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07-12-2010, 08:10 PM
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Traditionally, Michigan International Speedway is Ford Country.
Roush/Fenway Racing and Wood Brothers Racing, two Ford race teams, each share the all-time MIS lead in victories with 11 apiece.
Don’t bet on the tie being broken in Sunday’s Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
Ford, General Motors and Chrysler once held forth as automotive’s Big Three.
In NASCAR, the Big Three were Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Roush/Fenway.
These days, Roush/Fenway is No. 3 in that group with an oil leak.
To suggest that Roush/Fenway is running poorly would be incorrect. They are not a team that is running up front.
The squad of owner Jack Roush, he of the famous straw hat, continue to pull the short straw on race day.
“Frankly, we haven’t gotten the results this year that we expected,” Roush said.
Frankly, they haven’t gotten the expected results for quite some time.
A Roush/Fenway car hasn’t gone to victory circle after a Sprint Cup race since the No. 17 car of Matt Kenseth won the opening two races of the 2009 season.
He’s in a 48-race slump, and that makes Kenseth the hottest driver among the group.
Carl Edwards hasn’t guided his No. 99 car to victory lane for 50 races. Greg Biffle and his No. 16 car are in a 58-race drought, while David Ragan and his No. 6 car have yet to taste victory in 124 career Sprint Cup starts.
“They just can’t seem to get the speed out of their cars,” said former Roush driver Jamie McMurray, who qualified second Friday in a Chevrolet.
What’s slowed the Roush roll? There are many culprits conspiring together in this instance.
The motor — the goaltender of auto racing, since it’s always the easiest to blame for failure — has certainly played a role.
“The engine is just part of the puzzle,” said Biffle, who qualified 16th for Sunday’s race.
A solution has left the finest minds in the Roush garage grasping at the straws in their boss’s hat.
Technology has failed them. Race simulation data provided by an outside organization proved to be incorrect, leaving Roush teams behind the others at the drop of the checkered flag.
And with NASCAR’s stringent ban on testing, making up that lost ground has proven problematic.
“What we are doing is not working as well as some of the other guys, and considering we don’t have the opportunity to go test makes simulations hugely important,” said Edwards, who qualified 19th. “We’ve got that and a bunch of other things, that if they were better, we would be faster.”
There could be hope on the horizon. The new FR9 engine appears to be offering somewhat better handling through the turns, a significant issue with the Roush cars this season.
“It doesn’t matter how much power you have if you don’t have the handling,” Biffle said.
Surprisingly, three of the four Roush drivers — Kenseth (fourth), Edwards (ninth) and Biffle (10th) — currently hold positions in the top 12, which would qualify them for the chase to the championship, even though they feel like they’ve been chasing their tails all season.
“We seem to be a ways off more times than not,” Kenseth said.
There’s a history of success on Roush’s side as the team arrives at MIS, but leave it to Kenseth to put a damper on the thought that this could be the place to arouse the sleeping Roush giant.
“You have to have the car and execute,” Kenseth said.
It’s been quite some time since Roush had the car to execute the game plan.
Read more: http://www.windsorstar.com/roush+racers+struggling+into+gear/3143817/story.html#ixzz0tWKHIV9E
Roush/Fenway Racing and Wood Brothers Racing, two Ford race teams, each share the all-time MIS lead in victories with 11 apiece.
Don’t bet on the tie being broken in Sunday’s Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
Ford, General Motors and Chrysler once held forth as automotive’s Big Three.
In NASCAR, the Big Three were Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Roush/Fenway.
These days, Roush/Fenway is No. 3 in that group with an oil leak.
To suggest that Roush/Fenway is running poorly would be incorrect. They are not a team that is running up front.
The squad of owner Jack Roush, he of the famous straw hat, continue to pull the short straw on race day.
“Frankly, we haven’t gotten the results this year that we expected,” Roush said.
Frankly, they haven’t gotten the expected results for quite some time.
A Roush/Fenway car hasn’t gone to victory circle after a Sprint Cup race since the No. 17 car of Matt Kenseth won the opening two races of the 2009 season.
He’s in a 48-race slump, and that makes Kenseth the hottest driver among the group.
Carl Edwards hasn’t guided his No. 99 car to victory lane for 50 races. Greg Biffle and his No. 16 car are in a 58-race drought, while David Ragan and his No. 6 car have yet to taste victory in 124 career Sprint Cup starts.
“They just can’t seem to get the speed out of their cars,” said former Roush driver Jamie McMurray, who qualified second Friday in a Chevrolet.
What’s slowed the Roush roll? There are many culprits conspiring together in this instance.
The motor — the goaltender of auto racing, since it’s always the easiest to blame for failure — has certainly played a role.
“The engine is just part of the puzzle,” said Biffle, who qualified 16th for Sunday’s race.
A solution has left the finest minds in the Roush garage grasping at the straws in their boss’s hat.
Technology has failed them. Race simulation data provided by an outside organization proved to be incorrect, leaving Roush teams behind the others at the drop of the checkered flag.
And with NASCAR’s stringent ban on testing, making up that lost ground has proven problematic.
“What we are doing is not working as well as some of the other guys, and considering we don’t have the opportunity to go test makes simulations hugely important,” said Edwards, who qualified 19th. “We’ve got that and a bunch of other things, that if they were better, we would be faster.”
There could be hope on the horizon. The new FR9 engine appears to be offering somewhat better handling through the turns, a significant issue with the Roush cars this season.
“It doesn’t matter how much power you have if you don’t have the handling,” Biffle said.
Surprisingly, three of the four Roush drivers — Kenseth (fourth), Edwards (ninth) and Biffle (10th) — currently hold positions in the top 12, which would qualify them for the chase to the championship, even though they feel like they’ve been chasing their tails all season.
“We seem to be a ways off more times than not,” Kenseth said.
There’s a history of success on Roush’s side as the team arrives at MIS, but leave it to Kenseth to put a damper on the thought that this could be the place to arouse the sleeping Roush giant.
“You have to have the car and execute,” Kenseth said.
It’s been quite some time since Roush had the car to execute the game plan.
Read more: http://www.windsorstar.com/roush+racers+struggling+into+gear/3143817/story.html#ixzz0tWKHIV9E