NASCAR

Sprint Cup

CUP: Sunday Race Notebook

Roush puts on a good weekend fete for Ford.

Ben Blake | http://www.racer.com | Posted November 18, 2006 Homestead, Fla.

Few people could claim a better weekend at Homestead than team owner Jack Roush, whose teams won all three races. (Photo: Getty Images/Todd Warshaw)

Jack Roush confessed that 2006 has "been not a great year for me." Unlike last year, when he put all five of his drivers in the championship playoff, he managed to put just two struggling teams in contention this year. He won back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2004 with Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch; only Kenseth got close this year.

Still, Roush took heart from three victories in three nights in the closing weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, sponsored entirely by Ford. Mark Martin, driving Roush's No. 6, won Friday's Craftsman Truck race. Matt Kenseth, in Roush's No. 17, won the Busch race Saturday.

Sunday night, Greg Biffle, in the Roush No. 16, came almost out of nowhere to win the main event, the season-ending Ford 400 Nextel Cup race, giving Roush Racing a sweep of the weekend.

"It's been a great Ford weekend here, championship weekend for us," Roush said. "The Ford 150 on Friday night and the Busch win yesterday, we've surely enjoyed coming to Miami.

"Whenever we get an opportunity to perform before the Ford folks the way we did this weekend, we suit up for it and draw up something extra. If we have anything left, we go ahead and use it."

Roush pointed out that Biffle, winner of the past three Cup races here, had run the same car each time. "Greg has won all three of his races with this same car, and nine times with it throughout the time he's driven it," he said.

"That really speaks volumes for the car of today [as opposed to NASCAR's so-called Car of Tomorrow, due out next year] and how few of them it could take, if you get them right."

The odd man out in Roush's team shake-up, apparently, will be Doug Richert, crew chief for Biffle since late 2003. Richert and Biffle seemed like a perfect match in 2005, when they fell just 35 points short of a championship. This year has been disappointing.

Next season, Pat Tryson and at least some of the No. 6 crew, heretofore with Martin, will take charge of Biffle's team. Bob Osborne has been moved back to Carl Edwards' No. 99 after a spell with Jamie McMurray's No. 26.

McMurray currently has no crew chief, and Richert is a lame duck, but apparently there is no inclination to put the two together.

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