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What Happened to Roush-Fenway Racing?
12/09/2016 |
Jack Roush has been the one
of the most dominant Ford team owners in NASCAR history. At the Cup level, he’s won 135 races. In what I still like to think of as the Busch
Series, but lately known as the Xfinity Series, Jack has 137 race wins. In what’s now the Camping World Truck Series,
Roush has 50 wins. You do the math. I’m better with typing words.
In the last few years, Jack
Roush has had three very important drivers leave him. First was Mark Martin, who never won a Cup
championship, but won tons of races for his owner in all 3 of NASCAR’s top
series. After a fairly short but successful run in Rick Hendrick’s Chevrolets,
Mark retired.
Next, Matt Kenseth and Carl
Edwards successively jumped ship from Jack Roush’s team and joined Joe Gibbs
Racing, where both drivers have found much success.
Greg Biffle announced he was
leaving RFR after the 2016 season. Greg
used to be a regular contender to win most events, but hasn’t won a race in the
Cup series since 2013.
At one time, Jack Roush was
the king of Ford racing. Apparently he
is no more. That title has been taken
over by Roger Penske, as far as Ford Racing goes.
What happened to Ford in the
NASCAR series? Especially in the Cup
Series? In the last few years, no Ford driver has been able to win much except
the Penske teams. Roush-Fenway Racing
has won no Cup races since forever. All,
and I mean ALL the Ford engines are built by Roush-Yates Engines. Penske seems to be doing something with these
engines. Why are not other teams?
Richard Petty Racing has had
some good finishes over the last few year, but wins are scarce. The Wood Brothers have had a good 21 car with
Ryan Blaney, but it still has been weak against the Penske cars.
Do I have a solution for that
difference? Not really. No one gets to the top level of NASCAR racing
unless they are a good race driver. Does
Penske have better engine guys that the rest of the Ford teams? I think it’s a good bet that they do.
Penske has been a big factor
in NASCAR as well as other series for a very long time. It’s entirely possible that Roger Penske has
brought in some people from his other racing ventures to make the 2 and 22 cars
maybe a little more competitive than other Ford race cars. I don’t know that, but what else explains the
complete downfall of Roush-Fenway Racing?
Stewart-Haas Racing has
announced that they are switching from Chevrolet, powered by Hendrick engines
and such, over to Ford for next year. I
have to wonder why, but then again, I don’t know for sure. I’m guessing that Ford Motor Company is
giving them a better deal than Chevrolet can offer.
Will SHR build their own
engines with Ford parts? Probably
not. Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, and Tony
Stewart, all present or former drivers of SHR have won NASCAR Cup
championships, though only Harvick has won with SHR as an owner. Harvick seems to be fine with the change in
manufacturers. I admire him. If I were him, I’d be nervous about my
immediate future.
Chevy has dominated the sport
for several years. This year, Toyota
came along and destroyed the field on most race days. Joe Gibbs Racing probably felt like it
deserved the Cup trophy because they dominated in so many races.
My question is this: Joe Gibbs Racing has some of the best talent
in all of NASCAR, but did these drivers suddenly get so good in 2016 that it
seemed like they were winning every week?
It seemed like it to me.
Toyota gets the most wins,
Ford gets a championship team away from Chevrolet, and it’s possible that Dodge
may make another charge into NASCAR. Are
there shenanigans going on in NASCAR?
Next year will tell. Can formerly Chevy teams win with Ford? Will Toyota’s time as the fastest brand run
out? If I were Brian France, I could
probably tell you. As PattyKay Lilley
has told us before, follow the money.