Matt Kenseth insists 2013 Joe Gibbs move won't hurt his NASCAR Sprint Cup title push
Matt Kenseth does not believe his NASCAR Sprint Cup championship chances will be compromised by his departure to Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the year
The 2003 champion was finally confirmed as a JGR driver on Tuesday following months of speculation about where he would drive next season, having announced he was leaving Roush Fenway back in June.
The 40-year-old is set to be part of this year's Chase, along with at least one of his Roush team-mate as stablemate Greg Biffle currently leads the points.
"I don't think it is going to make any difference at all to what we are trying to do this year, I really don't." Kenseth said of his team switch.
"I don't know why it would. My team has known that I was going somewhere else for a few months.
"I don't think that is going to change things. All your incentives are to try to do good no matter what your plans are for the following year. All our incentives are to win races and try to win the championship."
The two-time Daytona 500 winner says he is glad he can now speak freely about his future.
"It was nice to finally do the announcement and not have to say I didn't have to talk about it yet for every single week," Kenseth says.
"I have spent time thinking about it but it felt more real after we made the announcement and got that done.
"It gave me a day or two to kind of think about how fortunate I have been through my whole career and get a chance to go try something different with a top-notch team. In a way it is kind of scary and in a way it is exciting. I am excited about both."
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