NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
  • Peg It on GarageMonkey
CUP: Ford Teams Still Close, But Not Enough
Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle are second and third, respectively, in points...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted April 12, 2010   Avondale, AZ
Greg Biffle (Left) made the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2009 but Matt Kenseth (Right) did not. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Just as it was for most of 2009, the 2010 season has been one of those glass-half-full-glass-half-empty deals for the four-car Roush Fenway Racing squad. And Saturday night’s race in Phoenix only reinforced that notion.

Matt Kenseth opened the 2009 season with consecutive victories, but in the 41 races since then the mighty Roush operation has won just one NASCAR Sprint Cup race. That’s not good enough for a team that won a whopping 39 races from 2005-2008.

And yet, look at the Sprint Cup points, and RFR’s Kenseth is second, just 36 points back of leader Jimmie Johnson, and Kenseth’s teammates Greg Biffle (third) and Carl Edwards (eighth) are also in the top-10 in points. All of that is good, but not great.

The team is delivering consistent top-10 finishes. So far, Kenseth, Biffle and Edwards have combined to finish in the top 10 a total of 16 of a possible 21 times in the seven races this season. But they have no victories and just five top-five finishes.

Sort of like Saturday night’s Subway Fresh Fit 600 at Phoenix International Raceway, where Kenseth finished sixth and Edwards seventh, the top Fords in the race. Just like last year, the RFR squad is running very well now, but clearly still a notch behind Hendrick Motorsports.

For their parts, Kenseth and Edwards seemed satisfied with their runs at PIR.

“I am really happy with the result,” said Kenseth, the 2003 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion. “There are a few things to be encouraged by, the first being how well we ran when the sun was out. We were a top three or four car when the sun was out. When the track got dark it changed and we couldn’t keep up with adjustments and we couldn’t figure out what the car wanted. We weren’t as good at the end of the race as we needed to be. We got lucky because Todd (Parrott, crew chief) made a great call to take two tires on the fly and got us a sixth place finish out of it.”

Edwards had a race that was the polar opposite of Kenseth’s: His car was not good when the sun was out at PIR, but got markedly better under the cover of darkness.

“I wish we could have run a little bit better,” said Edwards, who won nine races in 2008 but none so far in 2009-10. “We got better as the night went on. We need this to be a 700 or 800. Overall it was a good night. ... It’s not a win, but it is a good points night for us.”

One thing that could help the Roush squad down the road is Ford’s new FR9 engine, which is said to have improved cooling that allows the teams to use more tape on the nose. That makes more front downforce and helps the cars turn in the corner.

So far, only the part-time Wood Brothers Racing team is using the FR9 in every race. The Roush Fenway Racing cars are phasing it in gradually, with no definitive timetable on when it will be run exclusively.

Asked about when the FR9 would be in his car, Biffle said he wasn’t sure.

“That is a good question, I don’t know the answer,” Biffle said Friday at PIR. “I know they are working hard at it and it is a logistical nightmare. There are a lot of parts and pieces that need working. You are going to have to have 16 engines a week and have to rebuild every single one of them down to the pistons and rings. There is a supply issue getting all the parts and castings and making sure it is ready for competition. I am surprised more of our guys aren’t running it week to week.”

Still, the hunt to return to victory lane continues for the team as they prepare for this week’s race.

“The engine will be a piece to that puzzle,” Biffle said. “And we will continue on with some other things and we will be right where we need to be from the middle of the season on.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEEDtv.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.

The NASCAR Hall of Fame Grand Opening is set for May 11, 2010. Outdoor Opening Ceremonies are May 11th from 9 to 10 am ET free of charge, open to the public. Outdoor festivities including driver appearances and concerts May 11th from 10 am until 8 pm ET open to the public, free of charge. Tickets to enter the NASCAR Hall of Fame are on sale now at www.NASCARHall.com or by calling 877-231-2010. The countdown to the NASCAR Hall of Fame is on! Visit www.NASCARHall.com/50days for daily updates about the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Win a VIP trip to the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame® Induction Ceremony, the 2010 All-Star Race and more!
tom_jensen's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Jensen

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2013

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.