Nine different drivers have won a total of 21 times at Michigan for Roush Fenway
BROOKLYN, Mich. (Aug. 19, 2011) – They call it “The House of Roush” and no track on the NASCAR circuit has been more successful for the Roush Fenway Racing organization than Michigan International Speedway (MIS). The organization’s 21 wins at the two-mile moderate-banked D-shaped http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superspeedway superspeedway located in the Irish Hills of Michigan are the most in the team’s celebrated racing history. In the spring, Roush Fenway posted one victory and two runner-up finishes in two race at MIS, while notching another five top-five finishes during the weekend.
Combined, Roush Fenway has collected 21 wins (the last coming this spring via Carl Edwards in the Nationwide Series), 82 top-fives, 129 top-10s and six poles, while leading over 3,000 laps and covering almost 80,000 miles in combined NASCAR competition at MIS. The success, is fitting for team owner Jack Roush, whose Livonia based Roush Industries is located just down the road from the speedway.
The wins for Roush at MIS break down to 11 in the Sprint Cup Series, five in the Nationwide Series and five in the trucks. Nine drivers have won for Roush Fenway at MIS, with four of the nine having won on multiple occasions.
“This is the first big race track I attended when I came to Detroit to work for Ford in the 60’s,” said team owner Jack Roush. “I came to MIS to watch an Indy Car race. This is coming home for me. I enjoy flying my airplanes over here midweek when I can. The fact that we have been able to have the success we have here in our backyard is really fun.
“There is also some anxiety whenever I go to Michigan,” added Roush. “Because we have been so successful, it is almost like you are expected to win and if you don’t then you wind up feeling worse about that than you would for some race track where the expectations weren’t so high.”
Roush’s racing team needed just three years after its inception in 1988 to break into the win column at Michigan, with Mark Martin taking the checkered flag in the No. 6 Ford in August of 1990. Martin would be the first of nine different drivers to win for Roush Fenway in NASCAR action at MIS, and the first of five drivers to win in the Cup series for Roush Fenway at Michigan; three of which will drive for the organization this weekend (Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards). The victory would also be the first of the 21 for Roush at the track he affectionately calls ‘home.’
“All of our wins here have been special,” added Roush. “It is in front of our home crowd. It’s in front of our Roush Industries associates, Ford Motor Co., Chrysler and GM. It is good to race in front of the home crowd where all of our friends and people we like to have supporting us are paying attention.”
Roush would like nothing more than to see his team break back into the win column this weekend at MIS. Since 1997, Roush Fenway has placed a car in victory lane at Michigan in all but three seasons, sending multiple cars to victory lane in four of those seasons.
In the spring Roush Fenway posted a one-two finish in the Nationwide race at MIS, while putting all three of its entries in the top five. In the Sprint Cup race, Roush Fenway placed two cars in the top five, with Matt Kenseth coming just one position short of RFR’s 22nd win, finishing runner up in the event.
“I hope we will be able to break through at MIS and win again,” said Roush. “Carl had a nice win there in the spring and we would love to get another win for Ford and of course another win for us there, and continue that success this weekend.”
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.
