A few months back during the NASCAR Media Tour in January, I asked Matt Kenseth whether he has an internal clock regarding his exit strategy.
"I haven't really thought about the time I would allot myself," he said. "I love what I'm doing. I feel like I'm as competitive as I've ever been. Won a lot of races last year and was in championship contention again. I haven't really put any thought into a number or anything at all."
Fast-forward to late April. Questions are getting asked again. It's not fair, of course. But we live in a world of reaction and instant over-reaction. NASCAR is a weird beast of nature, anyway, where the difference between success and failure is predicated on quirky variables.
Kenseth qualified second at Bristol last weekend, only to drop way back in the pack with right front tire issues. Kenseth finished 36th and is now 18th in the Cup standings.
It's only a small sample size, but after eight races, Kenseth has only one top 10 finish. Is it possible that the finish line _ the inevitable one _ is closing in on Kenseth, the 2003 NASCAR season champ as well as Daytona 500 winner in 2009 and 2012?
"I have to be totally honest with you and you may not believe me, but I haven't really thought about it that much for myself just because I feel incredibly good, I'm driving I think for arguably the best team in the sport, love the guys I'm working with and we're still really competitive," he told reporters last week in Bristol after qualifying.
Now 44, Kenseth is in his 19th Cup year, and as he noted, has shown no signs of decline until the recent turn of events on the heels of the controversial dustup with Joey Logano last season. Overcome by retribution and payback for previous incidents, Kenseth intentionally took out Logano's car in Martinsville, leading to a two-race suspension. He finished 15th in points.
But he's been superb in previous seasons. And unlike other sports, NASCAR allows a driver a great deal of wiggle room into their 40s.
"This sport clearly isn't nearly as athletic as those other sports, so with your body you don't have to throw a football 50 yards and you don't have to be able to dunk the ball and run hard for an hour," the Wisconsin native said. "You don't have to be able to do that stuff. You can look around the garage and see there's some people in great physical shape and some that probably aren't in such great physical shape and both groups win races and win championships. I think it's a little different. I'm thankfully not to that point yet."
As with most things, there are extenuating circumstances for Kenseth's performance issues. Spotter Chris Osborne missed the start of the season while recovering from multiple injuries suffered in an automobile crash. He didn't return until the race in Martinsville on April 3.
"Matt Kenseth is as good a race car driver as he's ever been," said NBC Sports NASCAR analyst Kyle Petty. "If I look at the first six or seven races, realistically he could have won two or three of them. They are just having bad luck. They've made some mistakes. But Matt Kenseth is still probably better than he's ever been. I still think he's going to be one of guys you need to beat to win the championship this year."
Either way, Kenseth doesn't seem to be preoccupied with others _ you, me, Petty or the next person _ casting judgments and observations. It has been, and continues to be, a great ride.
"No matter what happens, it's been awesome," he said. "Like Jeff (Gordon) has been able to do and Tony (Stewart), there's a few lucky ones that can obviously let them race as long as they want because they've earned it and they can do it on their own terms. Yeah, if you had a choice, that's what you want to do."
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