PR ROUSH RACING 2
1-19-04
Matt Martin Wins Fastruck Debut at Auburndale
While it's still technically the off-season for NASCAR drivers, Roush
Racing's Mark Martin spent this past weekend in a familiar environment, the racetrack. However, this time Martin was powering his Roush Racing No. 6 Ford around an oval. Instead he was there watching his son Matt race for the first time in the Fast Kids series.
A chip off the old block, the younger Martin did not disappoint in his
debut, as he swept the pole and the main event in his No. 66 Gatorade
Ford F-150 at Auburndale Speedway on Saturday, Jan. 17.
Although Matt won both the pole position and the race, it wasn't as
easy as it sounds. "Matt's Ford F-150 was a rocketship in practice," said proud dad Mark Martin. "But in qualifying, he overdrove it a little bit on cold tires and got loose coming off turn four.
"He stayed in the gas though, and got into the wall a couple of times.
He still stayed in the gas even after hitting the wall, and ended up
winning the pole. His truck was up against the wall and had to be towed in with a wrecker. But he won that pole!"
The wall-brushing incident required some quick work by Matt's pit crew, as they straightened up the body, and replaced a lower ball joint and shock before race time.
Matt started from the pole in the 25-lap race on the fast quarter-mile
oval, against a competitive field of Fast Kids drivers who are all
older than him. (The 15-year-old driver on the outside pole drove in the Fastruck series last year -- competing against adults, and even posted a win against them.)
"Matt got beat going into the first corner and ran the first 15 laps in second place," said Mark Martin. "After he got comfortable in the
truck, he re-passed the other driver and took the lead back."
Matt led the rest of the way in the race, and even held off the
competition during a crucial restart with four laps to go. But even after the race was over, the fireworks weren't. When Matt drove to the finish line for winner's circle photos, a grease fire
broke out in the right-front wheel well. (The brakes had gotten hot during the race, and grease on the hub started the fire.) It was quickly extinguished though, and the celebration continued.
"I'm really proud of Matt," Mark said. "It was an unbelievable debut in the truck, against some really tough competition. Matt drove a heck of a race and made a great pass to retake the lead. It was a great night at Auburndale!"
Auburndale Speedway is a 1/4-mile paved track, with 12-degree banked
corners. It is located between Tampa and Orlando.
The Fast Kids series is open to drivers age 12 to 16, and is part of
the Fastruck program. Matt and his fellow Fastruck drivers will be
competing throughout the state of Florida in 2004. The Fast Kids
participants are scheduled to race at Auburndale again on Saturday,
Jan. 31.
Matt's Ford F-150 Fastruck entry is sponsored by major sponsors
Gatorade and Ford.
His associate sponsors are AFCO Springs & Shocks, Aero Wheels, JR's
Garage, R&E Electronics and Mac Tools. A big thanks also to artist Sam
Bass, for designing the paint scheme on Matt's F-150. Bass has provided the design for each of the race cars Matt has driven in his young career.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Jan. 15, 2004
BUSCH RETURNS TO DEFEND TITLE IN 2004 IROC SERIES
CONCORD, NC (January 15, 2004) – Defending 2003 IROC series champion
Kurt Busch and Roush Racing teammate Matt Kenseth will compete for the
champion’s $1 million purse in the 2004 Crown Royal International Race
of Champions series.
The new series title sponsorship brings a significant increase in the
champion’s prize money. The combined purse for the 2004 season will be
$1.9 million, with a $1 million check to the champion. In 2003 Kurt
Busch won the previous highest payout for the series champion, taking
home $250,000 in his successful rookie campaign.
“Being invited to participate in the IROC series is such an honor,
and being able to win the championship last year meant so much to me”
Busch said. “These IROC races are a great opportunity for us to go out
and compete against drivers from other series – and that’s something
we would otherwise never have the opportunity to do. And now with the
new series sponsor coming in there are a million reasons to go out
there and compete that much harder.”
The 2004 IROC schedule will include the traditional Speedweeks opener
at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Friday, February 13. The remaining three 100 mile races on the schedule feature new venues, including Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas and Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. IROC also announced intentions for a fall date for the finale at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
“It’s going to be exciting to head to some new racetracks” Busch
added. “I wouldn’t have minded heading back to Talladega where we
picked up the IROC win last year, or maybe Bristol where we seem to run alright, but I’m looking forward to Richmond and Texas.”
The $1.9 million series, which features 12 drivers from a variety of
racing disciplines competing in equally-prepared stock cars on Goodyear tires. The entire series, which consists of 100-mile races with points awarded for finishing positions, is scheduled in conjunction with NASCAR events.
Roush Racing is a subsidiary of Livonia, Mich., based Roush Industries
that operates 9 motorsports teams; five in NASCAR Winston Cup with
drivers Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Greg
Biffle, two in the Busch Series with Martin, Burton, Kenseth and Biffle and two in the Craftsman Truck Series with drivers Jon Wood and Carl Edwards.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 8, 2004
ROUSH TRUCK TEAMS PREPARE FOR DAYTONA TEST
CONCORD, N.C. – After a short two-month break from racing, Jon
Wood and Carl Edwards are ready to hit the high-banks of Daytona
International Speedway this weekend. The Roush teammates will be testing their new 2004 Ford F-150’s from Saturday through Monday.
This will be Edwards’ third test in the 2004 Superchips Ford. He
tested at the end of last year at Homestead and Talladega, but there is more work to be done before the teams return to Daytona in February.
“The biggest thing we will be doing this weekend is getting used
to the new aero package,” Edwards said. “This is also a great
opportunity for us to work through changes in the crew and some new strategies we’ve come up with in the off-season.
“We built my truck and Jon’s truck with different bodies so we can
each test with the body we have and then compare notes after it’s over. We’ll use the best of whatever works on both trucks.”
“We are taking chassis 23 as our primary truck to the test,” said
Kevin “Cowboy” Starland, crew chief of the No. 99 Superchips Ford. “I think the Fords will be more competitive than they were last year since NASCAR went to the common templates. Our new truck has less drag than it did last year, so we have high expectations and have put a lot of work into this truck.”
Wood has not driven the new 2004 Ford F-150 yet and is looking
forward to getting some track time with it. “I’m excited to drive the new truck,” Wood said. “Daytona is not the best place to figure out what we can expect for this year since it is much different from anywhere else we race, but I’m eager to get going.
“My goal for this test is to be able to roll the truck off the
transporter after the test on Tuesday without any dents on it because
we’re a little bit behind and we don’t need anything to happen to set us back. I’m not concerned about being competitive, I believe we will be right from the start.”
“We’re taking chassis 31,” said Wood’s crew chief, John Monsam.
“It’s not a new chassis since we raced it several times last year, but the only things that remain the same from last year are the main frame rails, rear and front clips and the fuel cell sheet metal. The rest of it is all new.”
“We have a lot of questions to answer about the new body style.
We’ve spent some time in the wind tunnel, but now we need time on the
track to verify that information. This truck has a lot of different
characteristics from the old one, so it will take some time to learn how to handle them.
Roush Racing is a subsidiary of Livonia, Mich., based Roush
Industries that operates 10 motorsports teams; five in NASCAR Winston Cup with drivers Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle, three in the Busch Series with Martin, Burton, Kenseth and Biffle, and two in the Craftsman Truck Series with drivers Jon Wood and Carl Edwards.
ROUSH RACING HOOKS UP WITH CHARTER
Greg Biffle and Charter Communications Team Up For 2004 Busch Series Season
CONCORD, N.C. (December 18, 2003) -- Charter Communications, Inc.
(Nasdaq:CHTR) today announced a full-season NASCAR Busch Series primary sponsorship agreement with Roush Racing for the 2004 race season. Greg Biffle and the No. 60 Roush Ford Taurus, will make an all-out pursuit of the 2004 Busch Series championship to help build awareness for Charter brands. The 2002 Busch Series Champion, Biffle is one of only a handful of drivers to score wins in NASCAR's top three series."There is no sports marketing property that lines up as well with the Charter geographic footprint than NASCAR," said Carl Vogel, Charter President and CEO. "When we realized Jack Roush, Greg Biffle and the No. 60 team were looking to repeat the '02 Busch Series championship, we moved quickly to seize the opportunity to sponsor the program. This partnership will be a tremendous platform to introduce Charter's broadband services to millions of race fans. In teaming up with an organization like Roush, we anticipate being at or near the lead of the pack each week * and that truly sums up the philosophy of Charter.
"Roush Racing owner Jack Roush said he is eager to get the No. 60 team back in action and add even more victories to its stellar history."To have the nation's third largest broadband communications company on board sends a clear message that the best has chosen the best, equating the quality of their products and services to a proven, championship team like Roush Racing. We aim to quickly make the Charter brand top-of-mind among these 75 million NASCAR fans * and we're going to do it through strong performances, quality marketing, and inventive PR support," Roush said.
The power of the Charter Communications/Roush No. 60 program will be
underscored with the first-time pairing of the driver and crew chief
collectively responsible for nine victories out of the 34-race 2002
season. Biffle notched four wins in '02. Brad Parrott, who led Roush
Racing's entry (with driver Jeff Burton) to five wins in just 14 races, will lead the team as Crew Chief.
Biffle's 2004 return to the No. 60 NBS program will make the
33-year-old Vancouver, Wash., native one of the busiest competitors in the garage. In addition to the Busch program, Biffle will compete in a full, 36-race Nextel Cup Series schedule driving the No. 16 Roush entry.
"I told Jack all season long that I'm more than willing to run a
full, Busch Series program in addition to our (No. 16) Nextel Cup
Series program," Biffle said. "I fully intend to become the best driver I can be for this organization, and to do so, logging mile after mile under extreme, competitive conditions will take me to this personal goal. I cannot thank Charter Communications and its employees enough for putting their faith in this organization to take them to the top of the sport. Personally speaking, anything less than a repeat championship will be disappointing."
The sponsorship will be managed by East Aurora, NY based Cenergy Sports & Entertainment. Cenergy will manage all aspects of the Charter race car program, including a 200+ event mobile marketing program. This mobile marketing program will travel to all Charter markets and demonstrate the latest broadband technology including high definition television, high speed Internet access, video-on-demand, interactive television, and more.
Roush said specific details about running Biffle in both series
would be revealed later. "Where scheduling difficulties possibly arise due to geographic or weather-related issues, Roush Craftsman Truck Series star Carl Edwards will stand by to qualify (or possibly even race) the No. 60 Charter Communications Taurus if needed," Roush said.
About Charter Communications Charter Communications, A Wired World CompanyÔ, is the nation's third-largest broadband communications company. Charter provides a full range of advanced broadband services to the home, including cable television on an advanced digital video-programming platform via Charter DigitalÔ and Charter High-Speed Internet ServiceÔ. Commercial high-speed data, video and Internet solutions are provided under the Charter Business NetworksÒ brand. Advertising sales and production services are sold under the Charter MediaÒ brand. More information about Charter can be found at www.charter.com
About Roush Racing - Roush Racing is a subsidiary of Livonia, Michigan, based Roush Industries that operates nine motor sports teams; five in NASCAR Winston Cup with drivers Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle; two in the Busch Series with Martin, Burton, Kenseth and Biffle; and two in the Craftsman Truck Series with drivers Jon Wood and Carl Edwards. For more information, visit www.roushracing.com.
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