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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Roush Not Giving Up On Title
Roush Fenway Racing has two drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup this year, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted September 22, 2009   Charlotte, NC
NASCAR team owner Jack Roush is reportedly ok after suffering minor injuries in a plane crash in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

By the admittedly lofty standards the team has set for itself, 2009 has not been a banner season for the Roush Fenway Racing organization.

Although the year started tremendously, with Matt Kenseth putting the No. 17 into victory lane at the Daytona 500 and the Auto Club 500, none of the team’s five drivers has won since then. That makes Roush 0-25, a streak the team is eager to break.

In fact, the last time the Roush organization won just two races was 2001, nearly a decade ago. Just four years ago, Roush Fenway followed up consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup titles with a tour de force performance that saw the team win 15 races and put all five of its cars in the Chase.

And even last year, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle finished second and third, respectively, in points, combining to win 11 races, including exactly half of the Chase races.

This year, though, has been a struggle. Kenseth missed the Chase for the first time since its inception in 2004, as did fellow team drivers Jamie McMurray and David Ragan.

And the Chase didn’t begin especially well for the team, either, as Biffle finished ninth and Edwards 17th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. That left Biffle ninth in points, 92 behind Mark Martin, and Edwards 11th, 113 out of the lead.

Two factors have the team still optimistic, though. First is their belief that they aren’t very far behind the dominant Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets. The second is that Sunday’s race is at Dover International Speedway, where last year Biffle prevailed over Kenseth and Edwards in a wildly entertaining Roush Fenway sweep of the top three places.

And, of course, the feisty Roush remains as committed and resolute as ever, even as he acknowledges that the season has been something of a disappointment, relatively speaking.

“We’ve tried a lot of things throughout the bulk of the season to find an edge and find something that would be better than we had last year and, by and large, we have not had the level of success in finding new things that were different and better that we had last year,” said Roush. “But that’s to be expected as this car becomes more and more refined and the rules stay more and more in place.”


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