Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, leads Matt Kenseth, driver of the #17 Fifth Third Bank Ford, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway on June 30, 2012 in Sparta, Kentucky.
(June 29, 2012 – Source: Chris Trotman/Getty Images North America)

(PhatzRadio / USA Today) — The most harrowing moment on Matt Kenseth’s journey to a second Daytona 500 victory happened before the green flag. Days before, actually.

Riding his Harley Davidson Ultra Classic from North Carolina to Daytona International Speedway for Speedweeks in mid-February, Kenseth was on the outskirts of Jacksonville, Fla., when the rain began and so did the concern about the 30,000 miles on his front tire, which suddenly didn’t feel so stable.

“It was a heavy mist and pitch black, and I couldn’t really see the road, and I’m in the far right lane running like 60 (mph) with people are buzzing by at about 75,” Kenseth said with a nervous laugh. “I’m thinking about that tire the whole time. I was like, ‘Hope I don’t go down.’ ”

When NASCAR came to Texas Motor Speedway two months later, track President Eddie Gossage, a close friend of Kenseth’s, jokingly had a fresh tire sent to the driver’s motor home.

“He had 30,000 miles on the tire; I change mine at 10,000,” Gossage said. “I felt bad for Katie (Kenseth’s wife) because Matt is so cheap.”

The 2003 Sprint Cup champion, who recently had the bike’s front tire reshod just past 30,000 miles, pleads guilty. “I am cheap in a way,” Kenseth said. “But I’m one of these guys who can’t stand wasting stuff. I’m the guy who wears my tennis shoes until there’s holes in them. I just won’t throw them away until they’re absolutely junk. That’s just who I am.”

Much hasn’t changed about Kenseth since he entered NASCAR’s premier series in 2000. He has earned more than $85 million, but the Cambridge, Wis., native remains the same understated personality who embodies his small-town upbringing and eschews the spotlight whenever possible.

Yet his perspective of life on and off the track is different — and seismic changes remain on the horizon — as Kenseth, 40, enters Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona for the second time as the reigning winner of the Great American Race.

Three years ago after his first Daytona 500 win, Kenseth wasn’t the father of two young daughters, and he was struggling mightily through the toughest season of his career (2009 was the only time he missed the Chase for the Cup).

He returns this year as the points leader and the doting dad of Kaylin and Grace (he also as a teenage son, Ross, who has followed him into racing). There has been no post-Daytona 500 slump this year. Kenseth has led the standings the last four races, and he hasn’t fallen below sixth.

Though the standings will be reset for the Chase title run, Kenseth said there is prestige in his team’s hauler being parked next to defending series champion Tony Stewart’s in the garage (where the spaces are ordered according to points).

“Everybody wants to be leading,” he said. “Other drivers can say they don’t give a crap about it, but they’re not being totally honest. There’s still a pride factor, and the points still tell you who has been running best.”

The success hasn’t kept Kenseth from becoming the focus of unwanted attention with last week’s news that he is leaving Roush Fenway Racing at the end of his 13th Cup season with the team. Though his 2013 destination (likely Joe Gibbs Racing) hasn’t been revealed, Kenseth said he has a new deal and expected it wouldn’t detract from his current team.

“It was definitely somewhat stressful not knowing 100% what I was going to do,” he said. “I really feel like it is absolutely the right thing to do and the right place for me next year and my future. It is kind of hard to explain but a lot of things pointed and pulled me in that direction. I think everything is good, and for the rest of the season it is only a distraction if we let it.”

Only vague reasons were given by Kenseth and Roush about the split, which fits with the driver’s low-key style. Despite 22 victories in Cup, Kenseth remains somewhat of an enigmatic workingman’s hero. He doesn’t have the biggest fan base but has a devoted following that appreciates his nose-to-the-grindstone work ethic.

“He’s very unlike your prototypical race car driver,” Gossage said. “He’s very meek, not macho in any way except he drives a car really fast.”

Since Kenseth embraced Twitter last year, there have been more glimpses of his personal side from family field trips to a strawberry patch to the novels he is reading (he prefers the suspense novels of David Baldacci and James Patterson). His dry wit also is often evident, whether in smart-aleck replies to fans or in wry observations. (After struggling in practice in a car with sponsorship from a soap company, Kenseth tweeted that at least “my car smells really good.”)

“Finally, people see his sense of humor,” Gossage said. “He may be he most sarcastic person I’ve ever met. To most, he’s very quiet. To me, I can’t get a word in. He’s always taking shots, always talking around his friends, constantly on the offensive. We’ve talked politics and cars and all kinds of things. He has lots of opinions, but you’ve never heard them.”

Kenseth isn’t reticent to discuss his resurgence on restrictor-plate tracks. The ninth driver to win multiple Daytona 500s also dominated May 6 at Talladega Superspeedway. Kenseth’s No. 17 Ford led a race-high 73 laps before finishing third because of a late mistake.

“I have more confidence going to Daytona than I ever have just because the first two plate races were so strong,” he said. “I looked forward to going to Talladega moreso than any plate races in my career, and I feel the same way about Daytona.”