Mark Martin and Jack Roush brought Matt Kenseth into NASCAR's top rank nearly 20 years ago. On Wednesday they brought him back.
Kenseth, who gave Roush's team its first Cup title and two Daytona 500s, will rejoin Roush Fenway Racing this season for a partial schedule in its flagship No. 6 Ford, the team announced in Charlotte, N.C.
He was introduced by Martin, who initially brought Kenseth to Roush's attention in the late 1990s.
"You kind of know when something feels right," said Kenseth, who has been sidelined since the end of last year after spending five seasons at Joe Gibbs Racing.
"To come back and hopefully help Jack, who has done so much for my career, hopefully get Roush Fenway Racing better again ... I definitely feel like they're trending the right direction.
"RFR is on an upswing. It's a good challenge for me, and really not just the driving part but the rest of it, too, to hopefully get in there and get my hands dirty and try to evaluate what we can do better."
Matt Kenseth through the years
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Kenseth spends time in the Chicagoland Speedway garage during practice for the 2017 Tales of the Turtles 400.
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Kenseth poses after his first late-model feature victory, July 15, 1988, at Columbus 151 Speedway.
Kenseth family collection
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A 22-year-old Kenseth poses for a photo before a late-model race at Madison International Speedway.
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Kenseth and fellow driver Randy LaJoie share a laugh with Kenseth's team owner, Robbie Reiser, before the 1998 NASCAR Busch Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
Russ Lake
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Kenseth and the Reiser Enterprises crew celebrate his first Busch Series victory, the GM Goodwrench Service Plus 200 on Feb. 21, 1998, at the North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, N.C.
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Kenseth waits to get into his Busch car during the Daytona Speedweek in 1999.
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Matt Kenseth and crew chief Robbie Reiser wait in the Busch Series garage at Daytona in 1999.
Russ Lake
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Mark Martin chats with Matt Kenseth in the garage of Darlington Raceway in 1999. Kenseth, then a Busch Series regular, drove in relief of Bobby Labonte that weekend, racing a Winston Cup car for the first time.
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Winston Cup rookies Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. talk in the garage area before qualifying for the 2000 Daytona 500.
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Kenseth drives to victory at California Speedway in the Busch Series in 2000. He would win 29 times in the division from 1998-2014
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Kenseth poses for pictures after his 2000 Busch Series victory at the California Speedway
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Kenseth (right) and fellow Wisconsinite Dick Trickle lead the field out of the fourth turn at the Lowes Motor Speedway, to take the green flag for the start of the All Pro Bumper to Bumper 300 on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2000.
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Kenseth celebrates with a burnout after winning the 2000 Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway for his first Winston Cup victory.
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Kenseth sprays Coke in victory lane after his first Cup win.
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Kenseth's 2001 portrait.
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Kenseth's Roush Racing crew performs a pit stop at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2001.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. leads Kenseth at Martinsville Speedway in 2001, their second season in NASCAR's top division.
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Kenseth talks to a crew member as he gets in his car before practice at Daytona International Speedway in February 2003.
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Kenseth chats with Jimmie Johnson in the garage at the Kansas Speedway in 2003. Neither had won a championship at that point, but Kenseth won that season and Johnson would win the first of his seven three years later.
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Kenseth has a quiet moment with his wife Katie before the Pop Secret 400 at the North Carolina Speedway, near Rockingham, N.C. By the end of the race he was the Winston Cup champion.
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Race winner Bill Elliott congratulates Kenseth for clinching the 2003 title.
Kenseth's first Cup start came as a fill-in for Elliott in 1998.
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Kenseth's crew cheers its driver after they won the Winston Cup title Nov. 9, 2003.
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Kenseth is the center of attention after he clinched the Winston Cup series championship with a fourth-place finish at Rockingham.
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Kenseth hoists his championship trophy.
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Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre shakes hands with Kenseth before the Packers-Philadelphia Eagles game Nov. 10, 2003, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
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President George W. Bush is presented a jacket by Kenseth during a ceremony with NASCAR drivers on the South Lawn of the White House on Dec. 2, 2003.
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Kenseth and his wife, Katie, wave to fans along Main Street as they are honored with a parade in his hometown of Cambridge on Dec. 27, 2003, after his won the title.
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Kenseth and his father, Roy, stand near the sign showing the exterior of the his fan club store on the west side of Cambridge at groundbreaking on Feb. 26, 2004.
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Kenseth and Roush crew members check over his Nextel Cup car during a private test at the Milwaukee Mile in 2004.
Michael Sears / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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Kenseth celebrates a Busch Series victory in Loudon, N.H., in 2004.
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Kenseth and Tony Stewart collide in Turn 1 during the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge at Lowe's Motor Speedway in 2006.
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Kenseth congratulates former teammate Jeff Burton on Burton's victory in Dover, Del., in 2006.
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Kenseth (17) leads early in the special "all-star" event at Madison International Speedway in 2006.
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