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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Lessons From 2002 Will Help Team Rally Around Roush
Roush Fenway Racing knows how to battle back in the face of adversity...
Jeff Owens  | http://www.scenedaily.com  |  Posted July 30, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Team owner Jack Roush continues to recover from injuries suffered in a plane accident. (Photo: Getty Images)
Roush Fenway Racing has been through this before.

Learning that their boss and team owner has been seriously injured in a plane crash is not something NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers and teams are accustomed to, despite the fact that most of them spend a considerable amount of time in the air, flying from race track to race track.

Yet, Roush Fenway Racing has been through it twice now in eight years.

Jack Roush was involved in a nearly fatal plane crash in April of 2002 in Troy, Ala., near Talladega Superspeedway.

Eight years later, a plane piloted by Roush has crashed again, this time during landing Tuesday in Oshkosh, Wis. Roush is hospitalized at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. while being treated for facial injuries suffered in the crash.

What are the odds of the same guy surviving two frightening plane crashes in the same lifetime? For Roush, a man who has made his living around fast cars in a dangerous sport, that’s akin to winning dozens of races on fuel mileage and rain delays.

A second frightening crash is a startling blow to Roush and his hundreds of employees at Roush Fenway Racing.

Yet Roush and his teams will respond the same way they did in 2002 – by rallying around their leader, using the accident as inspiration and forging ahead with the business at hand, which is trying to win races and a championship.

Roush’s crash in 2002 occurred when his lightweight aircraft hit a power line and landed upside-down in a lake. He suffered life-threatening injuries, including a closed head injury, but thanks to a heroic rescue by Marine Corp veteran Larry Hicks, he survived and made a remarkable recovery.

Roush was hurt so badly – including a severely broken leg and complications from being submerged underwater for an unhealthy period of time – that his doctor estimated that only five out of 100 people would have survived.
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But as former Roush driver Jeff Burton said at the time, “Jack is a tough [SOB]. If there’s anybody who can survive and come through this 100 percent, it’s him.”

Roush not only survived, but also held a press conference eight days after the crash and was back in charge of his team and at the track in a few short months.

His recovery likely will be much quicker this time, and his team again likely won’t miss a beat.

Roush has built one of the largest and most successful operations in NASCAR, fielding top teams in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series.

Three of his four Cup teams are currently in the top 12 in points and battling for a spot in the Chase For The Sprint Cup.

And though the organization is having a bit of an off year, having not yet won a Cup race, it has shown some steam in recent weeks with Carl Edwards finishing second at Chicago and Greg Biffle third last week at Indy.


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Jeff Owens

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