NASCAR will have 16 drivers competing for a championship when the playoffs begin this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway. One of those drivers is 2003 champion and 45-year-old Matt Kenseth. We had a chance to catch up with Kenseth on a variety of topics including clinching from the garage, Danica Patrick, stage racing and a little football prior to Sunday's big race.

On the Richmond ambulance incident 

Q: So it's been awhile since you won that first (Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) championship in 2003, I'm sure you're excited for a shot at another one but before we get onto that, for those who have been living under a rock for the past week, on Saturday an ambulance blocking pit road forced you to run into the back of Clint Bowyer, which inevitably knocked you out of the race. I'm not curious as to what NASCAR did wrong, or anything like that, because I think that's obvious, right? I'm just hoping you can walk us through what was going on in your head before the crash and then obviously when you went into the care center because as sports fans, at the time, that was the biggest playoff story in NASCAR.

A: "Uh yeah, it was a very odd situation for sure. You know they just should have closed pit road obviously. They tend to beg us to stay out of the way, so just, uh, trying to get caught up to get back to pit road and seeing that thing out of the corner of my eye and at the same time everybody gauge the brakes out, I can't get slowed down in time, got into the back of the car in front of me and that was the end of our night."

Q: So what were you thinking while you were in the care center afterwards. I saw you put out a really awesome tweet but I was just wondering what was going through the mind of Matt Kenseth at that point?

A: "Is this satellite radio…? I'm just kidding, haha, you know just, you know frustration in kinda going to the care center after just uh barely hitting the nose and knocking radios. That was a little insult to injury, so you're trying to just be as polite as you can and get through that and just kinda wanted to watch the end of the race to see if we were gonna be in or out."

On the playoffs and competition this year

Q: Gotcha. Well you are in, and big chance for you to make some waves this weekend at Chicagoland, obviously a track where you've had success before with a win (2013). Just curious, do you feel like you have an advantage over anyone else?

A: "Ah man, I don't know you know I feel good about going to Chicago. I feel like all our Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas have been pretty fast here lately. Chicago's a really great racetrack, it's one that I've really enjoyed and I've looked forward to going to. I feel like we're going to be competitive, obviously we gotta go there and do the work and do the right things and get the result but I feel good going there. I feel like we all have some confidence and I'm looking forward to going there and seeing what we got."

Q: Right, and you talk about competition. There's been a lot of it this year with (Martin) Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson. I just wanted to know what are your thoughts on the competition this year heading into the playoffs and what does it mean to have your current teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch in the playoffs with you, if anything?

A: "Yeah, I mean every season you kinda think that the competition can't get any tougher, it seems to get, you know, tougher and we seem to be closer to the same speed every single year, so certainly it's very competitive. A lot of cars are very close to the same speed and there's a lot of great race teams, everybody's pit stops are really fast on pit road, a lot of great drivers, so the competition is definitely tough. You gotta do all the right things and have things go your way to be able to pick up the win. It seems like the days where your car's a little bit faster than everybody and you just go pass everybody, pass behind them and pass them back, it seems like those days are kinda over. It just seems like you gotta do everything perfect to be able to get those finishes, so for sure right now competition's really tough."

On stage racing 

Q: And even with that, stage racing has played such a big part this year, especially in Truex's success. You have three stage wins this year. I'm curious about your thoughts on stage racing and whether or not you're at an advantage given you have those three stage wins this season.

A: "Yeah, you know it's definitely added another element to the races, definitely with strategy and with the end of those stages trying to get those stage points. It certainly added another element, another twist, another thing you're kinda racing real hard for so I think overall it's been a positive and it's been good."

Whether or not Danica is a NASCAR Hall of Famer

Q: Yesterday, a lot of things came out of media day, and something that I noticed was Kurt Busch. He talked about Danica Patrick and how she's a potential (NASCAR) Hall of Famer in his eyes. What are your thoughts on that and do you agree?

A: "Man, I don't know about a Hall of Famer. I don't know what goes into choosing who's in the Hall of Fame or not, I mean certainly she's been the most successful woman driver in NASCAR probably ever, but she's still been racing here a long time and hasn't been able to win a race or put up some of the numbers. There's going to be people that have much better numbers ahead of her that probably don't get in, so I don't know about the Hall of Fame thing, how you look at that, but certainly she's made a big impact on the sport. She's very popular, she's very marketable, she's ran pretty competitively at times, so certainly she's been a great addition and NASCAR will miss having her there."

On his beloved Packers

Q: Well, appreciate having you on Matt. We wish you luck in the playoffs and before you go, I just wanted to get your predictions on your Green Bay Packers. I know you're a Wisconsin guy. What do you think, Super Bowl this year or what?

A: "You know, I'll tell you,you look at the schedule and it's a tough schedule this year. I was encouraged watching them play against Seattle this last weekend. Their defense looked real good. Seemed like they had a lot of energy, you know offense was real fast. It's a tough test this weekend going back down to Atlanta after that devastating loss from the championship game and a new stadium down there, so I'm real interested to see how they do so tonight. It was definitely encouraging to see how good they looked last week. I look forward to watching them, I think they have a great coach and obviously Rodgers is a great quarterback and you know they have a lot of tools there, so it'll be fun to watch them get to the Super Bowl again for sure."

On his future

Here's what Kenseth had to say on Wednesday's NASCAR media day event per Toyota PR.

Q: Anything for next year at this point? Are you looking, talking, signing deals?

A: "No, nothing really to report there. I mean, honestly I know I keep saying this, but it's true. I'm just focused on the next weeks. We got a good opportunity here still. So I don't know what's going to happen in 2018. But there's a lot to worry about yet in 2017 with 10 races to go, being in the Playoffs. Really that's my focus right now."

Q: You're okay with calling 2017 your final season if that happens?

A: "I didn't say that either. But I've said all along, I've done things I never dreamed I would have a chance to do. I never even thought I'd have a chance to race in the Cup Series full time before. I've been able to do that these years, have that success. I said 10 years ago if it all had to end that day, it was more than I ever dreamed of. It certainly has been way more than I ever dreamed of. Who knows what's going to happen next year. Like I said, I don't really have anything for you at this time."