Fast friends: Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth are rivals with vastly different images and backgrounds, but that doesn't stop them from hanging out together and admiring each other's work

Sporting News, The, May 10, 2004 by Lee Spencer

The tables turned quickly when Kenseth and Earnhardt graduated to Cup full time in 2000. Each driver retained his Busch crew chief, Robbie Reiser for Kenseth and Tony Eury Sr. for Earnhardt. DEI had to expand to a second team to accommodate Earnhardt, but Kenseth's owner, Jack Roush, had a five-car stable.

Earnhardt got his first Cup win in the seventh race of the year, at Texas. Kenseth got his first victory five races later, at Charlotte. He finished the season 14th in points, two places ahead of Earnhardt, and captured Rookie of the Year honors.

Earnhardt says his Busch ride "was already a ready-made championship team through the efforts of Steve Park, Jeff Green and my father." And beyond the success that brought him in Busch, it also had implications at the next level.

"Our first year in Winston Cup, we never listened to anybody," Earnhardt says. "It was that pride and ignorance that cost us at times. There was a lot of hard work that we weren't expecting, and there are a lot of things we needed to know that we didn't, and we're just getting to a point where we're starting to figure it out."

Kenseth adapted to Cup cars at a rapid pace. He and Reiser have similar racing backgrounds, which is a big boost to communication. Although Kenseth is not good at qualifying, his knowledge of cars enables him to make calls throughout a race that improve the ride. One of his top resources is his pit crew, one of the best in NASCAR. His team grew stronger each season, culminating in the championship last season.

Earnhardt had the same crew that raced in the Busch Series, but the pressure of Cup racing quickly caught up with it, and its infighting was well publicized. Pit performance was erratic during Earnhardt's first three years in Cup. It improved last season, helping him finish third in points.

By observing Kenseth, Earnhardt has become more consistent.

"We keep running well," Earnhardt says. "We keep putting up good finishes even when we don't have a great car, like at Texas. We struggled all day to get the car running well, and we ended up with a top five. Those are the things we saw Matt do last year and couldn't figure out how.

"We've been really lucky a lot of times with a mistake here and a mistake there and caught a break, and those are the kind of seasons you need to win a championship. We just keep getting better."

Other titles await the class of 2000's star students. As Kenseth and Earnhardt continue to grow, so too, will their rivalry--and their friendship. Chances are good that Kenseth and Earnhardt will have each other to rely on.

"When I look at Matt and he looks at me, it's just dude to dude," Earnhardt says. "Matt's one of the few people who doesn't see that (superstar) side of it. He doesn't care. It doesn't matter to him. It's been a great friendship."

E-mail staff writer Lee Spencer at lspencer@sportingnews.com.