NASCAR Marathon Man Matt Kenseth Earns “Six Star Medal” in Tokyo

Even at 51, veteran ex-racer Matt Kenseth hasn’t allowed his joints to rust away. Besides being the competition advisor for Legacy Motor Club, the 2003 Winston Cup champion has now found his way of keeping himself up and moving. And that is by taking part in marathons. Recently, he took part in the “Six Star Medal” event in Japan, and he did pretty well.

The 26.2-mile event on March 3 in Tokyo was a golden opportunity for Kenseth to earn the most coveted marathon award; the “Six Star Medal”, which is an elite honor for runners who take part in the six major marathon events. On completing the race, one would have been inducted into the “Six Star Hall of Fame” as well.

The good news is that Kenseth succeeded in bagging the honor. His father Roy Kenseth posted the picture of the exquisite medal on X (formerly known as Twitter) and wrote, “Matt Kenseth just ran the Tokyo marathon in 3:06:52 to complete the Abbott 6 Majors. Congratulations son.”

Matt Kenseth just ran the Tokyo marathon in 3:06: 52 to complete the Abbott 6 majors. Congratulations son. pic.twitter.com/rhP69PwasO

— Roy Kenseth (@roykenseth) March 3, 2024

Matt Kenseth’s knack for running hails back to his racing days

Since 2019, Kenseth has competed in five out of the six Abbott World Marathon Majors. Among those races that took place in Berlin, London, Chicago, Boston, and New York, his best performance was in London, where his finishing time was a solid 2:58:23. Needless to say, the NASCAR vet is in love with running. So much so, that he stayed away from the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to compete in the 2024 Tokyo Marathon in Japan.

Towards the end of his career, Kenseth started taking a keen interest in fitness activities such as running and cycling. Back in 2014, he had found his knack for running, and right towards the end of his racing career, he started training intensively for running marathons.

Fun fact: Kenseth’s first 5k run was in a fitness event, sanctioned by the Jimmie Johnson Foundation. And all of that has paid off most gloriously. As soon as the post went up on X, the fans started showering him with praise. Every single one of them was impressed at how well the retired legend was doing in his life post-NASCAR.