NASCAR Indianapolis 2014: Matt Kenseth pursuing first Brickyard 400 victory

INDIANAPOLIS -- Matt Kenseth’s first career win came in the Coca-Cola 600. He would later add a pair of Daytona 500 victories and then last year a win in the Southern 500.

All together, Kenseth owns 31 victories at the highest level of NASCAR, in addition to claiming the 2003 Sprint Cup championship. As is, it’s a résumé that virtually ensures Kenseth will one day earn induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

But there is one trophy that still eludes Kenseth: the Brickyard 400. A win Sunday and Kenseth would join Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick as the only drivers with victories in NASCAR’s four majors.

“As far as prestige and places you want to win at and all that, I think the Daytona 500 is one of those that all racers would like to win more than any other race,” Kenseth said Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “I think the Brickyard is probably second in most people’s book, for sure.”

Kenseth came closest to winning Indy in 2006 when he finished runner-up to Johnson. Overall, he has six top-fives and eight top-10s in 14 starts, including a fifth-place effort last year. And based off of practice it appears Kenseth should be a contender Sunday. He was fastest (186.285) in the lone practice session Friday.

“Indy is really unique,” Kenseth said. “I don’t think there’s another track even close to what Indy is like.

“A lot of things have to go right to have a shot here. You’ve seen a lot of different races with different strategies and a lot of things happen here.”

A win for Kenseth would serve dual purposes. Although Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin each have a single victory, Kenseth remains winless. It’s a stark contrast to last year when he entered Indianapolis with four victories.

“Obviously expectations are high,” Kenseth said. “The year really hasn’t been a bad year, we’ve had a bad month there where I wrecked it two or three times and had some other things happen, but we just have been as an organization lacking a little bit of speed.”

But sitting fourth in points Kenseth is in little danger of missing the Chase for the Sprint Cup, even if he doesn’t win. After a slow start to the season for all of JGR, the organization has begun to show strides in recent weeks. Busch has two seconds in the past three races, while Kenseth has finished fourth in the same span. Both drivers were caught up in wrecks in the July 6 race at Daytona.

Kenseth likes the direction of the team and is confident a win will soon occur -- be it at Indianapolis or elsewhere.

“I feel like from a team perspective and execution and all that stuff, we’re probably better than what it was last year,” Kenseth said. “As soon as we get the speed to go with it and have some things to go our way, it’s possible to get on a roll.”

“Every week as an organization we’re getting closer and getting faster and getting stronger.”