ROCKINGHAM, NC. (November 9th, 2003) - Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 DEWALT Tools team won the 2003 Winston Cup Championship today with a fourth place finish at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham. Going into the event, there were several scenarios, which would have resulted in the clinching of the title, but one fact was clear-Kenseth needed to leave the track with a 186-point lead over the second place points finisher in order to win it all. He left with a 226-point lead. His fourth place finish was his 11th top-five finish of 2003 and his 25th top-10 of the year-still a league-leading statistic.

The weekend was full of anticipation and the team got things kicked off with a third place finish in the Union 76/World Pit Crew Championship on Saturday. Though they had won back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002, the team's 17.456-second effort still got them a podium finish. Earlier on Friday, Kenseth qualified in 23rd position at the track where he had four straight top-10 finishes.

As the race got underway, Kenseth held a cautious line in traffic and fell back to 30th by lap 24. He reported that the car was tight off the corners and many cars found the high line favorable when passing him. Just ten laps later, the car had stabilized and Kenseth reported that the car was coming around. He began to move forward in the field-all the way back to 20th on lap 72 when the first caution flag waved.

Kenseth came down pit road for four tires and an air pressure adjustment. He restarted the race from 19th on lap 81. Two laps later, Ryan Newman got booted by Jeff Gordon, causing Kenseth to check up. He was promptly plowed from behind by Tony Stewart. "We just got hammered," Kenseth radioed to the crew. Luckily, the hit was directly square to the rear bumper and didn't cause any real or lasting damage. It didn't, however, keep the crew's hearts from skipping a beat.

Robbie Reiser brought the car down pit road on lap 85 to check for damage and change four tires and Kenseth restarted the race in 26th place. Within the next 20 laps, there were three separate cautions for incidents involving multiple drivers. "It's like walking around in a minefield out here," radioed Kenseth.

The team was able to get a long green flag run on the subsequent lap 117 restart. By the time the next caution flag flew on lap 155, Kenseth had made up a couple of positions and was running in 22nd place. After another four-tire stop, Kenseth restarted 20th on lap 160. The longest green flag run of the day paid off as Kenseth rocketed all the way up into the top-10 for the first time of the day on lap 223.

Things got interesting as the next pit cycle began. Many of the lead lap cars had already ducked onto pit road, including second place points car, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Kenseth was on his way to pit road on lap 242 when the caution flag waved. Kenseth quickly and wisely shot back onto the track before heading down pit road, but NASCAR penalized Kenseth for passing the "commitment line" of the pit entrance on his way in. Even still, Kenseth was now one of six cars not a lap down in the running order. Earnhardt, Jr. was caught on pit road during the caution and lost a lap that he never regained-all but handing the day to Kenseth in the process.

With the laps winding down, Kenseth made the most of the fortunately timed caution. Another long green flag run ensued just when the DEWALT team needed it. Kenseth moved up to fifth place with just 100 laps to go in the 393-lap event. Though the light at the end of the tunnel was becoming brighter, Kenseth continued to be all business on the track. He implored the team to make the car turn better in the center of the corner for the final run.

Kenseth never again fell out of the top-five running order for the rest of the day. As lap after lap wound down, the No. 17 DEWALT Tools pit stall became more and more crowded with cameras and media personnel seeking to witness Roush Racing's first ever Winston Cup Championship in over 15 years of trying.

One final caution flag on lap 374 tightened up the field again. NASCAR turned them all loose for the final time with just 11 laps to go. Kenseth was running third, but gave up a position in the final laps to a hard charging Jeremy Mayfield. Crossing the line in 4th place as the checkered flag flew, 31-year old Matt Kenseth of Cambridge, Wisconsin became the final Winston Cup Champion.

Immediately, two Winston sponsored pickup trucks descended upon the pit stall to pit up the DEWALT crewmembers. From there, they took a victory lap with Matt Kenseth bringing up the rear in the No. 17 DEWALT Tools Ford-having won the title in just his fourth full year on the circuit.

Afterward, a subdued Matt Kenseth spoke to millions of fans from the front stretch along the start-finish line:

"It's unbelievable. This is beyond my wildest dreams. I never thought I'd ever have the opportunity to sit in one of these cars, much less be the champion. I'm just so appreciative to my team, my owners, and my sponsors, everybody that puts this thing together. I'm just real lucky. There are thousands of race car drivers out there that I'm sure could do a better job than I have and not many people get this opportunity. I'm just thankful to be in good equipment with good people working on it."

Did you dream this would ever happen when Robbie called you in 1997?
"No. I actually had a big internal fight with myself. I was racing ASA up in Wisconsin and I had never pulled back on any of my promises before and I had to quit the ride I was driving to go down and take that chance. I felt like at the point I was in my career and my age that I had to do it. I thought it was my last chance. Robbie said, 'Well, we can run four races or so and see how it works out,' and I just moved all my stuff down there and went after it. I've just been fortunate that it's worked out since that day."

You're compared to David Pearson on and off the track. Your thoughts on that?
"That's a cool comparison. I never got to race with David or watch him race very much, but I've learned a lot from Mark Martin. He's taught me a lot on when to race and when not to race. I don't do a good job at it all the time, but I sure try to be there at the end. He's taught me a lot about that and he's been a real big part of this."

How will you celebrate?
"I have no idea. 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 to do next."