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2003 NASCAR Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth was selected to be in the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Wednesday. Kenseth was voted into the hallowed portals by a group of 10 nominees by the NASCAR Hall of Fame voting panel, which was organized physically for the first time since 2019. He led the Modern Era vote by 69 percent.
During the interaction with NBC Sports, Matt Kenseth said that he did not think about the Hall of Fame voting except for the last two days. He went on to say that he was doing yard work when his wife Katie was looking at things on her phone, letting him know that he had just been selected for the 2023 NASCAR Hall of Fame Class.
Adding that it was a huge honor to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, Kenseth expressed his excitement at being a part of that elite group, saying:
“I mean, I haven’t really thought about it much except for the last two days I got to be honest I actually thought about it a fair amount. So, but you know me well I was actually out doing some yard work with Kailyn and came in and Katie was watching the thing on her phone, so I got to watch. You know, it’s really just a huge honor to be in consideration to start with then to get voted in obviously that’s you know quite the honor. So don’t really know what to say, you just know I’m excited to be in that group and bolted in.”
Later, the 50-year-old Cambridge native celebrated the achievement by making dinner for his daughters.
Matt Kenseth’s reaction to being inducted into NASCAR Hall of Fame
Matt Kenseth, who won the Rookie of the Year honor in 2000, has made 687 Cup Series starts and managed to win a total of 39 races. In his two-decade-long career, he won the 2009 and 2012 Daytona 500 and claimed one victory each in the Southern 500 and Coca-Cola 600.
During an interview on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Kenseth expressed his feelings after entering the NASCAR Hall of Fame, saying:
“It feels good. It’s obviously a huge honor just to be on the list or to be under consideration, but to be voted in really means a lot to me. It’s kind of like the bookend of your career.”
Kenseth will officially be inducted into the 2023 NASCAR Hall of Fame in a ceremony on January 20, 2023.
