OFFICIAL: Kenseth Leaving Roush After 2012, Replaced By Stenhouse Jr

Matt Kenseth will leave his longtime No. 17 car after the 2012 season

After more than a decade, 22 wins, two Daytona 500's and a Cup Series title, Matt Kenseth will move on from Roush-Fenway Racing and his familiar No. 17 Ford at the concluion of the 2012 season. This means that Ricky Stenhouse, Jr, who won the 2011 Nationwide title for Roush-Fenway and is in the hunt for this years crown, will replace him for the 2013 season.

"Of course I'd like to thank Matt Kenseth for his many years of loyal service," team co-owner Jack Roush said in a team press release. "Matt has been an integral part of this organization for well over a decade, and we are extremely appreciative of his accomplishments and contributions to the team, and will always consider him a part of the Roush-Fenway family."

Kenseth won this year's Daytona 500

Kenseth, the current Sprint Cup points leader, took to Twitter to thank his team and assure his fans that their focus will not change.

 "I am very thankful to Jack Roush for the opportunities he's given me over the past 14 years. Together we have enjoyed a lot of sucess," he tweeted. "And as a team, we are commited as ever to the remainder of the 2012 season and chasing a third Sprint Cup title for Jack and RFR." When the term "lame duck" was mentioned, Kenseth stated "Darien and Tony proved to us last year that there is no such thing as a "lame duck" team or season. We will continue to go to work and race hard."

So why would a champion driver like Matt Kenseth leave the only team he has ever known?

Well the biggest reason was undoubtedly money. The Ford powwerhouse just negotiated a five year extention with Greg Biffle and his sponsor 3M last season. They also ponied up some serious money to retain the services of driver Carl Edwards, which also meant that many of the team's other sponsors, such as UPS and Best Buy, migrated to the No. 99 team to help offet the tremendous cost.

Roush has funded most of Kenseth's 2012 season out of his pocket. They only have Best Buy on board for nine races, Zest Soap and Fifth Third Bank for four races each and Valvoline for a few races. The rest of the year, Kenseth will run a Ford EcoBoost scheme in favor of a blank car. So with no new sponsors on the horizon and after footing the bill for a few races last season as well, it has become evident that Roush simply cannot afford to keep Kenseth around anymore. A youngster like Stenhouse will drive for much cheaper, which will keep sponsorship costs down and Roush will save millions.

Whether the car stays numbered 17 or is rebadged with the 6 Stenhouse campaigns in the Nationwide Series remains to be see. The No. 6 has been Roush's flaghip Cup Series car since Mark Martin made his name driving it in the 80's an 90's

Kenseth has said he has a team for the 2013 season, but which team will that be?



Ricky Stenhouse, Jr will get his chance
in Cup in 2013

All signs point to Kenseth joining Joe Gibbs Racing next season, but it is uncertain if he will drive a fourth car or if he will take over the No. 20 Home Depot Camry driven by Joey Logano. Logano has been with JGR since 2007 and has won in everything he's ever driven for them. But once he moved to Cup, his sucess suddenly stopped. He has two wins in three years driving the No. 20 car and he has finished no better than 16th in points and his contract is up at season's end.

Meanwhile, Home Deopt has seen their biggest rival, Lowes, win race after race and five consecutive Cup Series titles from 2006 to 2010. The home improvement giant won two titles and 33 races with Tony Stewart, but have had almost nothing to celebrate with Logano at the helm. So with a driver of Kenseth's caliber on the market, it would be suprising if they didn't jump at the chance to sign him up. And why would Kenseth move from a ride with RFR with limited funding to a fourth car at JGR with none while Logano gets his fifth chance in the No. 20 car?

Should Kenseth move into the famous, orange No. 20 car, Gibbs will either place Logano in a fourth Cup car or give him a full-time Nationwide ride to run for a championship.

It had also been rumored that Kensteh would move to Penske Racing, since they will be moving from Dodge to Ford next year. That is, until Ford Racing Director Jamie Allison released a statement saying "All of us at Ford are certainly dissappointed to hear that Matt will be leaving, and he will certainly be missed by us and the Ford Racing fans," all but ending any talk of that move.

This move is a win-win for everyone involved. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr gets his big break in the Sprint Cup Series, Matt Kenseth moves to a championship caliber ride and Joey Logano gets a chance to run for his first Nationwide Series title. All we can do is speculate until Kenseth's new deal is announced, but his moving to JGR makes the most sense for everyone involved.