FORT WORTH – Ross Kenseth has earned a second opportunity with Hattori Racing Enterprises, as the son of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Matt Kenseth will drive for HRE in the Nov. 14 NASCAR XFINITY Series DAV 200 race at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway.
“I’m really excited and thankful for the opportunity Shige Hattori has given me again,” said Kenseth. “I feel like having the experience from Martinsville will help a lot, we didn’t really get the finish we deserved but that’s Martinsville. Pat Tyson (crew chief) and Bobby Burrell have put a lot of time and effort into this program going into Phoenix, so hopefully we can come out of there with a solid run.
“They have been really supportive of me and believe in me and that goes a long way, especially when it’s just our first XFINITY Series race together.”
After successfully making his NASCAR XFINITY Series debut earlier in the season at Chicagoland Speedway, Kenseth was given an opportunity on Oct. 31 to make his truck debut driving the No. 18 AISIN Toyota Tundra for owner Shigeaki Hattori.
While a botched qualifying strategy worked against them at Martinsville, Kenseth steadily climbed from his 25th place qualifying run and battled brake issues to finish a respectable 17th lead lap finish.
“Brakes were an issue on long runs, at the end i was on the bottom with Erik (Jones) and felt we were going to run top-10, then last two restarts we got stuck on the top,” said Kenseth. “I felt so much is out of your control, if you get stuck on top there isn’t much you can do.”
Kenseth will be sponsored by Goodyear of Japan for his second XFINITY Series start of the season.
He finished sixth after starting second in Joilet for Joe Gibbs Racing on June 21.
The elder Kenseth isn’t expected to watch his son race in person, as he will finish serving the second and final two-race suspension handed down by NASCAR for an on-track incident involving Joey Logano at Martinsville on Nov. 1.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
