12 Questions with Matt Kenseth

Jeff Gluck | USA TODAY Sports

Our series of weekly NASCAR driver interviews continues with 2003 Sprint Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth, who is currently 10th in the point standings for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Q: If NASCAR allowed you to listen to music while you were racing, would you want to?

A: At certain times I would. At Daytona I definitely would have, since I was wrecked and had to ride around all day and there was nothing else really to do, especially at a plate race.

You never really get bored in a race car, because you're always concentrating on stuff. But at a restrictor plate race when you're wrecked and riding around or like at Pocono when you're 10 laps down with a broken transmission, those would be good times to be able to listen to music or communicate with somebody else.

Would you prefer music to pump you up or would this be soothing music?

Usually when I'm mad, I'd rather listen to angry music than soothing music. So probably more heavy metal, some Metallica or something.

Q: Where did your first paycheck come from?

A: Well, when I was a kid, I mowed all the neighbor ladies' lawns, but they always gave me cash. So the first real paycheck was when I worked at Cambridge Hide and Fur when I was in high school (in Wisconsin). It was kind of a gross job, but I was sizing mink furs.

Sizing furs? What does that involve?

Well, they're just all in a big bin and they're already dried and tanned and all that stuff. You basically take them out and lay them on a table that has a bunch of marks on it, then whatever size they are you throw it in that bin.

Wow.

It was really, really great work. It was awesome. (Laughs)

Q: Who is an autograph you got as a kid that seemed to be a big deal to you at the time?

A: The only ones I ever really got was at the local short track, when I'd go out and sit up in the stands and watch my uncle and all the guys race. They used to have these Old Style Frisbees — Old Style the beer — and they'd autograph them and throw them up in the stands. So I got a few of them from the local guys who used to race out there at Jefferson Speedway. Those were on my wall for a long time. I might still have one or two of them somewhere.

Q: Where's a place you've never been that you'd like to go visit?

A: I'd like to go on an African safari.

Q: Do people ever accuse you of being addicted to your phone?

A: (Smiles) Yes, they have.

Do you agree?

Well, the person who accused me was a real old guy, so…

I see. So you don't get that a lot.

I don't get it a lot, because my wife (Katie) is on it more than me and (son) Ross is on it more than me. So I'm probably that guy to everyone else, where I think everyone else is on it too much.

I like to tell Katie that most of the time it's work,, which most of the time it is, because I'm texting Jason (Ratcliff, his crew chief) or somebody. But yeah, I think everybody these days are on their phones more and more and addicted to them somewhat.

I just feel like I'm less addicted than most of the people around me, but they might not all agree.

Q: If a genie promised you a championship in exchange for never being able to do your favorite hobby again, would you accept that offer?

A: Well, how could I win a championship if I can't race?

I guess that would be a problem if your favorite hobby is racing.

I don't believe in genies, so that's a tough one to answer.

You haven't seen all the science behind genies?

Sorry.

PHOTOS: Behind the wheel with Matt Kenseth

Q: What's your preferred method of dealing with an angry driver after a race?

A: I'd prefer not to have any drivers angry with me after a race. (Laughs)

Well, what if they are?

It depends on your personality. Everybody is different. You're always going to have disagreements with other drivers, unless you're not competitive and you never run good. I deal with everybody differently. Most guys, I have a lot of respect for and I'd like to keep it that way. So I try to communicate with them, maybe the next week or whatever, and try to find some common ground.

Q: Do you ever get mistaken for another driver or celebrity?

A: Yeah, people mistake me for Kevin Harvick all the time.

Seriously?

Yeah, and he's told me the same thing. And this isn't something that just happened; it's been that way since he came in the sport, like 14 years.

The first time I remember hearing it, I was at Milwaukee, of all places — about an hour away from where I grew up. I was running an (Xfinity Series) race and he was in it, and he had his all blue ACDelco stuff and I had my sponsor stuff and people were still convinced I was him.

And that has continued for your whole career?

I still get it once in awhile. I was flying to Las Vegas for that tire test (in January) and I was waiting by the ramp to walk onto the plane and this guy came up and said, "Hey man, you're Kevin Harvick." I'm like, "No, I'm not." He's like, "Yeah, you are." I'm like, "No, I'm really not." He's like, "Well then you must be his brother because you look just like him!" I said, "No, I'm really not him and I'm not his brother."

So I got on the plane and flew to Vegas and we were getting off and the guy came walking up to me. He said, "Hey, I've been thinking about it the whole flight; I got the wrong guy. You're Matt Kenseth, aren't you?" I said, "Yeah, that's me."

He was a really nice guy and I talked to him for a long time. It turned out he was a big race fan who lived in Vegas. But yeah, I get that once in awhile.

Q: If you had a time machine and you could travel to any year and race, where would you go?

A: I don't know what year exactly, but back in the day when there were tons of different owners and rules were a lot looser and you hear stories about people cheating and all that, it'd be fun to be back there. Nobody really understood aerodynamics and it was more about setups and who built the biggest motor.

It'd be fun to go back and be part of that, back when there wasn't so much coverage and phones and social media. Back when everybody was just dirty and greasy and working in the garage and it was just about trying to beat that guy and that's all you cared about, and the rest of it didn't really matter.

Q: Would you rather have the ability to fly or be invisible?

A: How about fly invisibly?

Well, I guess you could make that an option.

I gotta say it would be really cool to fly, but being invisible would come in really handy sometimes, too. I don't really want either one of them, but being invisible would be kind of fun until it's not. Like you'd be standing there and somebody is talking bad about you and you'd get your feelings hurt.

Q: I've been asking each person to give me a question for the next interview. The last interview was with Ryan Reed, and he wanted to know: What was the biggest difference in going from Roush Fenway Racing to Joe Gibbs Racing?

A: Does he want to leave already? Why's he asking that? (Laughs) I'm just kidding.

Just the way it was structured a lot differently. It was more individual race teams and it was so, so big.

Q: And do you have a question I can ask the next driver?

A: Sure, but you'll have to get back with me when you know who it is.

Q: Finally, how did this interview go on a scale of 1-10?

A: Oh, a 10.

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck

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