Jack’s Mum on Roush Fenway Downsizing

Posted April 22, 2009 SpeedwayMedia.com


Back in November of 2005 NASCAR announced a new rule to limit the number of Cup teams that could be owned by a single organization. The new limit would be 4 teams maximum, which at the time only affected one owner, Jack Roush. The announcement also said that Roush's five teams would be grandfathered through 2009. This is 2009, so will a team and driver be gone at the end of the year?
I spoke with Jack at Phoenix over the weekend regarding this and the rumor that Jamie McMurray and the 26 car was on the rope to be cut at season’s end. “ I don’t know anything about that,” answered Jack, “ that’s why they call them rumors, nobody knows the truth.” When I asked him, he refused to comment further. In a post race interview following Greg Biffle’s win of the Nationwide race, Jack was asked again, and again he refused to comment.
So what is really gonna happen at the end of the season? Will McMurray and the 26 team be dissolved? Will another team get the axe, (Don’t count on that one) or perhaps one team will be moved to Yates Racing as was speculated a few years back? That idea was dispelled earlier this year by Geoff Smith, President of Roush Fenway Racing during the Media Tour, when he indicated that transferring the car to another organization, such as Yates, might make sponsors hesitant to stick around if the car is transferred.
"It's some vision that was misplaced about how to get new owners in the business," Smith said. "It's a difficult business to be in. Economically, it's very difficult even in the best of times. It takes a lot of capital to get people trained and engines developed. Frankly, it requires co-operative combinations to be able to make it work."
Another possibility does exist, but I am sure that NASCAR is hoping it doesn’t. After that announcement in 2005, Jack was quoted in an AP story about the change.
"I'm not sure what they're trying to do is legally right or is defensible in a court of law, but I want to be in this business," Roush said. "I don't want to jeopardize my sponsors and my drivers and our prospects in the near term, and too much distraction through an adjudication process would certainly not be in NASCAR's interest and would almost certainly not be in my interest and would very likely not have an outcome that I could be happy with."
Here we are three and a half years later, and still no answers to the questions. What I did not include in my other possible options was the lawsuit option. Yes Jack did say 3 ½ years ago that he would not do it, but that was then. Being the shrewd business man he is, Jack gives few clues, but he has never been known as a guy who allows anyone to run roughshod over him. I am sure that Jack has been and will continue to negotiate with Brian France and NASCAR to overcome this problem. However, based on NASCAR’s dismal failures on previous lawsuits of this nature (remember the no second race for Texas?) I’d bet that Roush will not be so shy to litigate as a last resort.

Shelby Howard Provides Dividends for ML Motorsports.

Posted April 21, 2009 - SpeedwayMedia.com

Shelby Howard of Greenwood, Indiana got the call last month to replace Mark Green in the from ML Motorsports Nascar Nationwide Series #70 Foretravel Motorcoach Chevy. The call came on the heels of a parting of the ways between the team and Mark Green, who was in his third season with ML Motorsports.
Green had missed the last race at Homestead last year, but rallied back and made the race at Daytona in February. The team had skipped the west coast races, so they were looking forward to a good run at Bristol. When they failed to make the Bristol race, it was decided that a change was needed, and the call went out to Howard.
Team owners Mary Louise Miller and Stephany Mullen had known Howard from the times they competed against him in the ARCA series a few years back. Howard made his start in the ARCA/REMAX Series in 2001 at the age of 16, making him the youngest driver to compete in the series, he was also the youngest winner in the ARCA series in 2003.
Shelby got his first start in the Nationwide Series in October of 2003 driving at Kansas for Mike Curb in the 43 Dr Pepper car. Over five years, prior to joining ML Motorsports, Howard has competed in 11 races in the Nationwide series with a best finish of 18th. Last year, he drove for Thorsport Racing in the Camping World Truck Series, finishing 17th in points. When Thorson didn’t return to the series for 2009 it left Howard without a ride, again.
In his first outing in the Foretravel Motorcoach Chevy, Shelby managed to finish 32nd after a couple of untimely flat tires. Two weeks ago he showed a lot of promise with a 14th place finish at Nashville. The team, which only plans to run 18 races this year, will be at Talladega for the Aarons 312 on Saturday.
The run at Nashville proved to be a real morale booster for the team as a lot of smiles were visible during and after the race. The team returned to their shop in Warsaw, Indiana after Saturdays race to prepare for Talladega. It’s still a bit early to predict the results of the driver change, but hopes for a positive season are alive and well in Warsaw, Indiana.

Biffle the Victor at PIR

Posted on April 18, 2009 - SpeedwayMedia.com


PHOENIX (Friday) Jack Roush was all smiles Friday afternoon as Carl Edwards clinched the pole for the Bashas' Supermarkets 200, NASCAR Nationwide Series race at PIR, but it was Greg Biffle who would eventually take Jack to Victory Lane.
Biffle ran up front for the entire race and took the lead on lap 97. He maintained that lead all the way to the checkers. But the lead did not dispel some late race concerns for the Biff. With 20 laps to go, crew chief Eddie Pardue decided to have Greg stay out. "You know there's that feeling you get when your leading the race with 20 to go and you look in the mirror and see the whole field pit behind you." remarked Biffle after the race. " You start to think, this is not good, but this tire we had here is good on the long run, and after giving it 5 or 6 laps under caution, it really comes back." The win was Biffle's 20th in the series and marked the 100th win in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for Roush Fenway Racing.
Edwards started on the pole, but lost the lead on the first lap to Joey Logano, but that would not last for long as Carl retook the lead. Running up front for first half of the race, leading 79 laps, Edwards appeared to be the odds on favorite to clinch the win. But as luck would have it, a broken valve spring would ruin his chances for a win. The problem would send Carl to the garage where Jack Roush was actually seen under the hood working on the car. Edwards returned to the track and finished the race in 33rd place, 24 laps down.
Following Biffle across the for second was Jason Leffler, with Brad Kesolowski third, Logano fourth and Kevin Harvick fifth. David Regan, Brendan Gaughan, Justin Allgaier, Mike Bliss and Kyle Busch rounded out the top 10.
Jack Roush celebrated the victory with Biffle but he was visibly upset with the problem with the 60 car. The poor finish for Edwards moved him out of first place in the series to second behind Kyle Busch.

On Pit Road: How Much Harder Will the Economy Hit Nascar

If the excess empty seats at Nashville Saturday during the Nascar Nationwide Series, Pepsi 300, is any indication, times are tough. The light turnout may have been effected by the Tornado that touched down just south of the track on Friday, causing extensive damage in the Murfreesboro area.
The light turnout was not for lack of effort by the track, who has implemented some new ideas that actually throw back to the ‘Good ole Days’. Nashville SuperSpeedway came up with the Fan Walk a few years back and that was a good draw. The Fan Walk, provided shuttles from the grandstand to the infield where a gated walkway between the garage and Pit Road allowed fans to get close to the teams a drivers, including a small area that allowed access to the drivers for autographs.
The Fan Walk is still in place and appeared busy as ever Saturday, but the new ALL ACCESS PASS is a throwback in time. It is a pass that allows the fans access to Pit Road and to the garage area after qualifying and before driver introductions. It reminded me of the old days of Nascar, when, like at the local dirt tracks, any fan can buy a pit pass and rub elbows with the drivers and crews. Nascar put a halt to that kind of access several years ago, with safety being the buzzword for it’s implementation.
Some of the Nascar tracks do still offer ‘Pit Passes’, but they are nothing like this idea. Most of them permit access to Pit Road, pre race, before the cars or the teams are in place. They make for neat photo ops, but bear no real resemblance of Access. Now at Nashville with the normal Nascar Nationwide Series, qualifying on race day, making it an impound race, the safety concerns was diminished greatly, as the cars were all secured on the front stretch.
Asked by the media regarding this new idea, most team members, crew chiefs and drivers expressed the importance of the ‘Race Fans’ to the security of their jobs. A common thought was that without the fans, many of these guys, especially in the Nationwide and Camping World truck series, could easily be running Late Models at local short track for little of no money at all. Of course, not risk being ’lumped’ in there with the other drivers, Kyle Busch had a whole different perspective on the ALL ACCESS PASS. When asked about it in a post race interview, he lamented about all those fans that showed up at his hauler, where he was unable to escape them. Not that being trapped by fans was bad enough, he eloquently told those who would listen about ALL those fans that showed up at his hauler, each carrying 3 suitcases full of diecast for him to autograph.
I was hoping that I could find a photo to attach to this story, with the convoy of suitcases headed to the 18 hauler, but alas, those nasty fans really gave me the slip.