As NASCAR makes its return to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Greg Biffle's Roush Fenway team comes back for its third visit since John Henry and Red Sox ownership bought half of Jack Roush's race outfit, the organization comes to its quasi home looking stronger than it has on either of its two previous trips. After an inconsistent season in which its quintet of drivers didn't finish 12 percent of the races it started, and didn't put a driver in the top five during an average race, the Sprint Cup's best stable of Fords has reasserted itself this year.
Carl Edwards has placed among the top 10 more often than any other driver - doing so in 12 of 16 races - and his three wins are second, while Matt Kenseth is one of only five drivers with at least 10 top 10s. As a result, those two - Edwards fourth, Kenseth 12th - are in position to Chase for the Cup with 10 races remaining before the field of contenders is cut to a dozen. So is Biffle, who ranks seventh, while David Ragan is 14th, just 47 points from qualifying as well.
The drivers credited part of the improvement in performance to a simplified preparation process that now requires a team to ready one car rather than two because the so-called Car of Tomorrow has been fully incorporated to the Cup Series. But they also attributed a portion of their success to the work of Robbie Reiser, who was formerly Kenseth's crew chief, but moved into a role as Roush Fenway's general manager before the season.
There's still some room to go, especially with Jamie McMurray lagging behind the rest and currently running 20th. But even he is only 70 points behind his pace of a year ago, and as a whole the five drivers have already amassed nearly 700 more points than they had at this point a year ago.
The biggest leap belongs to Ragan, and if he can continue to improve, there's a legitimate chance Roush can put four cars in the Chase. Given McMurray's difficulties, it's unlikely they'll get five into NASCAR's version of the playoffs, as they did three years ago, but with a third of the contenders coming from their stable there would still be a decent shot of securing the team's third title of this decade.
"We know we've got to step it up," Biffle said, "and one of us has got to pull the title out."
Should the Charlotte Observer report that Jamie McMurray will be parting ways with Roush-Fenway Racing at the conclusion of the 2008 season be true, then adding McMurray’s name to the list of silly season spectacles could add yet another twist to this ongoing saga. Roush has already locked up Carl Edwards to another multi-year deal and appears to be only a few minor details away from re-signing Greg Biffle to his current contract. So, with Bobby Labonte, Martin Truex Jr, and Elliott Sadlerall already being reported as being re-signed with their teams for 2009, and Joe Gibbs Racing going on record by stating that they would not allow Tony Stewart to exit his contract obligations early, that would leave McMurray and Ryan Newman as the two biggest names on the market assuming that Roush’s deal with Biffle does in fact go through.
Richard Childress Racing has already stated that they are in search of a driver to field their fourth Cup car for next season, and the lineup at Penske Racing remains uncertain with Ryan Newman yet to be re-signed and the future of Sam Hornish Jr. with the team potentiall in question. There have also been a few reports that a release from Hendrick Motorsports for Casey Mears might not be out of question, and nobody appears to be safe over at Chip Ganassi Racing, so a potential return for McMurray there could even be in play. So, there could definitely be some opportunities for McMurray should the rumors of his departure from Roush hold true. As stated earlier, however, McMurray told reporters on Monday that as of right now the rumors are false.
McMurray first broke onto the Cup scene in 2002 while substituting for an injured Sterling Marlin over at Chip Ganassi Racing. He won the Fall race at Lowe’s that season in only his second career start. He drove the next three seasons full-time for Ganassi, finishing between 11th and 13th in points in each of those seasons. Since moving to Roush in 2006, McMurray has won only one more race (the Pepsi 400 last year at Daytona), and finished 25th in points in ‘06 and 17th in points last year. Jamie fell outside of the top-35 in points following the fifth race of 2008, but has since been able to climb his way back to 22nd thanks to seven top-20 finishes in the past nine races.
Roush Fenway Racing's Jamie McMurray led the final of six test sessions held at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Monday and Tuesday. Has he adjusted his car so that it is yawed out like Carl Edwards' has been running his on those mile and a half tracks where he has been successful?
Crew chiefs and engineers took the yawn out of Sprint Cup testing at Lowe's Motor Speedway (LMS) and put in the yaw. The hope is to close the gap between Roush Fenway Racing's Carl Edwards and the rest of the field at 1.5-mile tracks such as LMS. Edwards' car, according to several crew chiefs and drivers, has been dominant in part because he has been able to handle a setup in which the rear housing is turned to the right, making it appear the car is going sideways down the straightaways. This gives Edwards more yaw -- movement in the back end -- that creates more downforce and allows him to make a better transition going into the corners.
"I think everyone sees it, even on TV," said Denny Hamlin, who is sixth in points. "It's very, very noticeable for us drivers. To those that don't really know the nuts and bolts of the cars, they don't really see it. We see it, the attitude of his car is a little bit more I guess 'yawed out' more than everyone else's. There are reasons for that. We as a team are starting to pinpoint that and really starting to show up."
Many teams used the two-day test at LMS to experiment with setups similar to what they believe Edwards has. NASCAR allows only a quarter-inch adjustment in the rear housing and monitors it with gauges. Tony Eury Jr., the crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr. can't go quite that far without making the car tough for his driver to handle.
Earnhardt crashed during Monday's practice sessions at Lowe's.
Four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon said that much yaw makes his car very tough to handle. Two-time champion Tony Stewart said everybody is trying to get a feel for it.
Now we know whats been bugging Jeff.
"It's a driver feel, there's no doubt," Eury said. "Some drivers like it. Some drivers don't."
Edwards apparently does. He's used it to win at 1.5-mile tracks at Las Vegas and Texas and the 2-mile California Speedway. He was headed for a win at 1.5-mile Atlanta before his engine expired late.
There have been three Sprint Cup races so far in 2008. These races have shown Ford Motor Company’s potential for success and disaster in NASCAR’s top series. Ford drivers have the potential to win any race. They showed that at the end of 2007 when Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle combined to capture four victories in the final 13 races. However, the problem with the three top Ford drivers is that there are only three of them. Ford has found itself in a position of being out gunned every time the green flag drops.
By Richard Allen
Roush Fenway Racing maintains five Sprint Cup teams, a number that will soon have to be reduced to four. Of those five teams only the three of Kenseth, Edwards and Biffle appear to have the ability to contend on a weekly basis. David Ragan has never seemed comfortable in the Sprint Cup series. Jamie McMurray has shown flashes of brilliance, like his win last July in Daytona, but has been far from a model of consistency.
Once powerful Yates Racing, which has brought Ford a championship and numerous victories, is currently campaigning two cars, one of which is partially sponsored and the other is not sponsored at all. The organization’s last win was in 2005 at Talladega when Dale Jarrett was ruled to be in the lead after a late race caution fell.
Another former powerhouse for the blue oval brand, Wood Brothers Racing, has brought itself to the brink of extinction by holding on to its glorious past for too long. The company remained in its Stuart, Virginia shop long after all other competitive teams had based themselves in the Charlotte area. Also, the Woods have stuck to the single car approach rather than go the multi car route with virtually everyone else.
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