Thursday
2009 Roush Fenway Racing Media Day Advance
Press Release2009 ROUSH FENWAY RACING MEDIA DAY ADVANCE
2009 Driver/Sponsor Line up…
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
David Ragan – No. 6 UPS Ford
Greg Biffle – No. 16 3M Ford
Matt Kenseth – No. 17 DEWALT Ford
Jamie McMurray – No. 26 Crown Royal Ford
Carl Edwards – No. 99 Aflac Ford
NASCAR Nationwide Series
David Ragan – No. 6 Discount Tire Ford (20 races)
Erik Darnell – No. 6 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford (15 races)
Greg Biffle – No. 16 CitiFinancial Ford (15 races)
Matt Kenseth – No. 16 CitiFinancial Ford (12 races)
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – No. 16 CitiFinancial/3M Ford (6/1 races)
Colin Braun – No. 16 3M Ford (1 race)
Matt Kenseth – No. 17 Kraft Ford (1 race)
Carl Edwards – No. 60 ScottsMiracle-Gro/Save-A-Lot Ford (full season)
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Colin Braun – No. 6 Con-way Freight F-150 (full season)
*Schedules are subject to change.
For more information on Roush Fenway Racings drivers, crew chiefs, teams
and sponsors, please visit:
www.RoushFenway.com
Roush Fenway Racing Fast Facts…
ROUSH FENWAY
● In 2008, Roush Fenway Racing won a race and a pole in all four
of the Series they participated in (NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide,
Camping World Truck and the ARCA RE/MAX Series).
● Roush Fenway drivers made a total of 395 starts in 2008 and
finished inside the top 10/49.3 percent of the time across four series.
● Across NASCAR’s top three series, Roush Fenway Racing has
amassed 3,926 starts (2,432 in Sprint Cup, 807 in Nationwide and 687 in
Camping World Truck) finishing inside the top 10/46.8 percent of the
time and inside the top five 28 percent of the time.
● Of those 3,926 starts, Roush Fenway Racing has a combined 260
NASCAR wins, 168 poles, 1,104 top-five and 1,838 top-10 finishes.
● Jack Roush will claim his 2,500th start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series when the series arrives in Pocono for the June 7 race.
● Roush Fenway is the most winning team in the Nationwide Series
with 98.
● Entering into the 2009 season, Roush Fenway Racing remains the
only team in NASCAR to compete in the Truck Series every year since its
inception.
● Roush Fenway has the most wins in the Camping World Truck Series
with 49.
● Colin Braun captured Rookie-of-the-Year honors which marks the
12th time a Roush Fenway driver has claimed the award in one of NASCAR’s
premier series (2 – Cup, 4 – Nationwide, 6 – Truck).
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
● Carl Edwards won the most races during the 2008 Sprint Cup
Series garnering nine wins (First Fontana, Las Vegas, both Texas’,
Second Pocono, Michigan, Bristol and Atlanta and Homestead)
o Finished second in overall point standings, his highest finish
o Accrued 19 top-five and 27 top-10 finishes
o Made his 150th career start at Kansas in October
● Greg Biffle was the first driver in “Chase” history to win the
first two events, New Hampshire and Dover.
o Made the ‘Chase’ for the Sprint Cup for the second time in his
career
o Scored 12 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes
o Finished third in the 2008 Sprint Cup point standings
Roush Fenway Racing Fast Facts Continued…
● Matt Kenseth is one of only two active drivers to make the
“Chase” each year since it’s inception in 2004.
o Scored nine top-five finishes
o Totaled 20 top-10 finishes
o Made 300th career Sprint Cup start at Phoenix in April
o Scored 24th career Nationwide victory at Atlanta in March
● David Ragan barely missed the “Chase” and clinched 13th in only
his sophomore season.
o Six top-five finishes
o Finished inside the top-10 14 times
o Ranked number one as the Sprint Cup driver with the most quality
passes in 2008 (a pass made under green inside the top 15)
● In the final six races, Jamie McMurray posted four top-five and
five top-10 finishes. Including three consecutive third-place finishes
at Texas, Phoenix and Homestead.
o Four top-five finishes
o Posted 11 top-10 finishes
o Made his 200th career Cup start at Pocono in June
NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
● Carl Edwards barely missed winning his second Nationwide
championship finishing a mere 21 points behind Clint Bowyer.
o Posted seven wins and four poles
o Had 19 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes
o Had a top-10 finish 75 percent of the time
● David Ragan completed his second double-duty season finishing
fourth in points.
o Scored seven top-five finishes
o Posted 21 top-10 finishes
● Erik Darnell will foray into the Nationwide Series in 2009.
o Scored one win at Michigan in the Truck Series in 2008
o Captured nine top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in the Truck
Series
o Finished fourth in Truck Series points
● Colin Braun won his first career Nationwide pole at Mexico City
in the spring in only his third career start.
Roush Fenway Racing Fast Facts Continued…
● 2008 marked the first season Roush Fenway competed full-time in
the ARCA series. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. garnered his first stock car win
in only his sixth start (at Kentucky in May). He also won at Pocono.
o Three ARCA poles (DuQuoin, Chicago and Salem), setting new track
records at the first two
o Totaled 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes
o Finished fourth in the points, led for 13 weeks during the
summer
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
● 2008 Rookie-of-the-Year Colin Braun will be the sole Roush
Fenway truck running for a championship in 2009.
o Scored three top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 2008
o Finished 13th in the overall point standing
o Posted career-best third-place finish at Kansas
2008 Year-end Stats…
Sprint Cup Series
PTS. DRIVER STARTS WINS TOP-5’S TOP-10’S POLES LAPS
LEAD
2 Carl Edwards 38 9 19 27 1 1,282
3 Greg Biffle 38 2 12 17 2 465
11 Matt Kenseth 38 0 9 20 0 604
13 David Ragan 38 0 6 14 0 27
16 Jamie McMurray 38 0 4 11 0 168
TOTALS: 190 11 50 89 3 2,546
Nationwide Series
PTS. DRIVER STARTS WINS TOP-5’S TOP-10’S POLES LAPS
LEAD
2 Carl Edwards 35 7 19 22 4 737
4 David Ragan 35 0 7 21 0 38
n/a Jamie McMurray 11 0 2 6 2 50
n/a Greg Biffle 15 0 4 10 0 4
n/a Matt Kenseth 7 1 4 4 0 50
n/a Colin Braun 5 0 1 1 2 2
n/a Erik Darnell 1 0 0 0 0 0
TOTALS: 109 8 37 64 8 881
Camping World Truck Series
PTS. DRIVER STARTS WINS TOP-5’S TOP-10’S POLES LAPS
LEAD
4 Erik Darnell 25 1 9 12 2 262
13 Colin Braun 25 0 3 8 0 8
n/a Travis Kvapil 9 0 2 6 0 40
n/a Bobby East 7 0 0 2 1 4
n/a John Wes
Townley 7 0 0 0 0 0
n/a Jamie McMurray 1 0 0 0 0 0
n/a Joey Clanton 1 0 0 0 0 0
TOTALS: 75 1 14 28 3 314
ARCA RE/MAX Series
PTS. DRIVER STARTS WINS TOP-5’S
TOP-10’S POLES LAPS LEAD
4 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.21 2 10 14 3 224
TOTALS: 21 2 10 14
3 224
In Their Words…
Roush Fenway Racing drivers and crew chiefs talk about what to expect in
2009, what some of their challenges will be and what their goals are for
the New Year ahead.
No. 6 UPS & Discount Tire driver David Ragan on 2009:
“In 2009 you can definitely expect us to pick up where we left off and
hit the ground running. 2008 was successful, but I think 2009 can be
even better. Luckily for me my team has pretty much stayed intact from
last season. All my over-the-wall guys are the same and our pit stops
were great at the end of the year and I see no reason why they won’t be
this season. Everyone is excited to have UPS on board and we can’t wait
to get back to the track.
“My biggest challenge this year will probably be road courses. I’m
going to try and get out there some and practice in any sort of vehicle
I can, I think the more practice I get the more comfortable I’ll be. My
three main goals for this season is to win my first race, make the
‘Chase’ and improve on road courses. All of this is definitely
achievable with the awesome support staff I have behind me at Roush.”
No. 6 UPS crew chief Jimmy Fennig on 2009:
“Looking forward to 2009 you can expect us to make the ‘Chase’. Our
goal last year for David was to get him running consistently each week
and to make the Chase. Well, we didn’t make the ‘Chase’, but we came
close and he was definitely running much more consistently and making
smart moves on the track. We are heading into 2009 with almost all the
same guys as last year. We’ve got great people and we continue to
improve the cars so I expect we’ll have a successful 2009 season.
“Our biggest challenge this year will be road courses. David is getting
more comfortable at them, but still has a long way to go. The top three
things we look to do this season is get David his first win, make the
field for the ‘Chase’ and consistently run in the top 10 every week.”
No. 16 3M & CitiFinancial driver Greg Biffle on 2009:
“I think you can look forward to us capitalizing on the momentum we had
at the end of 2008. We had a couple of wins to start off the ‘Chase’
and then finishing third in the points I think was a little bit of a
disappointment to all of us. I think you’ll see us use that as
motivation to run up front all season and be in contention again for the
championship.
“We’ve been very fortunate this year to keep all of our core guys. I
know from experience that that can be a huge asset from year to year.
These guys have chemistry. They know what I’m going to do and I know
what they’re going to do for the most part. You can’t buy that and I
can tell you as a driver, it makes you feel a lot more confident when
you’re getting behind the wheel of the car they set up or pulling in the
pits at the same time as 42 other guys.”
In Their Words Continued…
Biffle continued:
“Our biggest challenge will be to just keep a consistently successful
season. I think that is a challenge for every team but the team who can
have consistently good finishes and a few wins before the ‘Chase’ to get
seeded as high as possible will be the team to beat. Last year we
didn’t have any wins before the ‘Chase’ and that hurt us more than
you would think. We won the first two races of the ‘Chase’ and still
weren’t leading the points. Those wins are important and if we can be
consistent when we’re not winning, then that’s the best we can do. Our
goals this year are to win a championship, win a championship and win a
championship.”
No. 16 3M crew chief Greg Erwin on 2009:
“Well, I think you can look forward to the same kind of dedication to
progress that we had last year. When we make mistakes, we’ll learn from
them and then when that situation occurs again, we’ll know how to fix
it. The only way to succeed in this sport is to grow with the sport and
learn as you go. Otherwise, you’re just beating your head against the
ceiling.
“This year we had only minor changes with some of our pit support guys
but our over-the-wall team stayed in tact and that will be a tremendous
advantage. Our car chief Will Smith will be coming off the road to stay
at the shop and oversee the setup plate. Having him back at the shop
during the week to help our shop foreman will make the transition of
cars run even more smoothly. I think the minor changes that we have
made will help the team but the overall lack of change will be our
biggest asset.
“I think our biggest challenges this year will be keeping our momentum
going and staying consistent. The competition is closer now than ever
and you can’t really afford to have a ‘mulligan’ or an off weekend. I
think we showed ourselves last year that we’re as good as anybody out
there, we just need to stay consistent and turn a bad day into a
15th-place finish instead of a 30th-place finish. For this year our
goals are to win a few races early in the season, make the ‘Chase’ and
win the championship.”
No. 17 DEWALT & CitiFinancial driver Matt Kenseth on 2009:
“Hopefully we improve from last year. That is what the goal is every
year. You always want to put together a better team or a better car or
get a little better at driving. If you aren’t doing all that and
working to be a contender, then you aren’t doing your job. In the
off-season we tried to improve the team any way we could and improve
these cars any way we could. We just want to do better than last year.
We want to make the ‘Chase’ again and be a series contender.
“Obviously we made a crew chief change, but Chip (Bolin, engineer)
stayed in the same role that he has always been in. Chip is not really
taking on less responsibility. If anything he has more car
responsibility and engineer responsibility, getting him back to what he
is really good at; which is making these cars go really fast. We
brought Drew (Blickensderfer, crew chief) in, who adds some energy
In Their Words Continued…
Kenseth continued:
“and really a spark to the team. I think it will really help with team
morale. He can really rally around the guys and help with team morale
and stay on top of the pit stops and be in the shop all the time working
with them. He can be on top of a lot of the things that really isn’t
Chip’s strong point. It will be a great mix. They get along really well
and it’s like we added another person really and I think it’s going to
make our team really stronger.
“I think that since we’ve went to this COT, it’s been a big challenge
for myself and this team. The first challenge is getting these cars to
drive exactly like we need them to drive. After that it’s about getting
everything to go perfect in a race. Track position is a lot more
important than it used to be and it’s really important to get really
fast pit stops and have good pit strategy and all of those things to be
out front. If you get out front you have to do your job to stay there.
We saw a lot of gas mileage races last year, a lot of strategy and a lot
of races won and lost on pit road. The biggest challenge is to figure
all that out and be there at the end.
“Obviously we want to improve from last season. We had a descent year,
but not a great one, and not the type of year we are used to. Of course
we want to make the ‘Chase’ again, but most importantly we want to win
races and be a series contender in the ‘Chase’.”
No. 17 DEWALT crew chief Drew Blickensderfer on 2009:
“We are pretty excited about this season. The guys have been working
hard and I know Matt is ready to get going. I think the big thing is
that these guys are used to winning races and competing for
championships and it’s our job to make sure that happens.
“I think our biggest challenge is making sure that we take fast cars to
the track each week and then put ourselves in position to win races.
With Chip (Bolin, engineer) moving back to the engineer role, that
should help a great deal with the cars. It’s my job to take care of the
team and make sure everything else is in place. We have all the tools
here to run for a championship and our challenge will be to make sure we
do a good job of getting the most out of what we have.
“This team really wants to get back into victory lane, winning races
this year. You also want to be in the ‘Chase’, where Matt (Kenseth) has
been a staple of that deal. Once that happens you need to be in a
position to compete for the championship. If we are winning races and
running up front, those things will take care of themselves.”
No. 26 Crown Royal driver Jamie McMurray on 2009:
“I’m very excited to have Donnie (Wingo) come back over with me this
year. We ended the 2008 season on a very strong note, especially the
final three races, so we’re planning to continue that strong performance
now under Donnie’s command. I think that Donnie brings a little
something extra that our team needs in order to put us in contention for
the Chase.”
In Their Words Continued…
McMurray continued:
“Looking ahead to the season, Donnie and I haven’t worked together for
about three years now and things are different here at Roush Fenway than
they were at Chip Ganassi Racing for him. Donnie’s remained my friend
for all these years and that’s been great that he and I have kept in
touch because it makes it a rather smooth transition for us to work
together again this year. When we went to Phoenix for a tire test that
was the first time this year that I hopped in the car and heard Donnie
on the radio, and I have to admit that it was pretty cool because it
felt like things had never changed.
“The top-three things I wish to accomplish are to win a bunch of races,
make the ‘Chase’, and have a great wedding and marriage!”
No. 26 Crown Royal crew chief Donnie Wingo on 2009:
“The whole goal for our team this year is to win races. I’m also a new
guy here at the Roush Fenway Racing group and so I’m still learning the
system here. Learning how we get cars built, learning about what
information is discussed in meetings, sharing information from track to
track, etc.
“The things that I would like us to accomplish this year for sure are to
win races this season as well as to make the ‘Chase’. The other big
focus is not to beat ourselves this year. Jamie’s been really close in
the past to making the ‘Chase’ and I feel that for him it’s a must this
year and I really feel like we have all the pieces ready for that to
happen.
“It’s a little different working with these cars now with Jamie simply
because the cars we run now are so different from a few years ago. I
don’t feel that the communication is going to be an issue with Jamie and
myself. I don’t think that he’s changed in the sense that he still
knows what he likes and dislikes in his cars so I don’t feel that our
communication will be a challenge. Personally my challenge starting off
the year is learning all the new people I’m going to work with.”
No. 99 Aflac & ScottsMiracle-Gro/Save-A-Lot driver Carl Edwards on 2009:
“The team changes that will impact 2009 are the addition of Pierre
Kuettel (P.K.) to our team as car chief. I had great success with P.K.
as car chief in 2005. He went over to the Nationwide team. We won a
championship together and to have him back as car chief is gonna be
great. Just as great is Jason Myers, who has been the car chi99 car, he’s staying with the team as well to work with P.K. To me, for
those guys to do that for them to be able to come together to make the
team stronger, I think that’s going to be our biggest positive move for
2009.
“The biggest challenge for 2009 will probably be the same challenges I
had in 2008. Number one for me as a driver is to not make mistakes. I
cannot cost the team any points, and I’ve been getting better at that,
but I still have room to improve. So that’ll be a challenge. Just
being the best that we can be as far as preparing for the races, and not
having any parts failures, that’s all a big challenge.”
In Their Words Continued…
Edwards continued:
“I don’t think there will be a new challenge. I believe that we just
need to keep working on getting better at the stuff we’ve been working
on.
“I have three goals for this year. Number one is to win the
championship. The other two are more personal: to win a race at
Martinsville and to win a road course race. If I were to accomplish all
of these, this would be the perfect season.”
No. 99 Aflac crew chief Bob Osborne on 2009:
“In 2009 we are going to work to become consistent because that’s what
will get us wins and eventually a championship. Pierre Kuettel has
returned to the team as car chief which I think will help in that
effort. He brings a lot of experience to the table and that along with
his leadership skills should really help our team step up in 2009.
“We have to have mistake free weekends if we want to win the
championship. When you look at the No. 48 team, that’s what they do,
they take a bad day and make it a good one and that’s what we need to
do. I don’t know that our goals change from year to year but they
include making the ‘Chase’, to win a race or more and wining the Sprint
Cup championship. If we can accomplish any one of the three we will be
fortunate I feel.”
No. 6 Northern Tool + Equipment driver Erik Darnell on 2009:
“I think we have a really good chance at winning some races this season.
It’s a shame though we won’t be able to compete for a championship.
With this being my first season in the Nationwide Series and with crew
chief Mike Kelley I know it’s going to be a learning experience, but
with that said there are several tracks on my half of the schedule that
I have quite a bit of experience at and feel really good about my
chances. Mike has an excellent crew and I expect us to be up front each
and every race.
“As far as changes, I’m no longer with the No. 99 Northern Tool +
Equipment team. I’m still with Northern Tool, but now in the Nationwide
Series. I’m actually splitting time with David Ragan in the No. 6 Ford
Fusion. David will be running 20 racing with Discount Tire and I’ll be
with Northern Tool for 15 races. My first race though isn’t until May
and for the last three seasons I’ve been used to running a full
schedule. So, this is all new to me, but I’m excited about the
opportunity and look forward to working along side David and the rest of
the No. 6 team.
“Probably the biggest challenge facing me this season is getting
practice time in the car. Since I’m only running 15 races this season,
I’m certainly not going to get as much time in the car as I would if
I were running a full schedule. NASCAR’s new testing policy doesn’t help
my situation either. Also, my experience on road courses is very
limited, so I know Watkins Glen and Montreal will not be easy. In
addition, I had quite a bit of success in the past at speedways while in
the truck series, but that all changes now with my move to the car.”
In Their Words Continued…
Darnell continued:
“The handling is quite different than in the truck, so when I do race at
these tracks getting as much practice time as possible is very
important. Three things I wish to accomplish this year would obviously
be to get a Nationwide Series win under my belt, grab Rookie-of-the-Year
honors anNo. 6 Discount Tire/Northern Tool + Equipment crew chief Mike Kelley on
2009:
“In 2009 we want to start off were we left off, we ran really strong at
the end of the year and didn’t get the finishes at Homestead and Phoenix
we deserved but we were very fast and competitive the last one-third of
the year. We replaced one crew member, our front tire changer, and we
haven’t missed a beat. Our over-the-wall program is second to none and
sure makes my job easier!
Roush Fenway Racing, Press Release
Article Tags: Press Release
