before moving full-time into the Busch Series in 1997.^[2] He finished third in the Hooters Series, nearly winning the series championship as a rookie.^[2] In 1996, Kenseth made his Busch Series debut at the spring race at Lowe's Motor Speedway for Wegner, finishing 22nd after starting 30th in a car rented from Bobby Dotter.^[2] Kenseth was disappointed because they were unable to attract major sponsorship.^[2] "It was just like 1992", Kenseth said. "Plans just didn't work. I thought things would be different. Personally, I had moved and was adjusting to being a thousand miles from home."^[2] At the end of the season, the Wegner/Kenseth team closed, and Kenseth found a ride for Gerry Gunderman's American Speed Association team, who was also Alan Kulwicki's last shop in Wisconsin before moving to NASCAR.^[1] The team raced together for two races in 1997 before Kenseth received a telephone call from a former competitor.^[2]

Nationwide Series[link]

Busch car for Kenseth's first victory

In 1997, racer Tim Bender was injured, and Bender's crew chief/car owner Robbie Reiser hired his former competitor and rival Kenseth to race for him despite having only one Busch start.^[2] Reiser said "Matt and I used to have some fierce races against each other. I needed someone who understood race cars the way I understood them. I knew he could drive and he could talk to me in a manner I could understand."^[2] Kenseth qualified third for the new team's first race. He was racing in third place in the final laps when he spun and finished eleventh.^[2] Kenseth qualified in 20th place for the next race at Talladega in his second time at a track big enough to have a significant draft.^[2] He passed thirteen cars to finish seventh.^[2] Kenseth had two Top 5 finishes during the partial season.^[2] The following year he raced full-time all season. He won his first Busch Series race on February 22, 1998, when he nudged leader Tony Stewart's car entering the final turn of the final lap,^[2] culmulating in a second- and third-place finishes in the Busch points. Kenseth drove the No. 17 Chevrolet sponsored first by Kraft, then Lycos, and most recently by DeWalt.

2007 Busch Series car

Kenseth won the last two races of the Busch season in 2006 driving the #17 Pennzoil Ford Fusion, at Phoenix and Homestead.

In 2007, Kenseth planned to run 23 Busch races to be sponsored by Arby's restaurants (13 races), Dish Network (five races), iLevel by Weyerhaeuser (four races), and Aflac (one race). Kenseth won the Stater Brothers 300 at California Speedway in February and the O'Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway in April.

Kenseth broke an 18 race winless streak as he won the 2008 Nicorette 300 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kenseth's 23rd career series victory came after the series was renamed the Nationwide Series. On lap 104 at the 2009 Aaron 312 on April 25, Kenseth took a wild ride flipping over 3.5 times, sliding on his roof, then completed a fourth flip. The car burst into flames, and Kenseth walked away.

Kenseth won the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 at Darlington Raceway in 2009. Kenseth led only the last four laps of the race – three of them under caution – after Busch had to pull into the pits due to a flat right-rear tire during the penultimate caution period and just as the race was about to get into a green-white-checkered finish.

On May 28, 2011 Kenseth won the Top Gear 300 at Charlotte. Kenseth, filling in for Trevor Bayne, passed Roush Fenway teammate Carl Edwards with two laps to go to win his only Nationwide Start of the 2011 season.

Sprint Cup Series[link]

Won at Daytona 2012 Kenseth made his Winston Cup series debut in 1998 at Dover, Del., filling in for Bill Elliott who was attending his father's funeral on the day of the race. He finished sixth, the third best debut of any driver. The last driver before Kenseth to debut with a top-10 finish was Rusty Wallace in 1980 with a second place finish in Atlanta.

2000–2005[link]

In 2000 Kenseth's entire team joined the Roush Racing organization, where they beat out Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to win the Raybestos Rookie of the Year. He won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, and is still the only rookie to win the famed 600 mile event. He went on to finish 14th in points with four top 5s and 11 top 10s.

In 2001 Kenseth finished 13th in points with four top 5s and nine top 10 finishes. Robbie Reiser and the DeWalt pit crew won the Unocal 76 World Pit Crew Competition.

In 2002 Kenseth won the most races (five) and one pole, but inconsistency caused him to finish eighth in the final points. His wins came at Rockingham, Texas, Michigan, Richmond and Phoenix. The DeWalt team won a second Unocal 76 World Pit Crew Competition.

Kenseth's 2003 Winston Cup trophy

The car that Kenseth won the 2003 championship in

In 2003 he dominated in the points standings for almost the entire season and became the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup champion, the last driver to ever hold that title. In so doing, he also became only the second Wisconsinite to win the championship (the late Alan Kulwicki was the first, in 1992). Kenseth also had a series best 25 top 10 finishes.

• Began with a 20th-place finish in the Daytona 500, but quickly sped to the front. Fresh off his only win of the season at Las Vegas, Kenseth took the point standings lead after a fourth-place finish at Atlanta in the season’s fourth week. He never relinquished the top spot, remaining No. 1 for 33 consecutive weeks, and setting a new modern-era record for most weeks at No. 1. The previous mark was 30 weeks, set by the late Dale Earnhardt during his first title season of 1980.
• Clinched the 2003 series crown with a fourth-place finish at Rockingham on Nov. 9, in the season’s penultimate event. Finished with a 90-point margin over runner-up Jimmie Johnson.
• Displayed amazing consistency during his title run,spending 35 of 36 weeks in the NASCAR Top 10.Only week outside that elite group came after a 20th-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500. Finished with one win, 11 top fives and a series-high 25 top-10 finishes.
• Became the fifth different champion in five years, and the third consecutive former Raybestos Rookie of the Year to win the series title.

In 2004 Kenseth won the International Race of Champions (IROC) championship. He qualified for the inaugural Nextel Cup, finished eighth in the final NASCAR point standings.Finished with two wins, those coming back-to-back early in the year at Rockingham and Las Vegas. His win at Rockingham was a photo finish with eventual Raybestos Rookie of the Year Kasey Kahne. He also won the All-Star Race. Began the 10-race Chase in fifth place and finished eighth. ... One of only four drivers to be ranked in the top 10 all season.

Kenseth started the 2005 season with relatively poor finishes but had a strong mid-season run. He rose from the 24th place in championship points after fourteen races to eighth after twenty six races, and he qualified for the Chase for the Cup. He finished seventh in the final points standings with one win coming at Bristol. Kenseth made his 200th career start. His totals after his first 200 starts were: 1 championship, 10 wins, 40 Top 5s, 85 Top 10s, 1 pole position, and more than $28.5 million earnings. He also led a career high 1,001 laps.

2006–2010[link]

Kenseth's car at a Detroit Lions practice

Kenseth had a fast start to the 2006 season. He led early in the Daytona 500, but then spun out after contact with Tony Stewart. He fell down two laps, but rallied back to a 15th place finish. Kenseth won the following race at California Speedway. He was the points leader after the eighth race at Phoenix. He won the Dover spring race by racing from sixth to the front in the final 60 laps. He made the winning pass over teammate Jamie McMurray with three laps left. With the season winding down into the last dozen races, Kenseth won the Sharpie 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway – securing his spot in the chase for the Nextel Cup. He finished the year with winnings of $9,524,966, his take for second place.Only spent one week outside the top 10 (finished 15th in seasonopening Daytona 500). ... Was either first or second in points for 27 of 36 weeks. ... Led 1,132 laps, second among all drivers.

In the second race of the 2007 season Kenseth won the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway. After Jeff Gordon wrecked out of the Coca-Cola 600, Kenseth was left as the only driver to complete every lap this season until he was wrecked out of the Citizens Bank 400 at Michigan where Ryan Newman was trying to get one of his 3 laps back. The wreck also ended Kenseth's streak of 13 consecutive top-15's this season. Kenseth won the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 18, 2007. The race was the final event under series title sponsor NEXTEL, and the final race using the templates originally based on the 1964 Holman Moody Ford Fairlane template.Finished fourth in series points. ... Finished in the top 10 in the standings for six consecutive seasons, tied with Jimmie Johnson for the most. ... Won two races – Auto Club (February) and Homestead. Won at least one race in six consecutive seasons. ... Led a lap in 20 different races, leading the most in four of them.

Kenseth's car in Manhattan

In 2008 Finished 11th in series points. Top finish was second at Dover on Sept. 21. Had five top-10 finishes during the Chase. Ended streaks of winning at least one race in six consecutive seasons and finishing in the top 10 in the standings in six consecutive seasons.

In 2007, Kenseth finished fourth in the point standings in the NEXTEL Cup Series. Kenseth won two races, the Auto Club 500 and the Ford 400, and earned $6,485,630 in winnings. he also won an additional 100,000 dollars from his sponsor, Safeway

Kenseth started toward the back for the Daytona 500 and worked his way to the lead and led 2 laps, but soon after his own teammate, David Ragan, would squeeze him into the wall, knocking both out of contention and resulting in a finish of 36th.

In the Goody's Cool Orange 500 Kenseth started 28th, but finished 31st. Kenseth was held a lap for pitting outside of his box early, but later was spun out by David Gilliland and was held for 2 laps for intentionally wrecking him back. Despite that, Gilliland finished 24th.

Kenseth failed to win a race in the 2008 season for first time since 2001. Matt Kenseth won the rain shortened 2009 Daytona 500, passing Elliott Sadler mere moments before the caution came out on lap 146 as the result of an accident on the backstretch between Aric Almirola and Sam Hornish, Jr.. The red flag was later waved and subsequent end of the race, 152 laps in, followed, giving Kenseth his first Daytona 500 victory, and the first Daytona 500 Victory for his owner Jack Roush after 20 years as a car owner.^[3] He led only 1 green flag lap (of 7 laps led), after starting the race in 43rd. It was Kenseth's tenth attempt at "The Great American Race".^[4]

Kenseth won the second race of the season, the (Auto Club 500), to become the fourth driver in NASCAR history to follow up a win at the Daytona 500 with another win the following race.^[5] Kenseth's bids for a third straight victory went south after engine failure at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Kenseth flipped his car during the April Nationwide Series Race at Talladega. Kenseth won in the Nationwide series for his 24th win at Darlington. He also won the pole at Darlington in the Sprint Cup Series, setting a new track record in the process.

It was announced before the Indianapolis race that DeWalt was going to drop its sponsorship with Kenseth. Crown Royal will take over its sponsorship in 2010 for 35 races. Valvoline has announced sponsorship for another 3 races. (Includes non-points races)

After finishing 25th at the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond, Kenseth was bumped out of the Chase by Brian Vickers. This will leave Jimmie Johnson as the only driver to have made the Chase every time since its inception in 2004.

In 2010, Following the Daytona 500 Drew Blickenderfer was released from his duties as crew chief of the #17 team. Todd Parrott was announced as his replacement. Later in the year Parrott was replaced by Jimmy Fennig.

2011-2012[link]

On March 4, 2011 Kenseth captured his fifth pole of his career setting a new track record at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

On April 9, 2011, Kenseth snapped 76 race winless streak at Texas Motor Speedway by winning the race.

On May 15, 2011, Kenseth tamed the concrete monster, winning the Fedex 400 benefitting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway. For most of the day it appeared as Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson had the cars to beat. On a late caution, Kenseth and crew chief Jimmy Fennig called an audible in the pits and decided to go with two tires instead of the four. That proved to be all the difference as Kenseth won for the second time in 5 races.

On October 15, 2011 Kenseth won the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway for his third win of the season. Kenseth's 2nd Championship hopes went south after several altercations with Brian Vickers. This later carried on into Phoenix where Kenseth was officially knocked out of the championship. He finished 4th in points behind Stewart, Edwards, and Harvick.

Kenseth at 2012 Kobalt Tools 400

On February 28th, 2012 Kenseth won the 2012 Daytona 500.^[6]

Criticism[link]

After the 2003 season, Kenseth's championship became a source of controversy and criticism. Critics of the Sprint Cup points system, most notably Roger Penske, pointed out the flaw in having a driver who won only one race out of 36 winning a championship. Additionally, the fact that Kenseth led the points standings for an unprecedented 33 weeks despite only having the one victory, as well as already having clinched the Sprint Cup title with one week to go in the season (rendering the final race in essence a non-event) led to discussions on how to prevent Kenseth's feat from happening again.

As a result, 2004 saw the implementation of a new points and playoffs system titled "The Chase for the Nextel Cup" after Winston was replaced as primary sponsor of NASCAR's top series by NEXTEL. In essence, the system created a 10 race playoff, with only the top-10 drivers in points after the first 26 races competing for the championship. Moreover, the system placed an emphasis, and a points premium, on wins. As a result, the term "The Matt Kenseth Rule" was coined to describe NASCAR's adoption of the current points system. NASCAR acknowledged that the 2003 championship outcome was not the driving factor in establishment of The Chase, as it had been researching methods to adjust the points system to put more emphasis on winning races since 2000. However, the coincidence of the commencement of the new format in 2004 and Kenseth's 2003 championship linked the issues, and were even referred to by NASCAR officials in the interviews and press releases following the announcement of the new format.

Personal life[link]

In 2000, Kenseth married Katie Martin, also from Cambridge. Kenseth has a son named Ross from a previous relationship. Matt and Katie's daughter Kaylin Nicola was born July 6, 2009.^[7] Ross raced a legends car for one year in Wisconsin before starting in limited late model racing as a 14 year old.^[8] As a 16-year-old, Ross won the 2009 championship in the Big 8 Series, a late model touring series in Wisconsin and northern Illinois.^[9] He qualified the second fastest for the Snowball Derby in December 2009.^[10]

Kenseth's fan museum

Roush Fenway Racing hired Kenny Wallace to stand by at Daytona, as Katie was expecting her second child. Grace Katherine Kenseth was born February 22, 2011.

Matt and Katie have four cats, one named Lars after Lars Ulrich of Metallica (Kenseth's favorite band), one named Charlotte after the site of Kenseth's first Sprint Cup win, and the most recent additions, two kittens, one named Miley and one named Sulley. The Kenseth cats have been featured in NASCAR pets calendars to raise money and awareness for Humane Societies and animal charities. Kenseth has also been featured on a READ poster for the American Library Association. In addition, he is a licensed private pilot with multi-engine and instrument ratings. The Kenseths currently reside in North Carolina.^{[citation needed]}

Kenseth operates a racing museum in his hometown of Cambridge which features cars, trophies, firesuits, helmets, and other memorabilia from his amateur and professional career. The museum features one of his early stock cars, the car where he won his first Busch race, and the car in which he clinched the 2003 Sprint Cup. His sister, Kelley Maruszewski, manages the museum and its retail store while also running his official Fan Club.^{[citation needed]}

Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Statistics[link]

Data as of November 21, 2011.^[11]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikinews has related news: Matt Kenseth wins 2011 NASCAR Samsung Mobile 500

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Matt Kenseth

• Official website
• Matt Kenseth at Racing Reference