Kenseth win is tough sell in NASCAR’s big event

The 2003 NASCAR champion is regarded as one of the good guys.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Matt Kenseth is not boring or bland. Get to know him a bit, and one might find he’s actually rather funny.

Sure, he’s a bit quiet in a crowd. But the driver with a dry wit is also calm, consistent and a very classy NASCAR champion.

He just won’t sell any tickets.

That’s the conundrum NASCAR faces following Kenseth’s win in Sunday’s rain-shortened Daytona 500. It was a popular victory inside the garage, where the 2003 NASCAR champion is regarded as one of the good guys.

Outside of that bubble, though, Kenseth is no threat to challenge Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s reign as most popular driver. Fans will never root against him the way they do Kyle Busch, and, it’s a good bet unproven 18-year-old Joey Logano will draw more interest than the well-established Kenseth.

And interest is what NASCAR needs more than anything, particularly as the sport moves West this week into the less-than-enthusiastic Los Angeles market.

A thrilling Daytona 500 finish and a dynamic winner would have been akin to a winning lottery ticket for Gillian Zucker, who try as she might just can’t catch a break as president of beleaguered Auto Club Speedway. Give her Junior, Jeff or Jimmie to parade through her market all week, she might be able to move some tickets.

Instead she’s got Kenseth, a guy so steely that the rare emotion he showed after the victory likely will be the lasting image of this year’s race.

It isn’t fair, though, for anyone to be disappointed by Kenseth’s victory or the anticlimactic end to NASCAR’s version of the Super Bowl.

Calling the race 115 miles short of completion was not ideal for anyone, particularly for a sanctioning body desperately needing a strong kickoff to the season after months of economic turmoil. NASCAR, despite the strong health of the overall organization, is saddled with a “the sky is falling” perception because the economic crisis has hit some independent team owners harder than others.

The only stimulus package with any shot at settling the storm is on the track, where good, hard racing can cure most ills.

Some may use the Daytona 500 as an example to avoid this weekend’s race in California, maybe even write off the entire season. But tuning out because Kenseth isn’t exciting or weather spoiled the day isn’t fair.

The show will go on, NASCAR will guarantee that, and maybe just maybe, next week will be a little bit better.