NASCAR Cup Series

Kenseth's team continues quest for performance

Published Jun. 23, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

Larry McReynolds

The news is official that Matt Kenseth and crew chief Todd Parrott have split.

You know, last year Matt and then-crew chief Drew Blickensderfer won the first two races of the year. Unfortunately after that, he and Drew struggled together and you could just sense that Matt was still searching for that perfect combination like he had with Robbie Reiser during all those years they worked together. In the short term now, former crew chief Jimmy Fennig, who runs Roush Fenway Racing’s research and development, will step in as Matt’s new crew chief.

Don’t get me wrong, Drew Blickensderfer is a very good crew chief. Heck, he just won the Nationwide race this past weekend with Carl Edwards. Also, like I mentioned, he won the Daytona 500 and the race in Fontana, Calif., last year with Matt Kenseth. Todd Parrott is also a good championship crew chief.

It’s just that Matt takes a very special type person as his crew chief. Understand that it doesn’t make Matt a bad person. He’s a great person and a great driver. He is simply trying to find someone that he can connect with and recreate the chemistry he had with Robbie, who now works in the competition department at Roush Fenway. You have to remember that he and Robbie were together for nine years.

As I mentioned, Matt and Drew set the NASCAR world on fire winning their first two races together in 2009. Unfortunately for both them and the team, it was like things started deteriorating. Now, if you look at the first few races together with Todd Parrott, that group was pretty darn good. They were second in the points and, no, they hadn’t won a race, but they were pretty darn solid. From that, it also seemed to taper off.

Here is the thing: The competition is so tight right now. There are only 10 races left until the Chase for the Sprint Cup starts. So if you are going to make this Chase, you better have your “I’s” dotted and your “T’s” crossed. I think that is why you are seeing this change made now. Evidently this combination is not getting where this team needs to be and so the decision was made to make changes.

Now the X factor is that really none of the Roush Fenway cars are making any noise again this year at all. It would be nice to think that one personnel change on one team would flip things around, but honestly, I am not too sure about that.

Let’s face it, Carl Edwards is in danger of missing the Chase this year. I mean heck, Carl has only led in one race all season. The No. 6 car still isn’t performing up to expectations. Greg Biffle is the best performing Roush-Fenway Ford right now.

The bottom line is I am not surprised by this change on the No. 17 team and I can probably see why they did it. Matt and Robbie had the chemistry. They won a lot of races and a championship together. That’s the chemistry that Matt is still searching for.

Now does Jimmy Fennig bring anything to the table that Todd didn’t? I don’t know about that one. Todd is a pretty darn solid crew chief. Maybe Jimmy brings something new that Matt needs and is searching for.

Now if it were me, the solution would seem pretty clear. Matt has never been as successful as he was with Robbie Reiser as his crew chief. I would be hard-pressed as an owner not to find a way to put those two back together.