Joliet, Ill. – NASCAR’s other megateam has been uncharacteristically quiet through the first half of the 2007 season, as Roush Fenway Racing hasn’t been able to put up much of a fight against Hendrick Motorsports’ dominance.
But the rest of the field might be looking at a Roush resurgence heading into today’s Nextel Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway. Roush drivers have won two of the past four races and have been fast in practice all weekend at the 1.5-mile oval on the far-flung outskirts of Chicago – just the style of track on which the Roush team usually performs its best.
Roush driver Jamie McMurray, who broke a personal 166-race winless streak July 7 at Daytona International (Fla.) Speedway, said the team dug itself into a technological hole earlier this year and is beginning to climb out.
“The sport’s changed, and I think that Roush Racing was maybe a little bit behind,” McMurray said. “But we’ve done a really good job with catching up and doing as good a job.”
After winning back-to-back championships in 2003 and 2004, Jack Roush’s team hit its zenith late in the 2005 season when all five of its drivers qualified for NASCAR’s Chase for the Nextel Cup. But only Matt Kenseth was a factor in last year’s championship – and until Carl Edwards’ victory at Michigan International Speedway a month ago, Kenseth had been the only Roush driver to win a race this year.
Kenseth comes into Chicagoland third in points, but doesn’t yet consider his team a championship contender.
“It’s been all right, but we need to be better to have a legitimate shot at the championship,” Kenseth said. “We’re not running good enough to go out there and dominate the thing and beat them guys every week.”
