Matt Kenseth will return to the Superstar Racing Experience on 10 August when he races at Eldora Speedway.
The 2003 NASCAR Cup Series and 2004 International Race of Champions winner, Kenseth ran the final three races of the 2022 SRX season and impressed with third-place runs in two starts. The second came at Sharon Speedway, a dirt track, while he ran the other dirt race at I-55 but finished at the back after a crash.
While he is more than savvy on pavement, the two dirt starts were not his first foray into the discipline. From 2005 to 2011, he competed in the Prelude to the Dream late model race at Eldora, organised by SRX founder Tony Stewart, with a best finish of fifth in 2009.
“The first time I ever raced on dirt was Eldora, it was at Tony’s Prelude to the Dream,” said Kenseth. “My background was all asphalt racing and I remember how much fun I had that night, and said if I could go back and do anything different it would have been to race dirt earlier in my career.”
Since ending his NASCAR career after 2020, Kenseth has mainly done grassroots racing and even the Boston Marathon. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in January.
“Having you back at Eldora was a goal, each race on dirt you got better and better, and perhaps the best is yet to come,” added SRX CEO Don Hawk. “Matt’s humble, hungry and smart and were lucky to have him back with SRX this summer.”
Other part-timers racing at Eldora include IndyCar’s Tony Kanaan and NHRA’s Ron Capps.