Jack Roush considers Michigan International Speedway his ‘Home Track’ and it is therefore more than fitting that during its “25 Winning Years” his multi-car NASCAR racing organization has experienced some of its greatest successes at MIS.
The two-mile banked D-shaped superspeedway is located in the Irish Hills of Michigan; just a hop, skip and a jump from Livonia, Michigan where Roush Enterprises is based. All in all Roush and his Roush Fenway Racing team have collected a team-high 22 NASCAR wins – including a team-high 11 in the Sprint Cup Series – at Roush’s ‘home track.’ In fact, no track on the NASCAR circuit has been more successful for the Roush Fenway Racing organization than Michigan.
Combined, Roush Fenway has collected 21 wins, 97 top fives, 147 top 10s and 10 poles, while leading over 3,500 laps in combined NASCAR competition at the track.
“We certainly enjoy going to Michigan,” said Roush, whose team is celebrating its 25th year of NASCAR competition this season. “It’s playing in front of my home crowd. I was 46 years old when I started with NASCAR in 1988. Before that I had been around the local tracks as a fan and an observer and in the area with my drag racing. I’ve spent almost 50 years in Michigan and have a lot of history and success there and at all the local tracks in the area and it’s always good to play in front of that home crowd.”
MIS has played an important role in Roush Fenway’s “25 Winning Years” legacy. The team needed only three years after its inception in 1988 to break into the win column at Michigan, with Mark Martin taking the checkered flag in the No. 6 Ford in August of 1990.
Martin would be the first of nine different drivers to win for Roush Fenway in NASCAR action at MIS, and the first of five drivers to win in the Cup series for Roush Fenway at Michigan; three of which will compete for the organization this weekend (Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards). The victory was also the first of 21 for Roush at the track he affectionately calls ‘home.’
“Those style of tracks have always been our bread and butter,” said Roush. “Mark had a really good feel of that track and was able to figure a lot of things out there. We were able to take that knowledge and data gained and pass it through the teams and drivers and we were ultimately able to see a great deal of success there with a multitude of drivers.”
Edwards notched the team’s 21st win at MIS last season with a Nationwide win that saw RFR cars finish one-two and post three teams in the top five of the event.
The wins for Roush at MIS break down to 11 in the Sprint Cup Series, five in the Nationwide Series and five in the trucks.
“All of our wins at MIS have been special,” said Roush. “It is in front of our home crowd. It’s in front of our Roush Industries associates and friends. This weekend we’ll have 3,000 added fans with all the employees of Roush Industries that will be out there in force. It’s good to race in front of the home crowd and there will be a lot of Roush activity and I hope they enjoy the day and have a good outing and that we can bring them a great effort.”
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