Category: Featured Stories

CONCORD, N.C. (August 4, 2011) – Roush Fenway Racing, the world’s largest motorsports organization, announced that it has re-signed driver Carl Edwards to a multi-year agreement starting in 2012.

[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”247″][/media-credit]“Carl Edwards has achieved a level of success on and off track that would put him at the top of the list for any race team,” said Roush Fenway co-owner Jack Roush. “Carl and the No. 99 team are having a terrific season again this year, and we’re thrilled that our relationship will continue for many more.”

“We saw great potential in Carl a decade ago, and it’s been a thrill to watch him grow into one of the sports’ premier drivers behind the wheel of the No. 99,” added Roush. “We didn’t take our past success for granted when we sat down with Carl to talk about his future. As an organization, we approach each week with an intense focus on being successful in the race to come. Carl’s position atop the points is a testament to that diligence.”

“I sincerely appreciate the amazing opportunity that Jack Roush has given me in this sport and am honored to race for him,” said Edwards. “As an organization, Roush Fenway provides the resources I need to win, and as a driver, that’s the most important thing. We’re having a fun season on the race track as we’re leading the points and in great position for the Chase. That’s the result of a lot of hard work from the men and women at Roush Fenway, Ford Motor Company and Roush Yates Engines. I really enjoy competing with this group and looking forward to continuing that relationship into the future.”

Edwards, who will make his 250th Sprint Cup start this weekend, currently sits atop the Sprint Cup point standings, and is a virtual lock to secure his sixth Chase for the Sprint Cup “playoff” berth in seven seasons. He has visited NASCAR victory lane seven times and earned six poles during the 2011 season.

“Carl brings a tremendous amount to the table from both a marketing and competitive standpoint,” said Roush Fenway president Steve Newmark. “He has one of the largest fan bases in the sport, is able accomplish so much for his sponsors and is second to none on the race track. We’re proud to have Carl as part of our roster going forward, a roster that includes some of the most experienced veteran champions on the circuit, and some of the sport’s most promising up-and-coming drivers.”

Edwards joined Roush Fenway in 2003, driving the No. 99 Ford F-150 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. After a stellar inaugural season that saw him capture three wins, 13 top-five finishes and the Rookie-of-the-Year award, he got the nod from Jack Roush to move up to the Sprint Cup Series in the No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

Over the next eight seasons Edwards teamed with Roush Fenway to win 59 races across NASCAR’s top three divisions, capturing the 2007 Nationwide championship and making the Sprint Cup “Chase” for the Cup in five of his first six seasons; including a runner-up finish in 2008. Edwards and the No. 99 team have led the point standings for the majority of this season.

“We are pleased with Carl’s vote of confidence in Roush Fenway and Ford,” said Jamie Allison, director, Ford Racing. “This signals he believes he is with the right team and the right automaker to win races and championships. Now we can continue to focus on winning the 2011 championship.”

About Roush Fenway Racing

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. Become a fan of Roush Fenway Racing on Facebook by going to http://www.facebook.com/roushfenway and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/roushfenway. For sponsorship inquiries please contact Robin Johnson at 704.720.4645.

by Steve Samples

It was a warm fall day in Mount Airy, NC, in late September of nineteen sixty two.

I was eleven years old. In 1961 I had attended my first stock car race. It was the inaugural event at Bristol International Speedway. Like most young boys that age my interest in sports was just beginning. I’d recently moved from West Virginia to North Carolina. My seldom combed blonde hair and pronunciation of the word “on” was not being well received by new classmates. I suppose I’m stubborn. To this day I’ve never turned a light “own.”

The significance of this particular Sunday was a NASCAR race in Martinsville, Virginia. One year earlier I had discovered a love for racing. Two years before my dad had begun listening to stock car races on the radio which ignited my interest. In those days people rooted for makes of cars not drivers. Most people anyway. In my case I always liked the underdog. And since my family drove Fords, there were plenty of them to choose from. In ‘61 the Pontiacs of Fireball Roberts, David Pearson, Junior Johnson and others were the terror of the speedways. Their larger displacement engines out horse powered the Fords and Chevys. The MOPAR crowd was competitive on the short tracks, but seldom a threat at the superspeedways. So dominant were the powerful Pontiacs that they would often fill the first half dozen or more spots in qualifying. Most of the driver’s had simply accepted this competitive plight, be they Ford or Chrysler. Most, but not all.

Ford had this sandy haired guy who had signed a contract with Holman and Moody the year before. His hair was frequently tousled. He was an outsider. He came from the north. I could identify.

Back in ’61 I had heard him in a post-race interview. “I won this race to show everyone a Ford is just as good as a Pontiac,” he said. The comment was like Davy Crockett announcing he just shot a Mexican at the Alamo. But I liked it. Bravado in the face of the neighborhood bullies.

Before 1961 ended I was a dyed in the wool Fred Lorenzen fan. And so were a lot of other people. As 1962 rolled around the disparity in competition remained. The “Pontiac Pack” as they were called, relied on the brute force of their 421 cubic inch engines, while Ford’s 406 and Chevys 409 struggled to keep up. A repeat of 1961 appeared to be on the way.

There was however one advantage for the underpowered Fords. Handling. And on the half mile turns of Atlanta and the short tracks, the Fords showed their mettle. The promise of a Ford win at Martinsville that September day was thus a realistic possibility.

I had tossed and turned the night before that fall morning excited about the next day’s events. I would be attending this race with my father, my buddy Chuck Early, and his dad Ed. Although the race was not scheduled to start until 1PM, and the track only an hour away, we left at daybreak.

As we negotiated the twisty roads from Mount Airy to Martinsville,Chuck and I took notice of a seemingly never ending series of posters advertising the race. “The Old Dominion 500 Martinsville Speedway –September 25, 1962.”It seemed with every sign the excitement grew. After what seemed to be an eternity we arrived at the track. It must have been around eight AM when we pulled in close to the box office. Tickets had been reserved for us by Chuck’s uncle Clay, who just happened to own the race track. Row six at the start finish line. Six dollars a seat. After picking up the tickets we walked toward the fourth turn gate. Just inside the gate was a man standing in front of a velvet board attached to an easel. The board contained pin on buttons with driver’s photos. They had only eight or so drivers to choose from. One of them was Fred Lorenzen. My dad bought me a button for fifty cents. It was one of my great treasures. I must have worn that pin to school for two months. After we found our seats and settled in, a man selling peanuts walked by. He was a heavy set man in his 30’s. His hair was solid white and he wore thick black horn rimmed glasses. As he walked past us he must have noticed my button. Staring at me he said slowly in a sing song voice, “Feeeearless Freddie, ‘gonna eat up Petty.” There was no expression on his face and he continued to walk. I smiled and sat down. Ed then made an observation. “This will be a great place to be at the start of the race, and a great place to be at the finish. Now all that time in between, I don’t know.” For Chuck and I it was just the place to be. We watched mechanics probing engines in the garage area for hours. We scoured the area looking for our favorite drivers, Fred Lorenzen and Joe Weatherly. At the same time a steady stream of cars was being ushered to the infield. It seemed like an eternity but the race cars were finally rolled out. Right in front of us on the track was a painted grid which marked where cars would start the race. There were white rectangles the size of a car plotted in sets of two. The grid continued from the starting line toward the fourth turn where we lost site.

As one o’clock approached the driver’s climbed in their cars and drove to the middle of the second turn. The PA announcer introduced them one at a time and each car proceeded around the track to their place on the marked grid. I remember asking my father if I could go down to the fence and ask Freddie for his autograph. He put his hand on my shoulder and said,

“He’s a bundle of nerves right now. Let’s wait till after the race. We’ll find him and you can get an autograph then.” When the commentator eventually said, “start your engines,”I felt like I had been there a month. But it was a good month. A never ending trove of racing treasure to view. A never ending series of questions directed to my father.

When the green flag fell the noise was deafening. I had been to Bristol, but viewed the race at a distance. Although we attended the spring Martinsville race and the Firecracker 250 in Daytona during the summer, the sound seemed to resonate at an even higher level. I remember watching the cars circle the track for what seemed like days. At one point I looked up and saw lap 80 on the board. Could that be right? All this time and only 80 laps went by? In those days there was a scoreboard on top of turn one. It showed laps completed and the top five drivers’ in a horizontal listing. If the car you were following was out of the top five, you had better be keeping a keen eye on its place in the field. That day Freddie and Joe seemed to be running between fifth and tenth all day. Each would appear on the board from time to time, and then drop off. As the laps progressed Fireball Roberts took the lead in his gold Pontiac. Coming up behind was Lorenzen. Soon the two began to rub. Fred banged the bumper of the big GM car in his white Ford. The crowd loved it. You could hear their roar over the racing engines. Finally the banging got too severe. Lorenzen knocked a hole in his radiator and the Holman-Moody Ford began to smoke. A lap later it was over for the Golden Boy. But damage had occurred to the Pontiac as well. Roberts would soon end his day with damage sustained in the incident. Nelson Stacy would go on to win the race in a Ford.

True to his word my father took us to the pits to run down Fred Lorenzen for me, and Joe Weatherly for Chuck. There seemed to be driver’s everywhere, but those two had escaped us. In frustration we finally left for the short drive back to Mount Airy, listening to the race wrap up on a small transistor radio. As we reached the fourth turn exit I noticed someone that looked familiar. It was a young race driver with blonde hair carrying a large suitcase. The case had side by side duel handles. He held one handle with his left hand, while someone on the other side gripped the matching handle. To this day I have no idea what was in that case, but it must have been heavy. Chuck and I followed them a short way, with our parents trailing. Finally I managed the nerve to stop them. Approaching from behind I said, “Mr. Lorenzen can I have your autograph?” Both men stopped. As he turned toward me I handed Fred a picture post card I had brought to the race. It was a card of his ’62 Ford taken at Daytona. My father quickly walked up and handed him a fountain pen. Fred knelt to use his knee to rest the card as he wrote. He asked my name. As he signed the card, I mentioned a post-race interview I had just heard from Fireball. During the interview Roberts remarked how,“the only thing that banging incident with Lorenzen proved is that the back end of a Pontiac is tougher than the front end of a Ford.”Fred replied in a somewhat monotone, yet slightly cynical voice, “Did he say that?” I confirmed the comment and then quickly changed the subject. “I’ve been a fan of yours since 1961.” That was all of a year, but it seemed like forever for an 11 year old. Fred responded, “That’s as long as I’ve been running Ford’s.” We finally parted company and went our separate ways. I had no idea he would go on to re-write the NASCAR record book. Just five years later when he retired at 32, Fred Lorenzen had become the all-time superspeedway winner with a dozen victories at Daytona, Charlotte, Atlanta, Darlington, and Rockingham.He was the first driver to win races at all five of the South’s original superspeedways. And the first driver to win $100,000 in a season. He would also win three straight Atlanta 500’s, and five consecutive major races. All records at the time. And the firsts will stand forever.

I couldn’t help but think about that September day when I was informed recently Fred Lorenzen had been hospitalized with dementia. His long term memory is still keen, but recent events seem blurred. That blond headed hero to thousands of kids. NASCAR’s version of the,“Lone Ranger.” Always chasing the bad guys in his familiar pearl white Ford, and seemingly never losing a battle. So young and full of energy. So talented. It seems like only yesterday.

Over the previous weekend in Indianapolis we witnessed the emotional joy of another first time winner during the NASCAR Sprint Cup’s 2011 season. We witnessed the joy of a father and son moment in victory lane and we watched the race winner’s father, after 35 years of sponsoring cars at Indy events, get the opportunity to join his son for the ceremonial kissing of the bricks. OH yeah, a high profile NASCAR Nationwide Series debut was halted by a double back flip on a motorcycle. With those thoughts in mind, let’s begin with:

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”241″][/media-credit]HOORAH to Paul Menard for becoming NASCAR’s fourth first time winner of the season following an outstanding performance at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Part of that performance included his ability to conserve fuel, during the late stages of the race, that allowed him to pass race leader Jamie McMurray with four laps remaining. HOORAH to the winner crew chief, Slugger Labbe, who also did an outstanding job on the pit box especially in the area of monitoring fuel mileage.

HOORAH to John Menard, the race winner’s father. The owner of Menard’s Home Improvement Stores has been a long time sponsor of his son’s racing career. He’s also been a long time sponsor of Indy Racing League teams during the annual running of the Indianapolis 500. The elder Menard has always dreamed of participating in a victory lane celebration at the famed Brickyard. After 35 years of trying, and mega millions in sponsorship fees, he finally got that moment and got to share it with his race winning son. The sight of the two of them arm in arm during the victory lane ceremony was emotionally charged.

HOORAH to Paul Menard for becoming the latest player in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship wild card drama. His first ever Cup win moves him to 14th in the standings and places in him contention, with race winner Denny Hamlin 11th in points, for a wild card starting berth in the Chase line up.

HOORAH to the wild card angle NASCAR introduced into the championship line up procedure this year. It’s actually been a lot of fun examining all of the potential angles and doing the math in order to track who’s going to make the Chase.

HOORAH to Jeff Gordon, who finished second in the Brickyard 400, for that last ditch charge to the front that had us all paying attention. In the waning laps of the race, Gordon was informed that he was good to go on fuel. At the time he was approximately 12 second away from the race leader. The four time Cup champion put the hammer down and trimmed that margin down to 0.725 seconds before he ran out of laps and time.

WAZZUP with the Brickyard 400 turning into another fuel mileage race that we’ve seen so many times this year? There were times when some of the front runners were barely above NASCAR’s mandatory speed limit while trying to save fuel. Okay, I’ll concede the point that it does add some drama to the latter stages of the race and it does make a crew chief earn his paycheck. Having made those concessions, there’s no way a fuel mileage ending is ever going to top the drama of two drivers racing door to door to the checkers without so much as a thought to what’s left in the fuel cell. That’s what I’d like to see more often.

WAZZUP with that lap 121 caution that was triggered by four cars barreling their way towards turn three? The end result was a Landon Cassill spin while a handful of cars went sailing through a grassy strip that created front end damage to their cars. If IRL cars can’t do four wide there, in the Indy 500, then common logic says that four wider and heavier NASCAR stock cars certainly can’t do it. This caution flag should have never happened.

WAZZUP with driver Marcos Ambrose getting a penalty for jumping the restart? It seems that everyone’s favorite Aussie changed lanes before he crossed the start-finish line. Amazingly, we’ve seen more than a few times lately. That’s a NASCAR no no as well as a drive through penalty. It also raises the question: how many times is this infraction going to occur before the drivers get the message that it simply won’t be tolerated?

WAZZUP with only 138,000 seats being sold for the Brickyard 400? The problem here is the fact that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has seating for 257,000. Sadly those remaining approximate 119,000 empty chairs were highly noticeable on television. This situation is, of course, another by product of our national economy. It’s a time when American families are having to make major cutbacks in their budgets and family recreation is a highly targeted area. Realistically, in this economy, 138,000 turning out for literally anything is actually pretty good.

***********

The HOORAH for making chicken salad out of chicken do do belongs to NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Timothy Peters who won the AAA Insurance 200 at the Lucas Oil Raceway At Indianapolis. On Lap 91 Peters found himself spinning out and making his way to pit road with a flat tire. The incident placed Peters on a different pit cycle from the rest of the field and that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The crew spent the remaining pit stops making adjustments on their truck and also got their driver track position. Peters passed James Buescher, with six laps remaining in the race, to claim his first win of the season and his third career win. That’s getting it done Mr. Peters.

Another chicken salad HOORAH goes to Kyle Busch for his tenth place finish during the Sprint Cup’s Brickyard 400. Busch had a full day on his hands at Indy that included lengthy repairs following a collision on pit road. This was followed by a little right side wall contact at race speed. Oh yeah, he was also credited for an early race yellow flag because a water bottle somehow escaped from his car and landed on the track. After a very long and hot day at Indy, I’ve never seen a driver so happy over a tenth place finish.

A never before issued WAZZUP for making chicken salad out of chicken do do. only to see it turn to do do again, goes to NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Elliot Sadler who had a horrible Saturday at the Lucas Oil Raceway At Indianapolis while participating in the Kroger 200. The process began when Sadler crashed his Kevin Harvick Inc Chevrolet during qualifying and start the race at the back of the line. After apologizing to the team for the incident, Sadler grabbed some tools, crawled under the car and helped his guys with the repairs. He deserves a HOORAH for that. Only a veteran would even think about helping with the crash damage. During the race Sadler drove like the proverbial bat out of hell and became a major player during the race’s waning laps.

Unfortunately, it all unraveled for Sadler on lap 200. Following a restart for a green-white-checker finish, Sadler spun and collected Austin Dillon, his Kevin Harvick Inc team mate. He had to settle for a 16th place finish and took a hit in the championship points standings.

*********

HOORAH to Brad Keselowski for a late race charge that allowed him to win the Kroger 200, Benefiting the Riley Hospital For Children Nationwide Series race at Lucas Oil Raceway. Keselowski passed Ricky Stenhouse Jr with three laps remaining in the scheduled 200 and then had to survive a green-white-checker finish before parking his Penske Dodge in victory lane. It was his second win of the season and his 14th career series win.

HOORAH to team owner Richard Childress for making three appearances in victory lane within a period of nine days. That delightful journey began on July 22nd when his grandson, Austin Dillon, won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Nashville. The following Thursday his other grandson, Ty Dillon, won his sixth ARCA Series race of the season at the Lucas Oil Raceway. Then of course Childress capped off the celebrations by joining his Cup driver, Paul Menard, in victory lane following the Brickyard 400 win.

HOORAH to NASCAR driver/team owner Tony Stewart for his latest career milestone. A long time alumni of open wheel racing, Stewart won his first ever WOO, World Of Outlaws, race July 27th at the Ohsweken Speedway in Hamilton-Ontario-Canada. To get that first win Stewart had to hold off a late race challenge from series icon Sammy Swindell. Stewart has been firmly entrenched in the WOO Series for many years now as a team owner and has three team championships to show for it.

WAZZUP with the horrible luck that prevented Travis Pastrana from making his NASCAR Nationwide Series official debut at the Lucas Oil Raceway event? The action sports hero had a very busy schedule that weekend. He was in Los Angeles on Friday night to compete in the annual X Games. He was supposed to fly to Indiana later that night for the Nationwide Series event on Saturday and then fly right back to California for Sunday’s final day of the X Games. It all went horribly wrong-two times. On Friday night Pastrana was going to attempt the 720, a double back flip motorcycle jump. It’s a trick he been working on for nearly four years now. The first attempt resulted in a crash. So did the second attempt which, sadly, also resulted in broken bones, in his right foot and ankle, that required surgery. There was no way the Nationwide Series debut was going to happen after that.

***********

In some final thoughts HOORAH to Roush Fenway Racing for the retro paint scheme, on David Ragan’s #6 Cup car, honoring Ned Jarrett’s induction into the NASCAR Hall Of Fame. It was a classy thing to do for a true NASCAR icon and gentleman who deserves this type of recognition.

HOORAH to country music superstars Reba McEntyre and Rascal Flatts for their patriotic music performances prior to the start of the Brickyard 400 Cup race. McEntyre performed an emotionally charged medley of “America The Beautiful” and “God Bless America”. The harmonies of Rascal Flatts, performing “The National Anthem”, were pristine.

The final WAZZUPS of the week involves NASCAR team marketing and the placement of sponsor brands.

WAZZUP with the new fangled racing caps that makes it so difficult to see the sponsor’s logos? These are the caps that has the logos on the extreme left front of the hat. During national television interviews, where camera shots are often close and tight, you can’t see the logos on the hats at all. It makes me wonder why the public relations squads, who represents drivers and their teams, hasn’t noticed this yet. There’s two obvious solutions: first, have the driver stand completely still while located on the left side of the television personality. Then you have a chance of the sponsor logo being seen. The second solution is even easier: have the PR people pass out the old style of hats. Frankly the new racing hat design is kind of goofy looking anyway.

WAZZUP with the new fangled sunglasses, with their mega sized lenses, that the young drivers seem to prefer these days? At the beginning of a television interview these drivers have a tendency to remove the glasses and place them on top of their racing caps again blocking the sponsor’s logos. Also again, why aren’t PR reps picking up on this?

Actually these new sunglasses really aren’t that new fangled. Those of us who recall the disco years probably owned a pair of them. (A brief pause here for someone, not yet born before 1975, to ask “what’s a disco”?) The bottom line here is: doing anything and everything to display your sponsor logo is a good thing. Doing anything that hides the sponsor logo is bad.

Perhaps it was caught up in the commotion of Paul Menard’s first victory. Or because it was Menard in victory lane and not Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer or Jeff Burton but Richard Childress was the winning car owner Sunday in the Brickyard 400.

[media-credit id=66 align=”alignright” width=”238″][/media-credit]The win in Indianapolis was as surprising as Childress announcing last season that his organization was going back to four cars. Childress though, knew that it was all a matter of putting the right people in the right places.

“I’m just so proud of that whole Menard team,” said Childress. “I caught a lot of flack back early last year when we decided to go with four teams. I’ve been watching Paul ever since he won the Nationwide race. He doesn’t tear equipment up, he’s consistent, he’s really good. Got a cool head on him in all situations.”

Childress said he knew that once the right situation presented itself they’d win and that bringing over Slugger Labbe as Menard’s crew chief and having the support of John Menard was also important to the deal and the team’s success.

It took Menard 167 races to find victory lane and a few different organizations before he landed at RCR. Childress was prepared to make him a winner and looked forward to all four of his teams being contenders. Menard started the season off as one of the more consistent drivers on the circuit before backsliding through the points.

Whispers though still started about whether Menard could be working toward his first career win. When practice started Friday Menards wasn’t among those to watch and by his account they were off. But Childress saw the car come to life on Saturday and it gave him the confidence to lean into Menard’s car on Sunday and tell him it was going to be his day.

Pulling into victory lane on Sunday suddenly wasn’t as farfetched as everyone thought. And it certainly didn’t come from Menard lucking his way into the win either. He battled back from a pit road penalty and going through the grass to avoid a spinning Landon Cassill with 41 laps to go.

From there it was about nursing his draining fuel tank and proving the critics wrong and Childress right.

“For a first-year team to come out like this, it’s very gratifying,” the team owner said. “They work hard, Slugger is as hard a working guy as you’ll see around the shop, the racetrack. The first time with the four-car team, I don’t think we were as prepared coming in. I said we’ll be more prepared, we know the mistakes we made, and we’re sure not making them now.”

For Childress it was the fourth time in 2011 that he’s been to victory lane. Prior to Menard’s win he celebrated on three different occasions with Harvick. The organizations other two teams, Bowyer and Burton have struggled lately but Childress believes that things can quickly turn in their favor as quickly has it has against them.

In the end though, some things stay the same. Childress again was standing on the frontstretch of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, perhaps with a driver he and most others thought he’d never be standing with, preparing to kiss the bricks. It was the third time he would do so as a car owner.

“It’s eight years from 1995 to 2003 and eight more years till today,” said Childress talking about his wins. “It doesn’t seem like we’ve been coming here 18 years. I remember coming in here the first time I think in ’93 to do our test with Dale. The first time the cars ran down that front straightaway and though, ‘Man, would it be cool to win at Indy.’”

It was August of 1995 when Childress and the man who he would rise to the top of the sport with won the second running of the Brickyard 400. It was Earnhardt’s 66th career victory but it was as special as the first one for he and Childress. Except, the two didn’t kiss the bricks that day and Earnhardt never would.

Harvick replaced Earnhardt in 2001 and in 2003 he too won at the Brickyard. It was the fourth career win for Harvick and the second Brickyard win for RCR. Then, 16 years after standing with Earnhardt in the sunset, Childress was walking to victory lane for a third time with a third driver.

“To be here again 18 years later [from tire test] and to win with Paul, Slugger, this whole group, to win for RCR, I couldn’t be happier,” said Childress. “Kind of got to pinch myself. I hope it ain’t eight years more before we win it. I’ll be a old man by then.”