Texas Driver/Sponsor Line up…
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
David Ragan – No. 6 UPS Ford
Greg Biffle – No. 16 3M/Super 33 Tape 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
Matt Kenseth – No. 16 CitiFinancial Ford
Carl Edwards – No. 60 Ortho Ford
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Colin Braun – No. 6 Con-way Freight F-150
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Roush Fenway Texas Fast Facts…
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
2009 Texas Lineup – David Ragan/No. 6 UPS Ford; Greg Biffle/No. 16
3M/Super 33 Tape Ford; Matt Kenseth/No. 17 DEWALT Ford; Jamie
McMurray/No. 26 Crown Royal; Carl Edwards/No. 99 Aflac Ford.
In 81 starts at the 1.5-mile tri-oval, Roush Fenway Sprint Cup
drivers have seven wins, 24 top-five and 37 top-10 finishes. Of note,
Roush Fenway has not won a Sprint Cup pole at the track, one of only
three tracks that a pole position has eluded the team. Chicagoland and
Indy are the other two.
Last fall, all five Roush Fenway Sprint Cup teams finished inside
the top 11. Carl Edwards (first), Jamie McMurray (third), Greg Biffle
(fifth), Matt Kenseth (ninth) and David Ragan (11th).
A Roush Fenway Sprint Cup team has won seven of 17 races at Texas
(Burton in ’97, Mark Martin in ’98, Matt Kenseth in ’02, Greg
Biffle in ’05 and Carl Edwards in the fall of ’05 and sweeping the
2008 races). . Mathematically speaking, the team has won 41 percent of
the races run at the track. That’s more wins than any other NASCAR
Sprint Cup team. Hendrick has three wins, and Yates has two.
Jeff Burton garnered Roush Fenway’s first Sprint Cup win at Texas
Motor Speedway in 1997. This was also the track’s inaugural Sprint
Cup race and Burton’s first career Sprint Cup win. Burton came from
fifth and led 60 laps on his way to victory lane.
BIGGEST WINNER - Edwards has more wins at Texas than any other
active Sprint Cup driver. Jeff Burton is a close second with two wins.
Edwards sweep in 2008 was the first time a driver swept both Cup races
at the track since the series began racing there twice in 2005. Edwards
also won the first fall race there in ’05.
LAP LEADERS - In 17 races at Texas Motor Speedway, Matt Kenseth has
led the most laps with 497. Carl Edwards is second with 476 and Tony
Stewart is third with 469.
Roush Fenway drivers have completed 93.5 percent of their Sprint Cup
laps, finishing inside the top 10/45.7 percent of the time. Their
average starting position is 18.7 while their average finishing position
at Texas is 16.0.
NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
2009 Texas line up – David Ragan/No. 6 Discount Tire Ford; Matt
Kenseth/No. 16 CitiFinancial Ford; Carl Edwards/No. 60 Ortho Ford.
With 50 Nationwide starts under their belt at Texas Motor Speedway,
Roush Fenway drivers have amassed four wins, 19 top-five and 30 top-10
finishes. They’ve also captured three poles.
INAUGURAL WINNER - Mark Martin won Roush Fenway’s first Nationwide
race at Texas, also the track’s inaugural Nationwide race, in 1997.
Martin’s win kicked off a weekend sweep of Nationwide and Sprint Cup
wins for Roush Fenway Racing; who also won the inaugural Cup race with
Burton behind the wheel on Sunday. Roush Fenway is the only team to win
BOTH the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races in the same weekend at Texas.
Matt Kenseth was the last Roush Fenway driver to win a Nationwide
race at Texas – Spring of 2007.
V FOR VICTORY - Roush Fenway is tied with Richard Childress Racing
for the most wins in the Nationwide Series at Texas with four (Martin
– ’97, ’99, ’00 and Matt Kenseth – ’07).
Roush Fenway has three poles in the Nationwide Series. Mark Martin
won the teams’ first pole in the fall of 2006. David Ragan followed
that up by winning the pole in the spring of 2007; also marking his
first career Nationwide pole. Carl Edwards captured the pole last
fall.
In the Nationwide Series, Roush Fenway drivers have completed 96.5
percent of their laps and finished inside the top 10/60 percent of the
time.
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
2009 Texas line up – Colin Braun/No. 6 Con-way Freight F-150
In 49 truck starts, Roush Fenway has one win, one pole, 11 top-five
and 26 top-10 finishes at Texas.
50TH START - Colin Braun will make Roush Fenway’s 50th Truck
Series start at Texas Motor Speedway this Friday.
Greg Biffle won the pole and the race in 2000. This is Roush
Fenway’s only Truck Series pole and win at Texas.
THIRD TOP 5? - Colin Braun has two consecutive top-five finishes at
Texas Motor Speedway. The Texas-native finished fifth last fall and
third earlier this year.
Roush Fenway Racing Texas Story Ideas…
1.God Bless Texas – Roush Fenway Racing looks to continue their
winning tradition at Texas. The team has seven Sprint Cup wins
including winning the inaugural race in 1997 with Jeff Burton behind the
wheel of the No. 99 Ford. Current Roush Fenway driver Carl Edwards has
three wins in just eight starts at the 1.5-mile tri-oval, one of three
Roush Fenway Cup drivers to garner a win at the track. Roush Fenway
also has four Nationwide wins in the Lone Star State. For more
information on Roush Fenway at Texas Motor Speedway, please contact
Sheri Herrmann at (704)720-4632.
2.Texas Bred – Colin Braun, one of Roush Fenway’s rising stars,
originally hails from Ovalo, TX and will return to his home state next
week when the Camping World Truck Series visits Texas Motor Speedway.
In his second year of Truck Series competition, Braun has been on a hot
streak claiming his first career win at Michigan, winning three poles
and capturing seven top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in his last 16
starts. He has also moved his way to fifth in the overall point
standings and is making preparations to race full-time in the Nationwide
Series in 2010. From his beginnings in Grand-Am racing, the
Texas-native has certainly built an impressive resume for such a short
career in stock car racing. For more information please contact Lori
Halbeisen at (704)720-4636.
Texas Track History (current drivers)…
Sprint Cup Series
PTS DRIVER STARTS WINS TOP-5 TOP-10 POLES LAPS
COMP LAPS LED
7th Greg Biffle
11 1 3 4 0 3,330 375
10th Carl Edwards
9 3 3 4 0 2,935 476
14th Matt Kenseth
14 1 6 9 0 4,636 497
22nd Jamie
McMurray11 0 3 6 0 3,523 60
27th David Ragan
5 0 0 0 0 1,426 1
TOTALS:
50 5 15 23 0 15,850 1,409
Nationwide Series
PTS DRIVER STARTS WINS TOP-5 TOP-10 POLES LAPS
COMP LAPS LED
2nd Carl Edwards
9 0 4 5 1 1,673 8
n/a David Ragan
6 0 3 4 1 1,138 2
n/a Matt Kenseth 14 2 6 12 1 2,681 307
TOTALS:
29 2 13 21 3 5,492 317
Camping World Truck Series
PTS DRIVER STARTS WINS TOP-5 TOP-10 POLES LAPS
COMP LAPS LED
5th Colin Braun
3 0 2 2 0 486 0
TOTALS: 3 0 2 2 0 486 0
COMBINED TOTALS
ENTRIES SERIES STARTS WINS TOP-5 TOP-10 POLES LAPS
COMP LAPS LED
5 Sprint Cup 50 5 15 23 0 15,850 1,409
3 Nationwide 29 2 13 21 3 5,492 317
1 Truck 3 0 2 2 0 486 0
TOTALS: 82 7 30 46 3 21,828 1,726
In Their Words…
This week Roush Fenway Racing Sprint Cup drivers discuss racing at
Texas Motor Speedway and what it takes to win at there.
No. 6 UPS Ford driver DAVID RAGAN on Texas:
“Texas is an extremely fast track. It’s really tight coming off of
turn two to the outside wall and turns three and four are really smooth.
It’s unique in general and makes for a really good race.
"There isn’t really a difference between the spring and fall races at
Texas. The temperature is about the same at both, but running at night
in the fall makes it a little more exciting.
"Winning at Texas takes good fuel mileage and a good handling car.”
No. 16 3M Ford driver GREG BIFFLE on Texas:
"Texas is different than many of the other tracks we race at in the way
that the track flattens out off of turn two onto the backstretch. The
track flattens dramatically off of the turn while at other tracks there
is still a little banking on the straight-aways. Turns three and four
are completely different than turns one and two.
"The difference between the two races depends almost entirely on the
weather. The track is generally slicker for the fall race though just
because it is usually warmer.
"Winning at Texas is just like winning anywhere else, it takes luck, a
good car, good pit stops and no mistakes behind the wheel."
No. 17 DEWALT Ford driver MATT KENSETH on Texas:
“The track is pretty high banked in the corners but is very flat on
corner exit’s that is the most unique part is trying to get off the
corners, especially turn two.
“To win it will take a car that will go through the middle of the
corner and bumps really fast.”
No. 26 Crown Royal Ford driver JAMIE MCMURRAY on Texas:
“Texas is a bit different than the other 1.5-mile tracks. Turn four
falls off a bit more and turn two is a real tight corner, you’ve
really got to get your car turning well off of turn two or else you’ll
slide up into the wall. So it is a bit different than other 1.5-mile
tracks we race at, just mainly the exits off of turns two and four.
“The track does change a bit for the fall race. In the past it
seemed to get a little tighter, but more and more we’re seeing that as
we go to night races at a lot of these places, cars are getting a bit
freer. The set-up does change between the two races, but that’s what
we review our notes for and anticipate.
“It takes the same thing it does at any other track to win… you have
to have the best car.”
No. 99 Aflac Ford driver CARL EDWARDS on Texas:
“The transitions into the corners are pretty unique at Texas; even
out of the corners is a lot of transition from the flat straightaway to
the banking. It’s just something that is different from any of the
other tracks that I go to. If you were just standing there looking you
wouldn’t notice it, but at 200-miles an hour that transition makes the
track drive just a little differently than others.
“I don’t really see any difference between the spring and fall
race. The weather is always nice there, so that’s not a factor. The
fans are just as amped up. There is more on the line during the fall
because of the Chase, but it’s still an exciting race in the Spring
time.
“It takes a really, really good racecar to win at Texas. That’s
the bottom-line. You have to have a very powerful engine and you’ve
got to have a great aerodynamics package. Your crew chief and engineer
have to have the car put together really well and sometimes you need
great fuel mileage on top of that. It takes a lot to win in Texas.”
In Their Words continued…
Roush Fenway Racing up-and-comer’s Colin Braun and Ricky Stenhouse,
Jr. tested the new Nationwide Mustang at Talladega on Monday. Here is
what they had to say about the test.
No. 16 Con-way Freight Ford driver COLIN BRAUN on the Mustang:
Q: WHAT’S IT LIKE TO FINALLY GET IN THIS MUSTANG ON A RACE TRACK?
A: It feels great. I think all the hype during the announcement was
obviously exciting and I think that just builds up to come here to the
race track. Ford has done a great job with this Mustang and I’m just
having a fun time working with it. Right now, it’s driving really
good. I think once you get out there and do some drafting it might
change a little bit, but as of right now everything is good and we’re
working on trying some different things.
Q: WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE OUT THERE ONE CAR AT A TIME WHEN YOU’RE NOT
DRAFTING?
A: I think it’s definitely more boring than a place like Texas or
Michigan – something like that where you’ve really got to drive
these cars – but it’s still fun and it’s something that really
helps you get a feel for what you’re gonna be doing when you go out
there and draft. Drafting for me is really where it gets fun. I really
enjoy that part of it, but doing single-car runs you’re just looking
at your water temperature and making sure you’re good there, plus
there are some little things you can do that will give you some speed
here and there.
No. 6 CitiFinancial Ford driver RICKY STENHOUSE, JR. on the Mustang:
Q: HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE DRIVING A NATIONWIDE MUSTANG TODAY?
A: I think it’s cool. Everybody knows what a Ford Mustang is because
that’s what they started out racing. I think all of the fans think of
a Ford Mustang as a race car and it’s raced ever since the first one
was made, so I’m glad we’re getting the chance to run it in NASCAR.
It looks like a good race car and they’ve done a really good job with
the design. It really resembles a production Mustang and if we can just
get it driving good here on the race track, we’ll be good to go.
Q: HOW HAS TESTING GONE TODAY?
A: It’s good. We’re just running through a few things. NASCAR has
some stuff they wanted us to do and stuff we wanted to try, but, I
think, this is a pretty good car. Obviously, they’re going to be safer
than the older cars that we’ve been running. It’s a lot more roomier
inside. I kind of feel lost in there because the older cars are a little
smaller inside, but it’s really comfortable and I like the look of
it.
Q: WHAT’S IT LIKE OUT THERE BY YOURSELF?
A: There are some things around this race track you can do differently
to make up a little bit of speed, like how you enter the corner and how
you let go of the wheel coming up off, so there are a few things you can
learn. But we’re really just out here riding around and trying to
collect a lot of data for the guys.
