Kenseth looks for Daytona double.

Matt Kenseth kicked off the 2000 NASCAR Busch Series season by clinching a win in the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway, now he's hoping for a repeat this year.

Kenseth drove to victory lane last February in just his third Busch Series race at the 2.5-mile oval. After starting eighth, Kenseth capitalized on pit strategy late in the race. The Visine Racing Team put four fresh tires on his Chevrolet during the final pit stop on lap 104, while all other drivers who pitted opted for a quicker two-tire stop.

Four fresh tires enabled Kenseth to manoeuvre to the front of the field, making a pass to take the lead with only one lap remaining. Kenseth led 14 laps en route to recording his first superspeedway win.

In 2001 Matt Kenseth, Clay Rogers and Boris Said will split driving duties in the Visine Chevrolet. Kenseth, who captured the 2000 Winston Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title, will drive in approximately 20 races, and the 20-year-old Rogers, a product of the USAR Hooters ProCup Series, will drive in approximately 12 races.

Said, a road-course specialist is scheduled to pilot the No. 17 Visine Chevrolet at Watkins Glen International in New York in July.

Russ Strupp took over as crew chief last July. Just nine races after taking the helm, Strupp guided the Visine Racing Team to its third win of the season at Dover Downs International Speedway in Delaware.

The team also grabbed the top starting position and won the following race at Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte, N.C. Strupp, a Wisconsin native, has been working with team owner Robbie Reiser since the early eighties, when Reiser began his driving career in Wisconsin.

The Visine Racing Team tested at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama to prepare for the NAPA Auto Parts 300. On Jan. 31, Clay Rogers got behind the wheel at Talladega, testing for the first time with Reiser Enterprises. Rogers drove the No. 17 machine to a fast lap of 183.589 mph in 52.16 seconds unofficially around the 2.66-mile track. The test session continued on Feb. 1 with Rogers turning all of the test laps for the Visine Racing Team. Matt Kenseth did not participate in the two-day test session.

"I'm real interested to see how the car runs when we unload at Daytona," said Kenseth. "We'll try and do the same things we did a year ago as a team to put the No.17 Visine Chevrolet back in victory lane. We're going to take that winning approach to every race we compete in. We need to put our car in a position to win every time we get on the track."

"It's going to be hard to win back-to-back races at Daytona," commented Russ Strupp. "It's especially tough when you're at a speedway like Daytona. You're always depending on where you are the last lap because you have to be near the front at the end. Qualifying doesn't mean a whole lot, but you'd like to qualify up front. It all depends on how the car handles because Daytona's a handling track."