If you ask any seasoned NASCAR fan about the modern legends of the sport, two of the names that would come pretty high on everyone’s lists would be of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth. Both drivers made their Cup debut in the year 2000. Both Junior and Kenseth are NASCAR Hall of Famers. But unfortunately, another commonality between them is an unwanted record they share between them.
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That record is of drivers scoring over twenty top 10 finishes in a season and still finding themselves outside of the top 10 point standings. This is something that has only happened to Junior and Kenseth in the entire history of NASCAR. And not just once but twice.
Earnhardt had 20 finishes inside the top 10 in 2012 and 22 in 2015 but finished in 12th place in both seasons. Kenseth had 20 finishes inside the top 10 in 2008 and 2015, but finished in 11th place and 15th place, respectively.
Dale Earnhardt Jr and Matt Kenseth are the only 2 drivers in NASCAR history to score 20 or more top 10s in a season and finish worse than 10th in points more than one time.
Dale Jr (2012 & 2015)
Kenseth (2008 & 2015) pic.twitter.com/YvsnuU5Vvx— Trey Ryan (@TreyRyan99) January 16, 2024
Despite being rivals on the racetrack, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth share a good friendship
It’s no secret that Junior and Kenseth are pretty close friends even though they raced against each other every week for almost a decade. Junior opened up about his friendship with Kenseth in 2017, revealing the “great friendship” they share.
“We cycle a lot on Fridays together and he jokes all the time; when we found out about the news about Amy’s pregnancy he joked that he was angry he didn’t get a text from me before he read about it on social media,” Earnhardt said as per Autoweek. “So, that is the kind of friend he is. He expects to be one of those guys that you text when you have that kind of news and I love that about Matt and I love that he thinks that is our friendship that we have.”
And apart from being good friends, Junior also holds Kenseth in pretty high regard as a driver as he said of the 2023 Hall of Fame inductee, “I had always been impressed with his talent and his ability.”
For Earnhardt, Kenseth was “as good a driver as anybody,” during his time in NASCAR.
