The Roush Fords: How Could So Much Go So Wrong?

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

It was hard not to feel terrible for Jack Roush on Sunday, as his shot at the Sprint Cup championship with any of his teams literally went up in smoke. I was glad at least that Matt Kenseth got to finish the race, even if in 30th, his crippled No 17 car leaving a wake of oily smoke as the motor started coming apart in the final laps. Even so, he ultimately fared a lot better than both Greg Biffle (finished 41st), whose engine blew up early on, and Carl Edwards (34th), who was mired hopelessly laps-down after having to go to the garage during the race with distributor problems. That’s it: the Roush Fords are completely out of the running for this year’s Sprint Cup. At least in the case of the two expired motors–one of which let go suddenly and punched a hole through the oil pan, while the other languished gradually following a late-race restart–the temperamental new FR9 engine platform, which has dealt out more than its fair share of black eyes, seems an obvious culprit. Still, it’s a bit baffling to see such an advanced and well-funded organization still struggling so greatly with their technology. It’d be great to have the Fords truly competitive again at the Cup level, so I hope they’re able to exorcise their demons in time for the 2011 season.