Homestead-Miami 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
Erik Darnell – No. 6 Northern Tool + Equipment 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 Homestead-Miami Fast Facts…
NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
2009 Homestead-Miami Lineup – David Ragan/No. 6 UPS Ford; Greg
Biffle/No. 16 3M Ford; Matt Kenseth/No. 17 DEWALT Ford; Jamie
McMurray/No. 26 Crown Royal; Carl Edwards/No. 99 Aflac Ford.
6 OF 10 - Roush Fenway Racing has won more races at Homestead-Miami
than any other team with a total of six out of 10 races. Joe Gibbs has
a total of three wins and Evernham has one.
ON A STREAK - A Roush Fenway Ford has won the Sprint Cup race during
Ford Championship Weekend each year since 2005 for a record five
consecutive races won.
In 48 Cup starts Roush Fenway has six wins, three poles, 18 top-five
and 21 top-10 finishes.
Kurt Busch won the team’s first race at the 1.5-mile oval in 2002.
He is also one of only two drivers to win from the pole (Bill Elliott
is the other). Greg Biffle captured wins two - four from 2004 – 2006,
Matt Kenseth in 2007 and Carl Edwards is the most recent winner
performing his signature back flip in 2008.
Out of 10 winners, Biffle has come from the furthest back to claim
victory. In 2006 he started 22nd before crossing the line first.
Roush Fenway has three Sprint Cup pole awards at Homestead-Miami.
Kurt Busch won the pole in 2002 and 2004 and Carl Edwards won the award
in 2005.
Greg Biffle’s three wins at Homestead-Miami is more than any other
driver.
Roush Fenway finished one, two, three, four in 2005 (Greg Biffle,
Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards respectively).
SWEEPING UP - In 2006, Roush Fenway Ford’s swept Ford Championship
weekend when Mark Martin captured the Truck victory, Matt Kenseth won in
Nationwide and Greg Biffle brought home the Sprint Cup win.
Roush Fenway Homestead-Miami Fast Facts continued…
NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
2009 Homestead-Miami line up – Erik Darnell/No. 6 Northern Tool +
Equipment Ford; Matt Kenseth/No. 16 CitiFinancial Ford; Carl Edwards/No.
60 Ortho Ford.
Roush Fenway has made 29 Nationwide starts and has accrued three
wins, one pole, 15 top-five and 19 top-10 finishes.
Jeff Burton won Roush Fenway’s first Nationwide race at
Homestead-Miami in 1997.
LOOKING FOR #4 - Of the three Roush Fenway entries in this week’s
race, two have won at the 1.5-mile oval. Matt Kenseth claimed victory
in 2006 and Carl Edwards is the most recent winner winning in 2008.
Erik Darnell (the team’s third entry) will make his first start at
Homestead in the Nationwide Series this week.
GET THE BROOM - Carl Edwards was the first driver to sweep the
Sprint Cup and Nationwide races at Homestead-Miami, claiming his
duel-victories in 2008.
David Ragan is the team’s only Nationwide pole winner. In 2007
the Georgia-native circled the track in 31.129 seconds.
During Ford Championship Weekend, a Roush Fenway Ford finishes
inside the top 10 in the Nationwide Series 65.5 percent of the time.
Carl Edwards has finished inside the top five for the last three
years (’06 – second, ’07 – fourth, and ’08 – first).
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
2009 Homestead-Miami line up – Colin Braun/No. 6 Con-way Freight
F-150
In 28 Truck Series starts, Roush Fenway has one win, one pole, five
top-five and 10 top-10 finishes.
Joe Ruttman is the team’s only pole award winner – 1997.
Mark Martin claimed the team’s first and only Truck Series victory
in the No. 6 Scott’s F-150 in 2006.
The Roush Fenway stable finishes inside the top 10/91.1 percent of
the time in the Truck Series at Homestead-Miami.
Homestead-Miami Track History (current drivers)…
Sprint Cup Series
PTS DRIVER STARTS WINS TOP-5 TOP-10 POLES LAPS
COMP LAPS LED
7th Greg Biffle
7 3 3 3 0 1,803 173
11th Carl Edwards
5 1 3 4 1 1,340 251
14th Matt Kenseth
9 1 2 3 0 2,120 287
22nd Jamie McMurray7 0 1 3 1 1,854 1
27th David Ragan
2 0 0 1 0 233 1
TOTALS:
30 5 9 14 2 7,350 713
Nationwide Series
PTS DRIVER STARTS WINS TOP-5 TOP-10 POLES LAPS
COMP LAPS LED
2nd Carl Edwards
4 1 3 3 0 800 95
n/a Erik Darnell
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
n/a Matt Kenseth
10 1 4 7 0 1,902 144
TOTALS:
14 2 7 10 0 2,702 239
Camping World Truck Series
PTS DRIVER STARTS WINS TOP-5 TOP-10 POLES LAPS
COMP LAPS LED
7th Colin Braun 1 0 0 0 0 137 0
TOTALS: 1 0 0 0 0 137 0
COMBINED TOTALS
ENTRIES SERIES STARTS WINS TOP-5 TOP-10 POLES LAPS
COMP LAPS LED
5 Sprint Cup
30 5 9 14 2 7,350 713
3 Nationwide 14 2 7 10 0 2,702 239
1 Truck
1 0 0 0 0 137 0
TOTALS: 45 7 16 24 2 10,189 952
In Their Words…
Roush Fenway Racing’s Sprint Cup drivers answer questions about
Homestead-Miami Speedway (HMS), their perspective on 2009 and
preparations for 2010.
No. 6 UPS driver DAVID RAGAN on Homestead-Miami:
Q: What are some of the challenges that HMS presents and what does it
take to win there?
A: “Being only a 400-mile race you need to qualify well and to win
you’ll need good gas mileage and a good handling car.”
Q: Roush Fenway has won six of 10 cup races at HMS. What do you
attribute to the team’s overwhelming success at the track?
A: “That style track fits our mold; we work hard on our 1.5-mile
tracks since that’s the majority of the races.”
Q: What would it mean to win at Homestead in a Ford during Ford
Championship weekend? Does it make the win a bit sweeter?
A: “It would mean a lot to me as a driver and to all the Ford fans
that come down there for Championship weekend. Hopefully a Ford can win
all three races.”
Q: In your opinion, how did the 2009 season go for you?
A: “The 2009 season definitely didn’t go as planned. We weren’t
as consistent as we should have been and we didn’t make the Chase.
We’ve got a lot of work to do over the off season and everyone is
motivated to get our No. 6 car and the Ford teams back up front.”
Q: What will you/your team be doing during the off-season to prepare
for 2010?
A: “We’ll be spending a lot of time at the shop and hopefully
getting to a track or two to test some over the off-season.”
No. 16 3M driver GREG BIFFLE on Homestead-Miami:
Q: What are some of the challenges that HMS presents and what does it
take to win there?
A: “It’s not a typical mile and a half track because the corners
are a lot tighter. You can’t really compare it to Texas, Atlanta or
Charlotte. As with most tracks it takes luck, track position and good
pit stops to win there.”
Q: Roush Fenway has won six of 10 cup races at HMS. What do you
attribute to the team’s overwhelming success at the track?
A: “It’s always been a good track for me and I’m pretty proud to
have contributed half of those six wins. As for the team as a whole, I
think that we hit on something there a few years ago and were able to
just carry over the success. It’s also a driver’s track and we have
some of the best drivers in the series.”
Q: What would it mean to win at Homestead in a Ford during Ford
Championship weekend? Does it make the win a bit sweeter?
A: “It’s always great to get a win for Ford but getting Ford a win
in their backyard in Michigan or at Ford Championship weekend in
Homestead are both great experiences. Everyone always asks if winning
at Homestead means a little less because you’re overshadowed by the
Champion but what they forget is that if you win at Homestead, you’re
the most recent winner until the Bud Shootout in Daytona and that makes
the off-season a little sweeter too.”
Q: In your opinion, how did the 2009 season go for you?
A: “Well, to be honest it wasn’t a good as I hoped it would be but
we did make the Chase which is every driver’s goal. I feel like we
have one of the best if not the best pit crew on pit road and that is a
good feeling. I think that we’re obviously off as an organization but
it looks like the 3M team will finish the highest in the points of all
of the Roush teams. I would still like to finish in the top five in the
standings and that will be our goal heading into Homestead.”
Q: What will you/your team be doing during the off-season to prepare
for 2010?
A: “We already have a tire test scheduled for mid-January and I know
Greg Erwin will be working throughout the off-season with the
engineering staff in the shop to try to figure out how we can be better.
I know the pit crew will continue their practice and workout schedule
and I am happy to say that I think our entire pit crew will be returning
for the 2010 season. I think we will all also be taking some time off
and spending it with our families and that may be the most important
thing we get to do.”
No. 17 DEWALT driver MATT KENSETH on Homestead-Miami:
Q: What are some of the challenges that HMS presents and what does it
take to win there?
A: “Homestead is pretty cool. It’s really unique with the way
it’s built right now and the way the banking is and the elevation
changes and all that stuff, so it’s pretty cool. They did a great job
and spent the money and did the research and they weren’t scared to go
out on a limb and build it like no other track. I think the racing is
really exciting there. There are a lot of different lanes you can look
for. It’s a lot of fun. It's the only track we have that's that big
that is a true oval without the dogleg, and the backstretch being higher
than the front-stretch, it makes all four corners a lot different, so
it's a fun track I think the racing there is as good as anywhere now. I
think all the drivers and teams and the fans, everybody loves going down
there and it's a great event to have at the end of the year and to crown
all the champions, so it's really unique.”
Q: Roush Fenway has won six of 10 cup races at HMS. What do you
attribute to the team’s overwhelming success at the track?
A: “It seems like we have always been pretty good on the
mile-and-a-half’s and tracks this size, but I think we have tracks
that maybe suit each particular driver or team maybe a little bit
better, but, really, if you look at the organization as a whole, I
don’t know if they have a lot of weak points.”
Q: What would it mean to win at Homestead in a Ford during Ford
Championship weekend? Does it make the win a bit sweeter?
A: “I think that any win is great. I think everybody thinks of it as
Ford Championship Weekend. There are three championships that are going
to be crowned in those three days. And it’s always nice to win the
last race, as you have a little more time to enjoy the win, because you
won’t be racing again until next season.”
Q: In your opinion, how did the 2009 season go for you?
A: “It started really well at Daytona and California obviously, but
started to go down the next week at Las Vegas when we finished last. It
was a frustrating season, because we just did not run well enough.
We’ve made some gains the last few weeks and hopefully we will
continue to build on that as we move towards next season.”
No. 26 Crown Royal driver JAMIE MCMURRAY on Homestead-Miami:
Q: What are some of the challenges that HMS presents and what does it
take to win there?
A: “The biggest challenge of Homestead is just the way that the track
changes throughout the course of the race since we start in the daylight
and don’t finish until after it’s gotten dark. Homestead is a track
that seems to change more than other tracks we go to throughout the
year.”
Q: Roush Fenway has won six of 10 cup races at HMS. What do you
attribute to the team’s overwhelming success at the track?
A: “Our mile-and-a-half program is just very good. Homestead is just
a place where if you’re able to find something that works for your
car, it seems to carry over from year to year to year.”
Q: What would it mean to win at Homestead in a Ford during Ford
Championship weekend? Does it make the win a bit sweeter?
A: “It would definitely be great to win in a Ford at the Ford 400
because without Ford, we definitely wouldn’t be here. It would mean a
lot to our team as well with everything that’s gone on this year, to
finish the year on a high note would be really really good.”
Q: In your opinion, how did the 2009 season go for you?
A: “2009 was filled with a lot of highs and a lot of lows. It’s
just been a year when things didn’t go our way when we needed them to
go our way. We got caught up in a lot of other people’s wrecks and
had a lot of problems that you hardly ever see happen. So the biggest
thing was that there weren’t really any mistakes on the team’s part,
but just things that were out of our control.”
No. 99 Aflac driver CARL EDWARDS on Homestead-Miami:
Q: What are some of the challenges that HMS presents and what does it
take to win there?
A: “Homestead is a true oval so it drives a little bit differently
than the other mile-and-a-halves we go to. The big challenge there is
deciding where on the racetrack to run. You can run all the way down at
the bottom or right up against the fence. At these races I’ve seen the
fast line and it’s in three or four different places around that
racetrack. Another thing is that you have to be able to adapt to the
cooling conditions of the night, finishing it under the lights. Sort of
makes it a dynamic race because it makes it tough for the crew chiefs to
pick the setup. And plus there’s points on the line for us. I want
to be in the top-10 in Cup Series points so that drama will be added to
it and we’ll need to beat the No. 9 car of Kasey Kahne and those guys
by at least 44 points.”
Q: Roush Fenway has won six of 10 cup races at HMS. What do you
attribute to the team’s overwhelming success at the track?
A: “That track takes in every aspect of the whole team. We’ve
always been strong at the mile-and-a-halves. We’ve got great engines
and usually very good aero packages. For me personally, that style of
racetrack is one that I feel very comfortable at. I don’t know why,
but as a company we do so good there. But I’m glad. I don’t know
what one thing you could attribute it to.”
Q: What would it mean to win at Homestead in a Ford during Ford
Championship weekend? Does it make the win a bit sweeter?
A: “It’s so special to win there. I’m really proud to drive a
Ford. I think Ford is our greatest domestic car manufacturer. I’m
proud to represent them because of the way they run their business. In
Victory Lane in Homestead with all the folks from Ford it’s really
special. It was special to me last year, so it would be an honor for me
to do that again.”
Q: In your opinion, how did the 2009 season go for you?
A: “We have to get better. We have to figure out where we are behind
and then fix that. Everybody’s been working really hard and we just
have to look at each experience when you don’t get what you want.
Someone told me that once and I feel that we gain a lot of experience
this year. We know what doesn’t work and we have 2008 to look at and
say hey, we can definitely do this. We can win more races than anyone
else, we can score more points. We just have to get our ship back on
course and I believe we’re headed in that direction.”
