Roush Fenway drivers look to excel on 1.5-mile oval
CONCORD, N.C. (June 2, 2011) – Roush Fenway Racing followed up Sprint Cup victories at Dover and the Sprint All-Star Race, by dominating the majority of last weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway; leading 221 laps of the event. The organization looks to continue the momentum this week at the 1.5-mile oval of Kansas Speedway, where Roush Fenway has won three times at the Cup level, including Greg Biffle’s win there last fall.
“Kansas Speedway is one of my favorite places,” said Biffle, who has two Cup wins at the track. “I have been able to win there a couple of times. We (Roush Fenway) are just really good on mile and a half tracks, and Kansas has been really good to me.”
“I love Kansas,” said Sprint Cup points leader Carl Edwards who has finished runner-up at Kansas. “I live in Columbia, Mo., so for me that’s as close as I get to race at home in a Sprint Cup car. It’s a very special race track to me. We’ve been close, just so close to winning a race there, but now we get to race there twice this year. I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a great race track to race on, and the fans are second to none.”
“I just like the way it’s laid out,” added Biffle, who led 60 laps in last year’s Kansas win. “I like the corner entry and exit. It has a little less banking than some of the others, like Texas, Charlotte and Atlanta, but it’s a really neat mile and a half.”
“My favorite thing about Kansas is that now as the asphalt is starting to get worn out, it’s starting to get slippery and you run fast on new tires,” said Matt Kenseth, who has led 210 laps at Kansas. “As the track gets slippery you have to really manage your tires and pick out the places to pass. You have to be good on both ends of the run; on new tires and on old tires.”
Roush Fenway has made 48 Sprint Cup starts at Kansas Speedway, winning three times and collecting 12 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes. Roush Fenway’s first win at the track came via the Nationwide series with Jeff Burton in 2002. Its first Sprint Cup win at Kansas came in 2005 via Mark Martin. Biffle is Roush Fenway’s winningest driver at Kansas, with the two wins. This year marks the first time that Kansas Speedway has hosted two Cup races in a single season.
Roush Fenway moves into the race with Edwards leading the Sprint Cup points and both Matt Kenseth (eighth) and Greg Biffle (11th) in Chase position after 12 races. In addition, David Ragan moved up three positions to 18th and appears poised to make a run after his career-high second-place run last weekend at Charlotte.
This weekend’s STP 400 Sprint Cup event is set for Sunday (June 5) at 1:00 PM EDT and will be televised live on FOX.
Roush Fenway Racing is NASCAR’s largest team operating seven motorsports teams. Four in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with drivers Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; and three in the Nationwide Series with Edwards, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Trevor Bayne. For more information on any of the Roush Fenway Racing teams, log onto www.RoushFenway.com (http://www.roushfenway.com/ ). Become a fan of Roush Fenway Racing on Facebook by going to http://www.facebook.com/roushfenway and follow us on Twitter @roushfenway. For sponsorship inquiries please contact Robin Johnson at 704.720.4645.
