Kenseth keeps low profile everywhere but on track

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- It has been less than a week since Matt Kenseth claimed NASCAR's biggest championship trophy, the Winston Cup. Yet only a handful of fans even approached him for an autograph in the Homestead-Miami Speedway garage yesterday as he prepared to qualify for tomorrow's season finale.

One fan did speak to Kenseth -- to apologize for bumping into him on his way to get Jeff Gordon's autograph.

If Kenseth, 31, didn't wear his bright-yellow driver's suit with his name in large letters, it's likely he could walk around unnoticed.

"Sometimes we'll go places and people will ask, 'Are you Matt?' and when he answers yes, they'll say, "I thought so, because I recognized your wife,' " said Kenseth's wife, Katie, with a smile.

"Typically, Matt isn't recognized too much. We can be at dinner with three other drivers and fans will come up and speak to them, and as they're leaving you'll see on their face that they've figured out who Matt is. But that's OK."

It's not that Kenseth doesn't deserve attention; he just doesn't command it.

The mild-mannered Cambridge, Wis., native is more dash than flash. He's fast on the track and happily anonymous away from it.

But, Katie Kenseth insists, it's unfair to characterize her husband as boring or dull just because of his quiet demeanor in public.

She notes that he is a practical joker and some people might be surprised to know his favorite musical group is the heavy-metal band Metallica. And Kenseth has been known to cut loose. A passionate Green Bay Packers fan, he started yelling and pumping his fists as a guest in a luxury box during a recent "Monday Night Football" game.

"Everyone else was just sort of turned around and was looking at him," Katie said. "We still tease him about that."

The worst thing anyone can say about Kenseth is that he's a good guy.

"Just because he's good in his personal life and seems to get along with people, the media doesn't want to write about a guy like that," said Gary Hess, 45, of Pittsburgh, a loyal Kenseth fan. "They'd rather focus on bad boys.

"I like that he's a humble person. I like the common man. He's not like Jeff Gordon or someone who thinks they're on a different plateau than the others."

Certainly past champions such as Gordon, Dale Jarrett or the late Dale Earnhardt were more charismatic in their title chase and can be credited with drawing attention to the burgeoning sport. They were comfortable in front of the television cameras, outspoken with the media and thrived in the celebrity status bestowed upon them.

Even last season's champ, Tony Stewart, was more of a household name that Kenseth, although Stewart was known as much for his volatile personality as for his considerable talent.

"A year ago, everyone was worried what Tony might do as champion," NASCAR president Mike Helton said. "This time everyone's worried about what Matt might not do.

"Matt's just been so focused on being a good driver, he hasn't enjoyed the popularity that comes with it. But he will. He just doesn't know what he's getting into. With Tony it humbled him; with Matt it will awaken him."

While Kenseth's fans may embrace his "common man" persona, he's consistently proven he's no ordinary competitor.

His close friend on the circuit, Dale Earnhardt Jr., was supposed to be the driver winning all the trophies. And it's Earnhardt Jr., not Kenseth starring in MTV specials, being written about in Playboy and Newsweek magazines and leading the Most Popular Driver poll. But Kenseth beat out his pedigreed buddy for Winston Cup Rookie of the Year honors in 2000, and it's Kenseth's name etched on the championship trophy first.

"I'm really happy for Matt," Earnhardt Jr. said. "Until you know how hard it is to win and to do what that team did all year, you can't say anything about them winning the championship. They deserved it."

Although Kenseth drove his No. 17 DeWalt-sponsored Ford Taurus to only one victory this season -- at Las Vegas in March -- he has led the points standings all 32 races since. He has 25 top-10 finishes in 35 races and only one Did Not Finish (DNF) with a series-best average finish of ninth place.

His title is the first for longtime NASCAR team owner Jack Roush, whose veteran driver Mark Martin has finished runner-up in the championship four times. It's a source of great pride for both Kenseth and Martin, who discovered Kenseth racing late models in the Midwest and brought him to Roush's attention.

"I've been wrong about a lot of things in life and business," Martin said of his teammate. "but I'm really proud to say that I was right about Matt Kenseth."

It's still unclear how Kenseth will ultimately celebrate his accomplishment following tomorrow's season finale. But it's a good bet he'll do it on his own terms. Maybe even yell loudly and pump his fists.

"I've had all this stuff bottled up inside for the last couple of months. I didn't want to get too excited, so I don't even know what I'll do next," he said.

As far as Kenseth's fans, family and friends are concerned, it's not important how he celebrates his championship, only that he won it by being the best. America may not know who he is yet, but his competition certainly does.

"The world is getting ready to be exposed to Matt Kenseth and Matt Kenseth is about to be exposed to the world," Helton said. "And Matt will do just fine."