WINSTON CUP Kenseth remains low key as he nears championship

By TERRY BLOUNT
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
DALLAS -- A list of things Matt Kenseth shouldn't do in the next few days:
Parachute jumping. Bull riding. Trapeze practice without a net. Skateboard down Turn 1 at Daytona. Celebrity competitor on the WWE Smackdown.
A few of those daredevil activities might be fun, but save it for later.
For now, just stay healthy and out of trouble. That's pretty much all Kenseth needs to do to collect that $4.25 million check as the 2003 Winston Cup champion.
"There are two races to go and we have a real healthy lead," Kenseth said. "It can never be enough, but I feel good about it."
Typically understated by Kenseth, but the odds are heavily in his favor unless he fails to start one of the final two events. So any unnecessary risks off the track would be the worst decision he could make.
Not to worry. Kenseth didn't get where he is by making bad decisions. And he isn't prone to taking unnecessary risks, which may seem like an odd statement in describing a race-car driver.
Kenseth is different. He lacks a lot of the characteristics of the men he competes against, and that's not all bad.
He doesn't have the charisma of Dale Earnhardt Jr., the temper of Tony Stewart, the immaturity of Kurt Busch, the panache of Kevin Harvick, the polish of Jeff Gordon or the daring of Ryan Newman.
Has consistency
What Kenseth has that many of the others don't is the ability to drive a Winston Cup car at the front of the pack week after week without making mistakes.
He also has the discipline to control his emotions and do his job well in highly stressful situations. And he has the intelligence to understand what it takes to be the best at what he does.
Kenseth, 31, is as close to the image of the apple-pie American boy as you ever will find. He's the small-town guy from Cambridge, Wis., (population 1,100) who worked hard and made it big in what he loves to do.
He married a hometown girl, Katie, who didn't know a thing about racing when they met. She loves to make fun of her husband's low-key image. Katie wore a T-shirt to a race earlier this year that read: "What's-his-name is good to me."
Kenseth isn't flashy. He doesn't give reporters colorful quotes to fill up their notebooks. But the people close to him, including Katie, say Kenseth is not the boring loner others make him out to be.
Doesn't seek spotlight
Kenseth is quiet, but he isn't shy and doesn't shun the spotlight. He just doesn't go looking for it.
Success and media attention haven't changed him. Kenseth is the same guy who starting racing on Wisconsin dirt tracks at age 16 in a car his father bought for him to work on three years earlier.
He is the pride of Cambridge. The local establishments now have two TVs for patrons to watch every Sunday -- one showing the Green Bay Packers and one showing the Winston Cup race.
The Wisconsin faithful hope to see their native son clinch the Winston Cup title Sunday at Rockingham, a place where he won last year and finished third earlier this season.
Kenseth may become only the second driver in the modern era, and the first in 30 years, to win the title with only one victory. Benny Parsons did it in 1973 when David Pearson won 11 races.
Kenseth knows the championship isn't about winning races. It's about consistency, which is his top asset. Kenseth has finished in the top 14 in 31 of 34 races this year.
Suggested strategy
Now he only needs to do what he has done all year -- be patient and race smoothly near the front of the field.
It's the reason Kenseth is leading Earnhardt Jr., who has been a friend and rival for six seasons. Earnhardt topped Kenseth for the Busch title in 1998 and 1999, but Kenseth will be the first of the two to win a Cup championship.
Kenseth can't match Earnhardt's popularity or his flare for drama. Those aren't goals for Kenseth. It's fine with him if people say he's boring, just as long as they also say he's the champion.