- Contract Status: Driver: 2008; Sponsors: 2008
Races [19] that 3M is scheduled to be the primary sponsor:
Daytona 2/17
California 2/24
Las Vegas 3/2
Darlington 5/10
others TBA
Races [11] that DISH Network is scheduled to be the primary sponsor:
Texas 4/6
Richmond 5/3
All-Star Race 5/17
Charlotte 5/25
Michigan 6/15
Indy 7/27
Pocono 8/3
Bristol 8/23
New Hampshire 9/14
Martinsville 10/19
Atlanta 10/26
Races [3] that Jackson Hewitt is scheduled to be the primary sponsor in 2008:
Atlanta 3/9
Bristol 3/16
Martinsville 3/30
- No new contract talks for Biffle: #16-Greg Biffle said he's not had any new contract talks with Roush Fenway Racing, citing a busy schedule that had him testing for two days this week at Lowe's Motor Speedway.(Ronaoke Times)(5-10-2008) Comment here
- Biffle plans to re-sign with Roush, not talking to other teams: #16-Greg Biffle says he isn't interested in entertaining offers from other Sprint Cup organizations outside of Roush Fenway Racing, much less signing with them. Biffle said on Friday at Richmond International Raceway that "my 100% intent" is to work an extension with Roush Fenway, adding he's not curious to see what other opportunities might be out there. "There are a lot of great teams and great opportunities out there," said Biffle, whose contract expires at the end of this season. "I am making my decision kind of how [Dale] Earnhardt Jr. did, and it's about winning races and championships and contending for the title and having good equipment. There are a lot of teams that have that, but I feel comfortable where I'm at with Roush Fenway."(ESPN.com)(5-2-2008) Comment here
- Biffle talks contract/ownership: #16-Greg Biffle ON ALL THE TALK THIS WEEKEND OF TONY STEWART AND HIS CONTRACT SITUATION. "Obviously, he's let the world know that he was unhappy about something at Gibbs. I think we've all been in that situation before. There's certain ways to go about it, I guess, and he's made it known that he wants to get out of his current contract at the end of the season, I guess, or whatever. We all go through that, we all go through contract periods and wanting to get out of contract early to go do something else is part of the sport, I guess."
IS ANYTHING THAT HE'S DOING HAVE ANY EFFECT ON WHAT YOU'RE DOING REGARDING YOUR NEGOTIATIONS? "I don't think so. It may open up a ride at the 20 car, I guess, at Gibbs Racing. It may be another option, but I don't know. I don't think it affects what I'm doing. I'm negotiating with Roush Fenway for an extension on my current contract,
so I don't think what he's trying to do or going to do makes a difference."
WHERE ARE YOU WITH YOUR CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS? "Sort of in a holding pattern. We're not in a big hurry to get it done, I think. We're in that negotiation period, and like I said, I'm pretty confident that we're going to be able to get to common ground on what I want and what they want."
IF SOMEBODY THREW OWNERSHIP AT YOU, EVEN A PARTIAL OWNERSHIP, WOULD THAT SUDDENLY CHANGE THE WAY YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT THINGS? "They have. I have had offers of ownership of more than one team in the garage, and it's definitely an intriguing offer. There's a lot of things to consider when you're an athlete in you're in the position that we are in. Both Tony and I are, let's say, we're at the 60-percent point in our career. We're not Kyle Busch, you know, 21 or 22 years olds. So, at some point we need to start thinking about how long we want to be involved in this sport and what we want to do in the future. So, those ideas to stay involved in the sport are very intriguing to us. And I'm sure that's part of Tony's thinking is, when I'm done driving the 20 car, or whatever car, what am I going to do in the future? And he's probably watching out for himself, thinking ahead, and somebody's made an offer or whatnot, and he's considering it."(Ford Racing)(4-26-2008) Comment here
- American Red Cross Launches Campaign to Connect Fans With Blood Donations: The American Red Cross announced the launch of Red Cross Racing, a new national campaign to recruit NASCAR fans as blood donors and raise awareness of the need to give blood. Every two seconds, someone in America needs blood. Through the support of 3M and Roush Fenway Racing the #16 Ford will race this Sunday at the Aaron's 499 in Talladega, Ala. in a full paint scheme featuring the Red Cross logo. The car will be driven by Red Cross Celebrity Cabinet member and blood donor Greg Biffle. Race fans will be able to join a Donor Rewards Program by visiting redcrossracing.com beginning on April 24. This new Web site makes it easy to schedule blood donation appointments online and offers frequent donors the chance to get points, which can be exchanged for Red Cross Racing gear, including caps, t-shirts, jackets and limited edition die-cast cars. Race fans can also join Red Cross Racing at one of the nine NASCAR races where a Red Cross trailer will be on the midway. All participants who sign up between April 24 and October 1 are automatically entered into a sweepstakes for an all-expense paid trip for two to the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Speedway on November 9, 2008. The Red Cross will be highly visible at NASCAR races, thanks to a nearly $2 million donation by 3M. The #16 Ford Fusion will also feature the full Red Cross paint scheme on November 9, 2008 during the Phoenix race. In both races Biffle will wear a Red Cross-branded fire suit. In addition, the Red Cross logo will be seen on the #16 Ford Fusion in eight other races this season: New Hampshire, Chicago, Michigan, Richmond (September), Kansas, Charlotte (October), Texas and Phoenix.(Red Cross PR), see image of the scheme on my #16 Team Schemes page.(4-22-2008) Comment here
- Dunkin' Donuts teams up with Fenway Sports: As it expands nationally, Dunkin' Donuts is teaming up with a high-powered group of local sports marketers to bring in new customers. Dunkin’ now has 5,500 stores, but plans to triple that number over the next two decades, targeting markets like Dallas, Cleveland and Nashville that are outside its Northeast base. The Canton-based chain has hired Fenway Sports Group to help devise a national sports marketing campaign. That could mean rolling out Dunkin' ads featuring sports stars in some of its new markets across the country, said Mark Lev, executive vice president at Fenway Sports Group. The Dunkin' deal is a major coup for FSG, which has been building a broad portfolio of deals ranging from a 50% stake in a top NASCAR race team to consulting deals with a range of companies.(Boston Herald)(4-15-2008) Comment here
- Biffle Doesn't Consider Childress a Future Option: Greg Biffle, a sought-after Sprint Cup star in a contract year, doesn't foresee the recently announced #33 Richard Childress Racing Chevys as an option for his future. Biffle, who last week said he was "90 percent" sure he would sign a contract extension with his current team, Roush Fenway Racing, for 2009 and beyond, cited the fickle nature of the top-35 rule as a key deterrent from considering Childress' fourth car. "I don't really see that being an alternative for me," Biffle said. "The one thing a guy's got to look at is, I'm third in points [now] and have a chance to make the Chase right now, and I'm running fairly well. And to go to a team that has no points and try to qualify for the Daytona 500, and go to Las Vegas and try to qualify, and California, on time, and dodge rainouts -- we see all these teams struggle to get in the top 35. I don't see that as a smart career move for myself."(ESPN.com)(4-5-2008) Comment here
- RFR working on driver contracts: Greg Biffle’s contract extension with Roush Fenway Racing is nearly complete, and the team is working on extensions for David Ragan and Carl Edwards. Using Biffle’s words from earlier in the week, Roush Fenway Racing President Geoff Smith said that the contract with Biffle is 90% along. He said the fact that Biffle is running second in points has not accelerated the deal. “We wanted to get it done over the winter,” Smith said Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. “We like to get them done so they don’t become a distraction of the team in terms of the race season.” The contracts for Edwards and Ragan, as well as those with the companies sponsoring [AAA announced they would leave at the end of 2008] their cars, end after the season is over. Smith indicated that the team would like to sign the sponsor and driver at the same time. He said the team also is working with a sponsor to finalize the Biffle deal. “For us, there’s a money equation that has to be met,” Smith said. “The sponsor has to pay [a certain amount] in order for us to pay the driver and so forth. We close all of that out at the same time.” Smith doesn’t anticipate having trouble finding sponsorship for Edwards. His organization currently is looking for sponsorship for the two Yates Racing cars. “It’s pretty early,” Smith said about the sponsor search. “Carl Edwards, even in this down economy, he’s the hottest property in the garage. We’ve got all the sponsorship we can handle for him. David, and Travis [Kvapil] and David Gilliland, they’re all in the mix. We’re hoping the economic climate improves here shortly and typically May and June are big months for significant prospects to come forward for us. We’re about to find out if that’s true.”(SceneDaily)(3-31-2008) Comment here
- Roush Fenway Racing doesn't plan any legal action against MWR: Roush Fenway Racing doesn't plan to take legal action against Michael Waltrip Racing for what it characterized as the theft of a sway bar unless there is evidence that the piece has been duplicated. Team president Geoff Smith said the issue would not have surfaced at all had Toyota general manager Lee White not insinuated that Roush's team of Carl Edwards intentionally cheated at Las Vegas.(see full story at ESPN.com), so lets hope this whole thing is over.(3-30-2008) Comment here
- MWR had [Roush] part, says it was a mistake UPDATE: Michael Waltrip confirmed Friday afternoon that it was his team that Jack Roush was alluding to when saying a Toyota team had stolen a sway bar from Roush Fenway Racing at Dover last September. “It was a mistake,” Waltrip said. “Look at the back of these toolboxes. There are sway bars, there’s jack handles, and it wound up in our possession. We called them and said, ‘We want to give this back.’ ”(full story atSceneDaily)
MORE: Michael Waltrip acknowledged on Saturday that his team had the sway bar that team owner Jack Roush accused a Toyota team of stealing last season. But Waltrip insisted that it wasn't a theft, that the bar accidentally wound up at his shop after the September race at Dover and that nobody realized it belonged to Roush Fenway Racing until that organization called to inquire about it in January. "Accidents happen, mistakes happen," Waltrip said. "If you look inside this garage area today there's over 70 racing vehicles in here and stuff gets slung everywhere ... I could see why he would be upset. He feels like he was wronged and he's mad about it." Roush said the sway bar was specially designed by Roush Fenway for his cars. He said they were larger than the old bars, unable to fit in the toolbox slot and were put underneath the box instead. Roush said a member of a Toyota team -- which turned out to be David Reutimann's #00 car -- parked next to him at Dover, then walked over and took the piece. "I don't know what makes him tick," Waltrip said of Roush. "But I do know that no one went to his toolbox and swiped his bar." Waltrip said he had no knowledge that the piece was sandblasted to hide its identity and that somebody from his team called a vendor to have it duplicated as Roush alleged. "I don't have knowledge of any of that," he said. "I heard it was painted blue and when we figured out that it wasn't ours then it was set off to the side and eventually returned."(ESPN.com)(3-29-2008) Comment here
- NASCAR won't intervene in Roush dispute with Toyota team: NASCAR officials say they will not intervene in the dispute between Roush Fenway Racing and an unspecified Toyota team that allegedly took a part from the Ford organization. Team owner Jack Roush is asking NASCAR for “relief” on the issue, but NASCAR Vice President of Competition strongly dismissed that idea on Friday. “If they’ve got issues with each other or other teams, then they’ve got to talk to those other teams,” Pemberton said. “I didn’t take a part or a piece, all right? Nobody in this [NASCAR] trailer took a part or a piece. We know Jack said that, and apparently some other team acknowledged having a part or a piece. Those people need to work their deal out.” Roush said a Toyota team took a sway bar home from a September race at Dover last season. If that’s true, Pemberton said, “Then shame on a team that has that person working for them. If you’ve got a guy that takes a part or a piece from another team, then, in my opinion, I wouldn’t have a guy like that work for me,” he said. Still, that doesn’t mean NASCAR is going to do anything about it. “[The teams] have to work together,” he said. “We’re not going to build walls in here. We’re not going to separate everything. We’re going to run this garage area just like it’s been run. If you have issues, then you've got to work it out.”(SceneDaily)(3-29-2008)
- Latest on the 'stolen' Roush "proprietary part" UPDATE MWR: Jack Roush said on Friday that a Toyota team stole a sway bar made specifically for Roush Fenway Racing from one of his Sprint Cup teams last season at Dover. "A theft did occur," the co-owner of Roush Fenway said during practice at Martinsville Speedway. "The part was recovered ... We are still considering what if any legal action to seek." One of Roush's options is asking for a restraining order to guarantee the team in question does not duplicate the bar, which has been determined legal by NASCAR, for a competitive advantage. "It's lawyer time," Roush said. Roush made his first comments since he was quoted in ESPN The Magazine as saying a proprietary part was found missing from his inventory and discovered with a Toyota team. He discounted comments made by Jim Aust, the president of Toyota Racing Development, that a valve spring was found during a teardown inspection, identified as belonging to Roush and returned. Roush said the theft occurred in the garage area at Dover in September [2007], where the only Toyota teams in the field belonged to Michael Waltrip Racing and Team Red Bull.
Lee White, the general manager of TRD, said his organization launched a full investigation into the allegation when Roush's allegations were published in ESPN The Magazine.
He said a valve spring that did not belong to Toyota ended up at TRD's California location after the California race, that it was reported to NASCAR and returned. Roush said he became aware of the theft in early January when the vendor that produced the product for Roush Fenway was contacted by the Toyota team in question about duplicating the bar.
Roush said he's had several discussions with NASCAR officials about the situation. He was alarmed when Robin Pemberton, the vice president of competition for the series, said disappearing parts are a common occurrence and the teams needed to work it out amongst themselves. Roush said there is something fundamentally wrong if NASCAR doesn't intercede, reminding the governing body has no problem reacting when somebody uses an illegal part -- on purpose or not. Roush, noting he has been in the business 22 years, and said this is the first time he's heard of such a situation. He declined to respond to a question in which Michael Waltrip Racing was insinuated as the Toyota team. "I don't substantiate," he said. Waltrip declined to comment until he heard how the question was posed and the way Roush responded.(see full story at ESPN.com), see past news about this on the #17 Team News and Links page.(3-28-2008) Comment here
- Biffle 90% sure he'll stay at Roush UPDATE: #16-Greg Biffle is in his contract year -- is deal with Roush Fenway Racing is up at the end of the season. He's got something to prove, not only to everybody who thought he would never make the Chase again, but also to team owner Jack Roush. He's said that he feels there's a "90 percent" chance he will re-sign, but there's little doubt that the better he does on the track, the more money he's likely to make off of it.(Sports Illustrated)(3-28-2008)
UPDATE: Greg Biffle on Friday stated his intent to sign a contract extension with Roush-Fenway Racing, saying he is "90%" sure he will do so. "We're really just in the fine-tune negotiations [stage]," Biffle said. "I think we're coming along fairly well. It hasn't been a top priority, but we've been communicating back and forth about what we'd like to see in a contract -- appearances and the way it's structured and different things. And I feel pretty confident we're going to be able to reach middle ground [at Roush Fenway]. I would say 90%." The hope, Biffle said, is to complete the agreement by midseason. "That would be preferable," Biffle said. "So closing down to the chase, and the championship, we have the thing ironed out." Biffle said other teams have mentioned casual interest in securing his driving services, and he's spoken with them -- but only in passing. Roush Fenway, he said, is the only team with which he is negotiating.(ESPN.com)(3-28-2008) Comment here
- Roush Says Toyota Team Stole "Proprietary Part" UPDATE 2: ESPN the Magazine has an interesting and potentially explosive quote from Roush Fenway Racing co-owner Jack Roush as part of its 10th Anniversary issue, which is on newsstands this week. Two weeks ago at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the magazine quotes Roush as saying, “We had a proprietary Roush Fenway part go missing from one of my race teams, and we recovered it from a Toyota team. I’m not going to say which team it is, but we are considering legal action, or getting NASCAR involved.” If Roush’s allegations prove to be true, this could become NASCAR’s version of the recent spy scandal that rocked Formula One racing, in which the McLaren-Mercedes team was caught with confidential, proprietary test information belonging to rival Ferrari. We contacted Roush Fenway Racing today in search of further information – including team was involved and the specific part in question -- and we [SIRIUS Speedway w/ Dave Moody] hope to have a statement from them later today.(Motorsports Soapbox)(3-25-2008)
UPDATE: Jack Roush, co-owner of Ford-based Roush Fenway Racing, leveled another serious accusation at nemesis Toyota at Atlanta Motor Speedway -- one that took nearly three weeks to surface. No one from either RFR or Toyota was willing to comment on Tuesday, but no one was denying Roush told a reporter from ESPN The Magazine on March 7 that a Toyota team had been in possession of an RFR team part.(ESPN)(3-26-2008)
UPDATE 2: Toyota officials on Wednesday identified the Roush Fenway Racing part that owner Jack Roush said was found in a Toyota team's possession during a Sprint Cup post-race teardown as a spring. Jim Aust, the president and chief executive officer of Toyota Racing Development, said once the part was found to belong to RFR that it was returned. He was uncertain how the part, discovered on a table with other Toyota parts, got there or from which team it came. "I don't understand the whole procedure when a teardown happens," said Aust, referring to a post-race process in which several cars are broken down by NASCAR inspectors. "The only thing I know is it wound up with parts we had and [which were] returned to Roush. "It's unfortunate it happened the way it did. It wasn't anything intentional. There's no reason to be done intentional. I have no idea how it happened to begin with." Roush Fenway president Geoff Smith said the part in question was not a spring, but he would not elaborate. No one at RFR has identified which Toyota team had the part. "Jack is the only one to talk to at this time and he presently doesn't want to make any additional comments," Smith said.(ESPN.com)(3-26-2008) Comment here
- The DISH Network to sponsor Roush cars for 15 races: Roush Fenway Racing announced DISH Network has signed on as a sponsor in the 2008 Sprint Cup Series. DISH Network will have a team representative and serve as a primary sponsor in 15 Sprint Cup Races in 2008, alternating between three Roush Fenway drivers. Greg Biffle will drive the #16 DISH Network Ford Fusion in 11 Sprint Cup races, Carl Edwards will drive the #99 Ford in three races [this week at California is one] and Matt Kenseth will race the #17 Ford in one race [Bristol in March]. The DISH Network team of drivers will be dubbed the DISH Network AllStars. The DISH Network AllStars first race is Sunday, Feb. 24 featuring the 2007 Nationwide Series champion #99-Carl Edwards.(Roush Fenway Racing)(2-21-2008)Comment here
- Roush looking to re-sign drivers: Roush Fenway Racing officials say they are working on contract extensions for #99-Carl Edwards and #16-Greg Biffle. The contracts for both drivers expire after this season.(Virginia Pilot)(1-26-2008) Comment here
- CitiFinancial sponsoring Roush: CitiFinancial will be the primary sponsor on a variety of Roush Fenway Racing entries in all 35 Nationwide Series events in 2008. The sponsorship is part of Citi's new multifaceted, strategic marketing partnership with Roush Fenway Racing. As part of the relationship, CitiFinancial will tap into Roush Fenway's all-star driver lineup to pilot the CitiFinancial Ford. In addition, Citi will become a major associate sponsor on all Roush Fenway Racing teams, including the Sprint Cup Series entries of #16-Greg Biffle, #99-Carl Edwards, #17-Matt Kenseth, #26-Jamie McMurray, and #6-David Ragan.(Roush Fenway PR)(1-19-2008) Comment here
- 3M Donates Two Full Paint Schemes to Red Cross for the 2008: 3M, in partnership with Roush Fenway Racing, announced that it will donate the #16 Ford’s full paint scheme to the American Red Cross for two races during the 2008 Sprint Cup season. 3M will also donate space on the rear quarter panel of the car where the Red Cross logo will appear in eight other races during the year. For more information on donating blood, or to make an appointment, call 1-800-GIVE LIFE (1-800-448-3543), or log on to www.givelife.org. Greg Biffle will drive the Red Cross Ford at Talladega Superspeedway on April 27 and at Phoenix International Raceway on November 9. He will also appear in television and radio public service announcements to support the mission of the Red Cross. 3M has a long history of supporting the Red Cross through in kind contributions of disaster relief supplies. Last year, the 3M gave generous financial contributions to the Twin Cities Area Chapter of the Red Cross—and its employees
gave over 2,000 units of blood. For more information about 3M, including the latest product and technology news, visit www.3M.com. (Roush Fenway Racing PR), see an image of the car on the #16 Team Schemes page.(1-7-2008)
- Biffle cooks on TV: #16-Greg Biffle is scheduled to appear on the Food Network show, Paula's Party, on Friday, Dec. 21 at 9:00pm/et [re-air at midnight]. Paula Deen puts the pedal to the metal and turns up the heat with NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and her Blowtorch Steak with Bourbon Mushroom Sauce.(Food Network)(12-20-2007)
- Roush Fenway Racing announces new GM - Robbie Reiser: Roush Fenway Racing announced Thursday that championship crew chief, Robbie Reiser, has been appointed General Manager of Roush Fenway Racing’s Nextel Cup team operations. “This is a great opportunity for me and I’m looking forward to the next phase of my racing career,” Reiser said. “If it’s anywhere near as fun, competitive, and successful as the previous phase, then we’re going to be in good shape. It wasn’t an easy decision to stop being the crew chief of the #17 team, but now I get to work with all of our Cup teams and help improve our performance as a whole. I’m looking forward to the new challenge.” Reiser replaces Max Jones and steps into the GM role with well over 20 years of racing experience under his belt. Roush Fenway Racing is expected to name other crew changes to the #17 Ford team in the upcoming weeks.(Roush Fenway Racing PR)(11-15-2007)
- Doug Yates and Max Jones join forces: Yates Racing announced Thursday that Max Jones, long-time general manager for Roush Fenway Racing and former road-racing driver has joined Yates Racing as a co-owner and will also assume the role of General Manager . Jones, a native of Long Beach, Calif., joins Yates Racing after serving as general manager for Roush Fenway Racing’s Cup program in 2007. “We’re thrilled to have someone as respected as Max join Yates Racing,” said Yates Racing owner, Doug Yates. “With his experience in the sport and working with such a large and successful organization as Roush Fenway Racing for so many years, he will immediately step in and improve our race operations. As we continue to improve and restructure in preparation for a successful 2008 season, having someone with Max’s experience and credibility only accelerates the process of getting Yates Racing back to where it needs to be and that’s competing for wins and championships on a weekly basis.” Jones will add his experience to one of the most successful operations in motorsports. Since venturing into NASCAR’s Cup series in 1989, Yates Racing has recorded 57 wins, 269 top fives, and 427 top-10 finishes, including the Cup
series championship in 1999.(Roush Fenway Racing PR)(11-15-2007)
- On Friday, Nov. 16 in Victory Lane at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, Greg Biffle will officiate the first-ever Oreo Double Stuf Race "lick-off" where five finalists from across the country will see who can twist, lick and dunk their Oreo Double Stuf cookie and glass of milk the fastest for the grand prize of $10,000. As the "Official Cookie of NASCAR," Oreo teamed up with Biffle on the Oreo Double Stuf Race campaign to encourage friends and families to enjoy some friendly competition, and find a few lucky lickers to compete in Miami:
* DeAnn Bennett of Niles, Ohio
* Justin Channen of Lakewood, Calif.
* William Reed Hair of Eliot, ME
* Kristie Sullivan of Kansas City, KS
on Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, 7:30am/et at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. For more information on the contest, visit www.oreo.com.(11-13-2007)
- NASCAR studying how Hamlin, Blaney had water in fuel: MORE Denny Hamlin, who thought he had enough gas while leading when his car sputtered and didn't start with three laps remaining in the Pep Boys Auto 500, actually had water in his fuel cell at the time. Whether that caused him not to accelerate and get hit from behind by Martin Truex Jr. is uncertain, Joe Gibbs Racing Senior Vice President Jimmy Makar said Sunday night at Atlanta. But what is certain is that Hamlin and Bill Davis Racing's Dave Blaney had water in their fuel cells, and Roush Fenway Racing's Greg Biffle also might have had a similar situation. NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Director John Darby said that no water was found in the Sunoco pumps following the race. Darby said all of the Sunoco documentation from the weekend shows no water in the tanks.(SceneDaily.com)(10-28-2007)
UPDATE: Water found in the fuel tanks of cars driven by #11-Denny Hamlin and #22-Dave Blaney during Sunday's Nextel Cup race at Atlanta was not isolated to those teams, a NASCAR official said Monday. Water also was discovered in the fuel of the Penske Racing cars driven by #2-Kurt Busch and #12-Ryan Newman after returning to Charlotte, N.C. In addition, water was found in the fuel cell of all three Richard Childress racing team cars belonging to #29-Kevin Harvick, #07-Clint Bowyer and #31-Jeff Burton. #16-Greg Biffle believes his car may have had water in its fuel, although no evidence was found. NASCAR Nextel Cup Series director John Darby said the problem is more widespread than originally thought and that NASCAR has issued bulletins to all Cup and Truck Series teams to check for evidence of contamination so they can locate the source. Darby said everything from the underground fuel-holding tank at the track to the fuel trucks that deliver the gas to the individual gas cans are being analyzed. He said the underground tank is the least likely source because there is an alarm system located that can detect the slightest amount of contamination. Darby dismissed sabotage as a possible explanation, saying too many teams were affected for anyone to have been singled out.(ESPN.com)(10-30-2007)
- Aflac to sponsor Edwards in 2008: Aflac is close to announcing a 2008 NASCAR limited sponsorship deal with Roush Fenway Racing. Aflac will sponsor a #99 Ford driven by Carl Edwards. An Aflac executive would not confirm the deal with Edwards on Tuesday, but the company did not deny it either when asked about Edwards. "We are still working through the details," said Al Johnson, a second vice president responsible for sponsorships. "We like Carl and what he has done this year -- and what we expect him to do next year. We're very excited." The final terms of the deal could be announced in the next two weeks. The deal with Edwards is expected to be for eight races and could possibly include an associate sponsorship that would put the Aflac duck logo somewhere on the car for the entire season, said a source familiar with the deal. Edwards' primary sponsor is Office Depot. The eight races that Aflac will be the primary sponsor with the corporate logo on the hood have not been determined. Terms of the deal are not available. It is believed Aflac spent between $2 million and $3 million for the 2007 deal. Aflac broke into NASCAR racing this summer with an eight-race deal with Roush Fenway. That deal included four Nextel Cup races in California, New Hampshire, Chicago and Kansas City and four Busch Series races. #16-Greg Biffle drove the Aflac car on the Nextel Cup circuit, winning the race in Kansas City. Roush Fenway drivers Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Jamie McMurray split the Busch races. Biffle, Edwards' Roush Fenway teammate, will be sponsored by 3M next year. In July, Aflac announced a deal with NASCAR to serve as the sport's exclusive supplemental insurance sponsor and provider through the 2010 season. It is not known what Aflac paid for that designation.(Ledger-Enquirer)(10-24-2007)
- Biffle Likes Option of Part Time Schedule in the Future: If #16-Greg Biffle could choreograph his preferred exit strategy from the NASCAR Nextel Cup ranks, he'd race for six more years. Possibly seven. He'd like to sign a three-year contract now, and down the line ink another three-year deal. That would get him to 43 years old. But say he was offered a part-time mentorship gig like Mark Martin has at Dale Earnhardt Inc. Would he consider it? "To be totally honest, if I could sign a three-year deal that I ran 15 to 17 races [a year], I'd strongly consider ending the fulltime thing sooner," Biffle said Friday at Martinsville Speedway. "It gives you a life."(ESPN.com)(10-21-2007)
- Congrats to Greg Biffle & Nicole Lunders: At just around 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday, October 17th, Greg Biffle and his longtime girlfriend Nicole were pronounced husband and wife in a little white chapel at the Palmetto Bluff Resort in South Carolina. The couple met in the spring of 1998 and began dating officially later that summer. Last Christmas, Greg decided it was time to propose and Nicole happily accepted. Plans were made for an autumn wedding at the southern resort located about 20 minutes from Savannah.(Roush Fenway PR)(10-20-2007)
- Biffle plans to work on contract extension in offseason: Greg Biffle said Thursday at Lowe's Motor Speedway that he will definitely be back in the #16 next year but doesn't have a contract beyond that. "Probably this winter we'll start talking about it, start getting moving forward on an extension," Biffle said. "It's sort of backwards, because a lot of times you've got to have a driver to be able to sell a sponsor." Biffle wants to have an extension signed before the Daytona 500. He said there is a "90 percent" chance he'll remain in with Roush Fenway.(SceneDaily.com)(10-12-2007)
- 3M to be primary sponsor for Biffle in 2008: 3M announced today a multi-year partnership with Roush Fenway Racing to become the primary sponsor of the #16 3M Ford
Fusion. The contract calls for 3M to be the primary sponsor for driver Greg Biffle for 23 Sprint [Nextel this year] Cup races in 2008. Terms were not disclosed. “Greg is one of the most respected drivers in NASCAR and we’re looking forward to building on the great relationship that has grown over the years with Greg and with Roush Fenway Racing,” said Bob MacDonald, 3M Senior Vice President of Marketing. “He’s great on the track and just as good with our customers and employees and with all the fantastic NASCAR fans. The 3M Motorsports team is really working hard to drive brand awareness and sales growth with the great NASCAR fans through our association with NASCAR and Roush Fenway Racing,” MacDonald added. “Jack Roush has been instrumental in helping us take 3M’s NASCAR program to the next level, and I appreciate everything he and his team have done. I also thank Todd Kluever for his contributions to our program over the last two years. We wish him every success in the future. ” In 2007 3M sponsored Biffle (19 races) and Kluever (14 races) in the Busch Series, and seven races with Biffle in the Nextel Cup Series. Since 1995 3M has been a Contingency Decal sponsor of NASCAR in the Nextel Cup, Busch Series and the Whelen All-America Weekly Racing Series and has many products that have been designated Officially Licensed Products of NASCAR. For more information abour 3M, see www.3M.com.(Roush Fenway Racing PR), see an image of the scheme on my 2008 #16 Team Schemes page.(10-11-2007)
- Biffle wins at Kansas: #16-Greg Biffle won the shortened Lifelock 400 at Kansas Speedway by taking the lead with 37 laps to go and dodging a green-white-checker finish when NASCAR decided not to restart the race because of darkness. It is his first win of 2007 and the 12th of his career. The race was stopped twice because of rain including one red flag that lasted more than 2 hours. NASCAR shortened the race to 210 laps. #07-Bowyer finished second. #48-Johnson finished 3rd and now leads the points by 6 over #24-Gordon.. The rest of the top 10: #25-Mears, #24-Gordon, #29-Harvick, #41-Sorenson, #19-Sadler, #9-Kahne, and #8-Earnhardt Jr. Several chase drivers were in accidents and had poor finishes. Other chase drivers finished: #2-Busch 11th, #11-Hamlin 29th, #17-Kenseth 35th, #31-Burton 36th, #99-Edwards 37th, #1-Truex Jr. 38th, #20-Stewart 39th, and #5-Busch 41st. There were 12 cautions (and 2 red flags) for 54 laps and 11 leaders with 18 lead changes.
Race Results on my Kansas Race Results/Awards Page.
Points Standings on my Drivers/Owners Points after Kansas page.
Race Rundown: see my Kansas Race Info/Rundown Page for my race rundown, laps led, top 10, race notes, lucky dogs and more.(9-30-2007)
- Lumber Liquidators on the #16 at NHIS: On Sunday, Sept 16th, at the New Hampshire International Speedway, Lumber Liquidators will be the primary sponsor of the #16 Ford Fusion driven by Greg Biffle. In addition, Lumber Liquidators will celebrate its relationship with the Boston Red Sox by featuring the Red Sox logo on the Roush Fenway entry for the Sylvania 300. This is an extension of the partnership between the hardwood flooring retailer and Roush Fenway Racing; at the June 1 race at Loudon, Lumber Liquidators featured the Red Sox logo on the #99 Ford driven by Carl Edwards.(Lumber Liquidators PR), see an image of the #16 car on my #16 Team Schemes page and the #99 from July on my #99 Team Schemes page.(9-14-2007)
- Braun to make stock car debut in ARCA for Roush: Colin Braun, driver of the #99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion, will make his Roush Fenway Racing debut in Friday night's ARCA RE/MAX Series race at Gateway International Speedway. Braun recently signed long-term contracts with Roush Fenway Racing and Ford Racing.(Ford Racing PR)(8-29-2007)
- Roush Fenway confirms sponsorship for Biffle team set: Roush Fenway Racing has sponsorship for Greg Biffle and the #16 Sprint Cup Ford for next season, team president Geoff Smith confirmed Saturday. Four companies will make up the sponsorship, Smith said but declined to elaborate. Biffle is the only driver whom Roush needed to find a 2008 sponsorship package for. "Barring something really, really weird that I don't expect, we're all good," Smith said. "We'll announce it at a later date."(SceneDaily.com)(8-26-2007)
- Roush to sell off one team, then help: In 2010, Roush Fenway Racing will have to shrink from five cars to four, but Jack Roush already has a plan in mind: Sell the fifth car to a group of investors as what he called "seed corn" for an investor-controlled four-car team owned and funded by a group outside of Roush but fueled with Roush crews and technology.
"It shouldn't go without notice that we are unabated in our effort to find and identify new drivers and to build our crews and teams with outsiders to the extent that we can and advance them through the programs as they get experience," Roush said. "We're on a track to be able to help somebody come in and provide the technology and the manpower to get them started."(Ford Racing)(8-18-2007)
- MWR to two teams? to lose UPS? UPDATE both DENIED: Toyota is expected to pair down Michael Waltrip racing from a three-car effort to a two-car squad, shifting some of that support to JGR's three-car team of Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin. Dale Jarrett is said to be seriously considering retirement, trading in his helmet for a microphone as a television analyst, which would leave MWR with Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann. There has been talk that UPS, unhappy with the lack of exposure the company has received this year from Jarrett's struggles to make races, is looking at other teams for 2008 sponsorship with Roush Fenway Racing a target, possibly for Greg Biffle's #16 entry.(RacingOne)(8-8-2007)
UPDATE: on Wednesday's NASCAR Now [ESPN2] Angelique Chengelis reported that Michael Waltrip Racing's Ty Norris said there was absolutely no morsel of truth to the rumor about MWR scaling back to two teams or Dale Jarrett leaving, plus Norris was at a UPS Sponsor summit and that UPS says things are going well.(8-9-2007)
- Biffle: Improve animal shelter: An animal-welfare group headed by NASCAR driver Greg Biffle [gregbifflefoundation.com] and his fiancée [Nicole Lunders] hope Iredell County [NC] will work with it to improve the plight of dogs and cats at the county animal shelter. Iredell County Animal Control continues to euthanize animals at a higher rate at the shelter it runs than surrounding counties, including Mecklenburg. Friends of the Animals says Iredell County can do better. The Statesville-based group wants to fund an endowment to benefit the shelter, including underwriting the cost of the shelter switching to lethal injection of animals from the present method of a carbon-monoxide gas chamber. Friends of the Animals also would build a multimillion-dollar animal adoption and education center for the county, said Dr. Kathy Kramer, a Charlotte veterinarian formerly of the Animal Hospital of Statesville.(Charlotte Observer)(8-3-2007)
- Special scheme for Biffle at Pocono MORE: This weekend #16-Greg Biffle will run a special black "Dog the Bounty Hunter" paint scheme for Dish Network.(Roush Fenway Racing PR)(8-1-2007)
MORE: This weekend at Pocono Raceway the #16 Ford will have a new look to it as Greg Biffle debuts a special Dish Network/Dog the Bounty Hunter paint scheme. "Dog the Bounty Hunter" is a television show on A & E, a partner of Dish Network. Beginning Tuesday, August 7th at 9:00pm on A & E there will be a special "Dog Days of Summer" series of
episodes featuring Duane "Dog" Chapman - the world's most famous bounty hunter - and his posse. "Dog the Bounty Hunter is a reality television show, chronicling Duane "Dog" Chapman's operations at his job, Da Kine Bail Bonds in Honolulu, Hawaii.(Roush Fenway Racing PR)(8-2-2007)
- Wii scheme on the #16 at two races: For two Nextel Cup races, #16-Greg Biffle will run a special Nintendo Wii paint scheme for the #16 Ford at Watkins Glen in August and Dover in September. See an image of the scheme on my #16 Team Schemes page.(7-3-2007)
UPDATE: Greg Biffle will debut a Nintendo Wii-themed Ford at Watkins Glen in August and then provide an encore performance at Dover in September. Nintendo's partnership with Roush Fenway Racing is the company's first endeavor with NASCAR.(Roush Fenway PR)(7-17-2007)
- Roush COT Testing in Full Swing: Entering this weekend's USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicago, Ford and Roush finally look like a match for the Chevys. "The big thing that has helped us with the Car of Tomorrow is we now have a test team," [Jack] Roush said. "We are doing the things I thought we weren't going to be allowed to do when NASCAR told us we couldn't take tires from the racetrack because they didn't want us to test. I thought they would put teeth in that, but they didn't. We got behind. But five weeks ago I hired six people and dedicated a tractor-trailer [for testing]. We've been to Iowa, Milwaukee four times in the last month, and Road Atlanta and VIR [Virginia International Raceway]." Roush's three 2007 victories have come with NASCAR's current car, and the Chicagoland race also will feature the current car. But if Roush Fenway is going to compete with the Chevy teams for the championship, it will have to have a strong COT program. "We're not caught up yet," Roush said. "But we're certainly on the path, and we'll be heard from more before the year is over."(Tampa Tribune)(7-13-2007)
- Colin Braun tests Roush stock car: 18-year-old sports car driver Colin Braun tested a Roush Fenway Racing stock car last week at the Caraway Speedway, NC for just the second time in his motorsport career. Braun last month became the youngest driver to ever stand on the famed Le Mans 24 Hour podium in France following a second place finish in the GT2 class driving Krohn Racing’s Ferrari 430GT alongside team-owner Tracy Krohn and Nic Jönsson. Braun’s on-track accomplishments have not gone unnoticed and earlier in June he was signed to a driver development deal by no-less a racing organisation than Roush Fenway Racing. “I’m naturally very excited to have the opportunity to drive a stock car for someone like Jack Roush and Roush Fenway Racing. The opportunity really came about due to my successes in sports cars and the short time that I’ve been there. I definitely attribute a lot of that success to the foundation that
Speed Secrets gave me. I think I’m going to enjoy stock car racing and I’ve got no doubt that I’m going to learn a lot, starting with my participation in the ARCA series. We’re definitely taking things one step at a time but I know I’m doing a full season of ARCA in 2008 with the plan being to follow that up with a full season in the NASCAR Busch Series in 2009.”(Speed Secrets PR)(7-5-2007)
- New York Investors Looking for Cup Teams: The buzz in the garage in New Hampshire is that at least two New York-based investment banking firms have been making the rounds among Nextel Cup teams, looking to invest in one or more teams, eventually taking a race team public with a stock offering. So far, there have been no takers among the NASCAR team owners. At least one of the investment firms has talked with multiple teams in the garage, including Robert Yates Racing [#38 & #88], Dale Earnhardt, Inc. [#1, #8, #15] and Roush Fenway Racing [#6, #16, #17, #26, #99], multiple sources said. The idea has been for the companies to make cash investments of upwards of $50 million in a team and then at some point sell their interests, perhaps by public stock offering. “We looked at their business plan and it didn’t make sense to us,” said Roush Fenway Racing President Geoff Smith, who confirmed his team had been contacted by a New York-based investment fund that he did not identify by name. Robert Yates talked extensively with the potential investors and reached the same conclusion. “You sit in a room with about 20 bankers and you spend about 18 hours in there with them and you realize that they didn’t contribute anything to the gross national product except maybe going to the bathroom,” said Yates, who also has entertained merger and/or partnership offers from Dale Earnhardt, Inc., Robby Gordon Motorsports and Hall of Fame Racing, among others, before deciding to go it alone. Another team principal who spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday morning at New Hampshire, said the team he works with was approached by investors, but chose not to get involved with them, either. “They had a ton of money, but they didn’t know anything at all about racing,” he said, adding the team was not in need of a cash infusion and would only consider an outside investor if that investor could add significant value to the team.(SPEEDtv.com)(7-2-2007)
- Roush-Fenway has Sponsor for Biffle in 2008: Roush-Fenway Racing will announce a one-year-only sponsor deal for Greg Biffle and the #16 Ford within the next 30 days, team President Geoff Smith said Sunday morning at New Hampshire. And because the sponsorship deal has been agreed to, the urgency for the team and Biffle to negotiate a contract extension beyond 2008 is over, Smith said. Biffle is expected to have multiple sponsors next year, possibly including Aflac, which sponsored Biffle’s car for the first time this weekend. “We’ve got it worked out,” Smith said. “We’ll be announcing it, I’d say, within 30 days.” As for Biffle, who has been the subject of many “Silly Season” rumors this year, “He’s definitely in the car next year,” Smith said.(SPEEDtv.com)(7-1-2007)
- Roush: Aflac deal could be sign of things to come: Jack Roush says that his team's new partnership with Aflac could highlight how future sponsorships will work in the sport. The company is sponsoring eight Nextel Cup races as primary sponsor for #16-Greg Biffle this season. It is also sponsoring four Busch Series races with drivers Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Jamie McMurray. It's a business move that gives the company access to four of the organization's drivers. "The time may be waning when a new sponsor could come into our business and understand how to make their marketing program be configured in order to give them the value for a full schedule," Roush said Friday at Michigan International Speedway. "I think that the way that Aflac is coming in with a limited schedule, with some races in the Busch as well as the Cup side with multiple drivers I think is a prudent way to do it."(SceneDaily.com)(6-16-2007)
- Roush not interested in Busch: His ride gone for next season and then his agent, #5-Kyle Busch faces more changes.
He'll search for a new ride and could be barred from some Hendrick Motorsports team meetings [as Brian Vickers was in 2006] even as he tries to make the title chase. Although Dale Earnhardt Jr. replaces him next year, Busch wouldn't mope about his situation Friday at Michigan International Speedway. "I'm interested in talking to ... whoever's got an open seat," Busch said before qualifying third for Sunday's race. "Let's sit down. Let's have dinner." Many owners are expected to answer, but not Jack Roush, for whom Busch drove before moving to Hendrick in 2003. "I am not interested in Kyle Busch," Roush said. "I've been there and I've done that."(Roanoke Times)(6-16-2007)
- Biffle says team needs to run better before he signs contract extension: Greg Biffle says he's 90 percent sure he will sign an extension with Roush Fenway Racing beyond the end of his contract next season. But he added that won't happen until he sees an improvement with the performance of his team, which is 19th in points. "If I am not happy, why should I negotiate?" he said before Friday's practice at Michigan International Speedway. "I need to run better. We've got a couple of weak links. We want to strengthen our team a little better. We need to show up at the race track being competitive off the truck. I didn't forget how to drive at Pocono. We were 43rd at Pocono before qualifying. Qualified 42nd and ran 30th. And I am not going to sign a 5-year extension running like that." Team owner Jack Roush is confident things will turn around. "There isn't an imminent need for a conversation with Greg about a contract," he said. "We have a contract in place for 2008, and I think he's very comfortable with that, and I am as well.(ESPN.com)(6-16-2007)
- Aflac to sponsor Biffle? UPDATE 3 Cue the Duck, Alfac signs with Roush: hearing that former #7 Robby Gordon Motorsports crew chief, Greg Erwin will be Biffle's new crew chief. Also hearing that Aflac will sponsor the #16 Ford as the primary in a few races Ameriquest is supposed to sponsor. Ameriquest if looking to get out of their sponsor contract with Roush Fenway Racing.(5-23-2007)
UPDATE: Aflac is on the verge of securing a multiyear team sponsorship deal with Roush Fenway Racing, Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal reports. Staff writer Michael Smith also cites sources who say that the company is talking to NASCAR about acquiring official status in the category of supplemental insurance. Aflac's sponsorship with Roush Fenway is expected to include four Nextel Cup races this year as the primary sponsor on Greg Biffle's #16 car. The car is sponsored by Ameriquest, a troubled subprime lender that has been looking to sell off races and get out of the final two years of its deal. Aflac also will be featured as a primary sponsor for four Busch Series races this year, the story says, and to settle into a full-time Busch Series sponsorship with Roush Fenway for 2008.
An announcement about the sponsorship is expected sometime this month. The story also says that Aflac was involved in discussions with Dale Earnhardt Inc. for a deal that would have involved Dale Earnhardt Jr., but that deal fell through before Earnhardt's announcement that he'd leave DEI.(SceneDaily.com)(6-4-2007)
UPDATE 2: Roush Fenway Racing will announce the addition of a multi-team sponsor on Friday, June 15, 2007 at 9:30am/et at MIS with #16-Greg Biffle, #17-Matt Kenseth, #26-Jamie McMurray, #00-Carl Edwards and team owner Jack Roush.(Roush Fenway Racing PR)(6-15-2007)
UPDATE 3: With a successful acting career in television commercials and even movies, the Aflac Duck has added yet another role to its already impressive repertoire - race-car driving. Aflac Incorporated announced that it is partnering with Roush Fenway Racing to sponsor eight Nextel Cup and Busch Series races in the 2007 season. Greg Biffle will drive the #16 Aflac Ford for its debut at the Nextel Cup race on July 1 at New Hampshire International Speedway for a total of four races. Aflac is also sponsoring four Busch Series races with drivers Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Jamie McMurray. "We look forward to working with a world-class team like Roush Fenway Racing to bring the Aflac brand closer to NASCAR fans," said Paul S. Amos II, president, Aflac; COO, U.S. Operations. "In addition to uniting with another great brand and working with these exciting drivers, this sponsorship will be a useful platform to build additional awareness of how our products can help consumers in their quest to balance everyday living expenses with out-of-pocket health care costs not covered by their existing major medical insurance." The paint scheme was unveiled today at Michigan International Speedway and can be viewed at aflacracing.com. The Aflac Racing schedule below is also available on the Web site.
Greg Biffle - #16 Aflac Ford, Nextek Cup Series:
* July 1, New Hampshire International Speedway
* July 15, Chicagoland Speedway
* Sept. 2, California Speedway
* Sept. 30, Kansas Speedway
Carl Edwards - #60 Aflac Ford, Busch Series, July 6 at Daytona
Matt Kenseth - #17 Aflac Ford, Busch Series, Aug. 11, Watkins Glen
Jamie McMurray - #26 Aflac Ford, Busch Series, Aug. 24 at Bristol and Sept. 7 at Richmond
To find out more about Aflac, visit aflac.com.(Roush Fenway Racing PR)(6-15-2007)
- Negotiations between Biffle, Roush break down: UPDATE: Contract negotiations between #16-Greg Biffle and Roush Fenway Racing have stalled, Biffle told ESPN.com Friday at Pocono Raceway. Biffle said the decision to break off talks was his and is based largely on improving the performance of a No. 16 team that has been up-and-down of late and in a state of transition following the firing of crew chief Pat Tryson two weeks ago and subsequent hiring of crew chief Greg Irwin. Biffle expects negotiations to resume in about a month.(ESPN.com)(6-8-2007)
UPDATE: If there is any doubt Greg Biffle will return as driver of the #16 car next season he put those rumors to rest at Pocono. "It´s my full intention right now to race that (#16) car next year. I can´t leave next year. I not only have a contract with them (Roush-Fenway Racing) I´ve got a contract with Ford. The speculation is over. I have two contracts that I´m obligated to do and I´m going to do. If for some reason we don´t come to an agreement I´ll be driving something different in 2009, not 2008. I´m off the bargaining table. They need a driver for the #8 next year...that´s not me...or whatever other cars." Contract extension talks are on hold for at least the next month as Biffle wants to focus on the competition side with new crew chief Greg Irwin. "Greg is doing an unbelievable job" said Biffle. "Pat (Tryson) was a helluva crew chief. Pat got this team to where it is now. Greg´s taken over and it keeps going up. Let´s just work on getting into the chase instead of working on negotiating money, sponsor appearances, Busch Series stuff and all that. I want to have it done this year. I don´t want it to go into next year, so heck we´ve got five months and that´s a lot of time."(PRNs Garage Pass)(6-9-2007)
- Roush to test COT more: Ford team-owner Jack Roush [#6,16,17,26,99] will use B.F. Goodrich and/or Hoosier tires to test his Car of Tomorrow fleet on non-Nextel Cup tracks in coming months. The team owner believes Roush Fenway Racing is slightly behind rivals that are skirting the spirit of NASCAR’s testing policies. By rule, Cup teams are limited to a handful of closely-monitored official tests. Teams must test together at the same Cup venue, and on Goodyear Eagles. But several organizations have gotten around that limit by using Goodrich and/or Hoosiers for unofficial testing at outside tracks. “NASCAR wanted to start everybody in the Car of Tomorrow on an even basis, with [the same] four or five tests,” Roush said at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. “Well, the teams that have been successful—the Hendrick organization, the Gibbs organization and the Childress organization—have tested their cars multiple times a week. They’ve gone to tracks outside NASCAR’s control with tires that were not from Goodyear. Right now, Goodyear is sitting on millions of dollars worth of tires that are growing obsolete and hard in their warehouses. Teams have gotten around NASCAR’s policy by buying other people’s tires and testing at tracks that aren’t on the Nextel Cup schedule. I got behind on that; I didn’t do that. But two weeks ago I hired six people and dedicated a tractor-trailer, and I’ve gone public. ‘OK, I’m getting in the testing game, too.’ If you don’t want us to test, have us sign something in the application. Something that says, ‘We agree we won’t test with Goodyears or anybody else’s tires, except for the tracks that NASCAR approves.’ But they didn’t do that; they left the door open and we got behind… but we’re going to catch up.” Strictly speaking, there’s nothing illegal about what the Hendrick, Gibbs and Childress teams are doing. Jeff Gordon, who’s won two CoT races—teammate Jimmie Johnson has won two and Kyle Busch the other—said Hendrick Motorsports shouldn’t apologize for its CoT success. “If the Roush teams aren’t doing that, then that’s their mistake,” the series points-leader said. “We’re doing everything we can to be competitive and we’re not doing anything wrong. It’s definitely playing a role in helping us get to where we are.”(Ford Racing)(5-29-2007)
- Roush, Red Sox Plan New England Bash: The first major collaboration to come from the partnership between Fenway Sports Group and the former Roush Racing will take place next month in Boston and New Hampshire with an event called Roush Fenway Days.
Roush Fenway Racing will have two days of activities at Fenway Park June 28-29, culminating with a baseball game between The Boston Red Sox and the Texas Rangers on June 29th. “We’re having our midyear sponsor summit there, followed by the game,” said Roush Fenway President Geoff Smith. “We’re having our big racing displays and event displays, like you would here at a racetrack, surround the park and be somewhat in the park. People get to participate in batting practice and there will be a big P.R. rollout inside the park with the drivers and players and so forth.” From there, Smith said, the action will move to New Hampshire International Speedway, site of the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 NASCAR Nextel Cup race July 1. “I think you’ll see one of our cars with a special paint scheme and some special guests,” said Smith. “It’ll integrate NASCAR and the whole Fenway Red Sox experience kind of all in one big weekend.”
Smith also said the team is close to announcing a title sponsor to the event.(SPEEDtv.com)(5-28-2007)
- Tryson close to a deal with DEI: Pat Tryson, who was fired by Roush Fenway Racing last week, is close to a deal with Dale Earnhardt Inc. Richie Gilmore, the director of motorsports at DEI, hopes to have Tryson signed within the next two weeks. "He's looking at a couple of other options, but right now we're at the top of his list,'' Gilmore said before Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. DEI officials also are narrowing their search for a driver to replace Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is leaving the company his father built after this season. They have a list of five candidates and could have that narrowed even further by the end of this week. They are looking not only at drivers currently inside the Nextel Cup garage but drivers who have been champions of other series. "The testament to this organization and what the company stands for is reflected by the high level of interest from people across this entire sport,'' said Max Siegel, the president of global operations at DEI.(ESPN.com)(5-27-2007)
- Biffle/Tryson could reunite at DEI? UPDATE: Pat Tryson doesn't know where he'll work next, but he hasn't ruled out a reunion with driver #16-Greg Biffle. Fired as Biffle's crew chief at Roush Fenway Racing this week, Tryson said on Thursday at Lowe's Motor Speedway that he's been contacted about a job from officials at Dale Earnhardt Inc. He also acknowledged that Biffle has had ongoing conversations with DEI even before Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced he was leaving the organization that his father built. "I know if they want to keep Greg Biffle, [Roush] better get some stuff together,'' Tryson said during practice for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600. "I don't think Greg's shopping himself. I also don't believe he's going to rush to sign.'' Biffle's contract with Roush Fenway runs through 2008 and he's in the middle of negotiations on an extension. While he's said that an extension is his first choice, he wouldn't be the first person to get out of a Roush contract a year early. Kurt Busch left a year after the 2005 season to join Penske Racing.(ESPN.com)(5-24-2007)
UPDATE: Greg Biffle's contract negotiation with Roush Fenway Racing is currently "in limbo," the driver said Thursday at Lowe's Motor Speedway. "Right now we've made a counter offer," Biffle said. "A lot of it regarded appearances and the way the contract was written -- and obviously money was one of the factors. So we're waiting to see where they sit with everything." Biffle explained the addition of Fenway Sports Group to the equation has diluted negotiations a bit.(ESPN.com)(5-25-2007)
- DISH Network to debut at Coke 600: This weekend #16-Greg Biffle will run a red and black Dish Network paint scheme on the #16 Ford. He is scheduled to run the Dish Network paint scheme 12 more times this season.(Roush Racing PR)(5-23-2007)
- Tryson leaves the #16? UPDATE 2 and Aflac to sponsor?: hearing that #16 Roush Racing crew chief, Pat Tryson, has parted ways with the team and driver Greg Biffle, no word where Tryson may go or who Biffle's crew chief will be for the Coca Cola 600 at LMS.(5-23-2007)
UPDATE: hearing that former #7 Robby Gordon Motorsports crew chief, Greg Erwin will be Biffle's new crew chief. Also hearing that Aflac will sponsor the #16 Ford as the primary in a few races Ameriquest is supposed to sponsor. Ameriquest if looking to get out of their sponsor contract with Roush Fenway Racing.
UPDATE 2: It was announced today at Roush Fenway Racing that Greg Erwin will take over as crew chief of the team's #16 Nextel Cup entry with driver Greg Biffle. "We obviously weren't performing at a level at which Jack expected and a change was made," said Biffle. Erwin was most recently the crew chief at Robby Gordon Motorsports for the #7 Nextel Cup entry. Prior to the two years at Robby Gordon Motorsports, Erwin accumulated seven years of experience as an engineer at Richard Childress Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing.
"I feel that this is one of the top crew chief opportunities in the Nextel Cup garage," said Erwin. "If you could paint a picture of where you would like to go as a crew chief to give it a shot to win and compete for a championship, this is it. I am also excited about the backing of the engineering department at Roush and the resources they offer. The fact that Greg Biffle is the driver was a factor that weighed heavily on my decision. He is a straight forward kind of guy and I look forward to working with him." Chris Andrews, current Engineering Manager at Roush Fenway Racing, will serve as interim crew chief for Greg Biffle and the #16 Dish Network Nextel Cup entry this weekend. Erwin will serve as an advisor on the pit box during Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 before officially taking over crew chief duties on Tuesday, May
29th.(Roush Fenway Racing PR)(5-23-2007)
- Biffle working on contract with Roush: from a transcript:
Q) There's been a Lot of Talk about Your Contract. How Would You Like To See This Play Out?
A-Biffle) “...we’re negotiating with Roush on getting the extension done. We’ve got a couple of sponsors on the table that want to come over and be on our race car, and there are other teams that have shown interest in me coming and driving their car. So, I’m pretty sure I’m staying at Roush. The negotiations are going well. I don’t see a reason why I’d be out talking to anybody else at this point, or at least entertaining those ideas until I feel like I’ve gone as far as I can with Roush, we can’t come to terms.”
Q) Do you feel like you'll get this Done This Year? Geoff Smith Said It Could Be This Year or Next Year?
A-Biffle) “If we don’t get it done this year, I’ll be announcing where I’m going to be driving in the future.”
Q)How Close Are You to Getting A Deal Done? There's An Understanding That Geoff Smith Sent You Some Specifics in the Last 10 Or 12 Days on What He Has To Offer, And He Was Waiting For You To Get Back With Him.
A-Biffle) “You’re right; we just got some information last week, and I think that we’re going to discuss the terms with them this week. In fact, I was just talking to somebody today before I came in here, ironically enough. That was their first, preliminary offer – this many appearances, this whatever, all the necessary stuff in there. So, we’re just in the beginning stages of negotiating a deal through 2012, or something. So, we’re not close at all about having a deal done. At least 60 days, I would say, have to guess, by the time we back and forth a couple of times. I let somebody kind of handle that for me because I don’t want it to distract me from what my job is and my job is to go over there and drive that car in a half hour and try and be the best I can. That’s what I focus on, and I don’t worry about the rest of it. I don’t have any reason to believe that we’re not going to be able to do the deal with them.”(Ford Racing)(5-8-2007)
- Teams after Biffle for 2008 UPDATE: By disclosing that Roush Fenway Racing is re-negotiating its contract with #16-Greg Biffle, team president Geoff Smith may have indirectly increased the driver's value. Biffle told ESPN.com Friday that Smith's comment has produced intrigue in the Nextel Cup garage regarding the driver's contract status. He is an elite driving talent. Teams are calling. "The biggest thing that's been a bit of a deterrent for me is that Geoff Smith put in the paper that we're negotiating -- Roush and Greg Biffle -- an extension," Biffle said. "And in my eyes there was no reason for that. I'm under contract." Biffle is under contract with Roush Fenway through the end of the 2008 season. But when the sponsor of the #16 Ford, AmeriQuest, told Roush it would like to terminate its contract at the end of the year, and that Roush should seek alternative sponsorship, it created a bit of an issue for the team. Biffle described the difficulty in getting a three-year sponsor commitment based on a driver that has just one year left on his deal as all but impossible. Roush Fenway Racing wants to lock Biffle up to a longer-term contract, to ensure potential sponsors he'll be there for the duration of the relationship. Biffle said that lead executives from some other teams to believe his contract was up at the end of the current season, rather than next year's. "So now I've got all these teams that are looking to add a team or a driver calling me," Biffle said. "Not every team, but there's been a few because of that quote." Biffle said he wants to remain at Roush Fenway, and echoed Smith's sentiment that the team has its pick of potential sponsors.(ESPN.com)(4-29-2007)
UPDATE: Roush Fenway Racing President Geoff Smith said Sunday that rumors that #16-Greg Biffle’s name would come up with Silly Season couldn’t be avoided, given that the team is simultaneously trying to sign a new sponsor to replace Ameriquest and at the same time sign Biffle beyond the end of 2008, when his current deal expires. The situation is a classic catch-22: Potential sponsors want drivers signed to long-term deals before they’ll commit, and drivers want to know a sponsor is in place to pay the bills before they sign on for another tour of duty. “When you go out in public to request a sponsor, you have to tell the sponsor how long the term is,” Smith said. “And so it was inevitable, always inevitable, that the moment the word got out in any fashion that we were looking for a three-year deal for a sponsor, that it would trigger the questions back to the driver. The fact that it made it a little bit awkward for Greg … it just puts him back into the marketplace again. There wasn’t anything I could do about that. It was inevitable. You just have to go say what is and move through it as fast as you can.” Smith said he was optimistic about keeping Biffle in the Roush fold, though he was unsure if the deal would get done this year or next. “Whether or not the contract is extended is Greg’s decision, and he’ll let us know,” Smith said. “If he wants to sit for another year, or wants to do it now … we can have a sponsorship now without any issue. When Greg gets done reviewing the deal, we’ll see.”(Ford Racing)(5-2-2007)
- Roush hopes to complete separation deal with Ameriquest soon: Roush Racing officials are in talks with Ameriquest to finish a separation arrangement. Ameriquest had requested to be replaced as sponsor of Greg Biffle's #16 car this season. That could be completed by Darlington in two weeks.(Roanoke Times)4-30-2007)
- NAPA looking? UPDATE 2 denied hearing that NAPA Auto Parts is looking at options for their sponsorship in the Nextel Cup Series. NAPA has been the sponsor for Michael Waltrip in the Cup Series since 2001, first with the #15 DEI Chevy, then since 2006 on the #55 car. Supposedly NAPA is talking to Richard Childress Racing (RCR) as a possible replacement sponsor for Cingular, should AT&T not win its lawsuit against NASCAR to have the AT&T decals put on the #31 Chevy AND with Roush Fenway Racing as a sponsor for the #16 Ford Greg Biffle drives. Current sponsor Ameriquest has opted out of the sponsorship after the 2007 season.(4-25-2007)
UPDATE: been told there is no truth to the rumor that RCR is in contact with NAPA regarding sponsorship for the #31.(RCR)(4-27-2007)
UPDATE 2: Michael Waltrip knows that his team needs to overcome its struggles this season, but he is disputing published reports that his #55 Toyota sponsor, NAPA, is exploring options elsewhere. "NAPA has ... had a lot of trials and tribulations; they've been really very supportive of getting this whole thing turned around. ...," Waltrip said Friday morning at Talladega Superspeedway. "This is the first year. I read on the Internet that NAPA was looking. They are; they're looking for us to do a better job."(SceneDaily.com)(4-27-2007)
- Biffle could be looking? #16-Greg Biffle's future is up in the air after the decision of sponsor Ameriquest, a retail-mortgage company, to drop out of the sport at the end of the season. Biffle's contract with car owner Jack Roush runs through the end of 2008, so Geoff Smith, the head of Roush Racing, said he wants to negotiate a new, longer term contract with Biffle, in order to get leverage to sign a new sponsor. However a possible complicating factor is NASCAR's looming limit on the number of Nextel Cup teams that any one car owner can have. In 2009, Roush will have to cut his five-team roster to four. So which of Roush's five drivers - Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray, or David Ragan - will have to move? If Smith can get Biffle to sign, that could put him in the driver's seat for sponsorship with the top open man in the series.(Winston Salem Journal)(4-16-2007)
- 3M scheme for Biffle at Texas: This weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, #16-Greg Biffle will run a multi-colored 3M
paint scheme with Ameriquest on the hood of his Roush Racing Ford.(Roush Racing)(4-13-2007)
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- Carl Edwards' Busch Win is Roush Fenway's 350th Overall: Carl Edwards drove the #60 Dish Network Ford home to his second Busch Series win of the 2007 season in Nashville over the weekend and at the same time, hit a milestone for Roush Fenway Racing. Edwards' second consecutive win gave Roush Fenway their 350th overall win. Of the 350 wins Jack Roush has obtained, 234 of them have been wins in NASCAR's three elite series (Nextel Cup - 101; Busch Series - 90; Craftsman Truck Series - 43). Of the 101 Nextel Cup wins, 96 of them have been point races while the other five have come from wins in the Bud Shootout (1), The Winston (1), The Winston Open (1) and the Nextel All-Star Challenge (2). In the Busch and Truck Series, Roush Fenway's 90 and 43 wins respectively, make Roush the most winning owner of any other owner in both of those series. In addition to the 234 wins, Roush has also collected 116 road racing victories bringing Roush Fenway Racing's win column total to 350.(Roush Fenway PR)(4-9-2007)
- Chevy off to Fast Start in 2007; Biffle Says It's Tough for Ford to Catch Up: If the Chase were to begin today, the field of contenders would include three Ford cars - and nine Chevys. That's in part due to the Hendrick domination in Car of Tomorrow contests, as well as Richard Childress Racing's strong season that has three cars in the top 10 to this point. And #16-Greg Biffle isn't sure if he and his friends with Fords can close the gap. "To be honest with you, Chevy has been ahead of us for probably the last year, or last year and a half, since 2005," said the Roush Fenway racer. "Three and four of the Chevys were a little bit ahead of us. We managed to win championships in (2003 and 2004) as a manufacturer, but really competitive-wise they were better than us. We were probably the best in 2005 as a manufacturer, and then in '06 and '07, Chevy is back on top, where they've been most of the time. And it's not really a surprise to us to see them running as well as they are. They've got a bunch of great teams, Gibbs, Hendrick, Childress, just off the top, are very, very strong race teams." Ford, meanwhile, is carried by the Roush group, which teams with Robert Yates Racing for its engines. That limits the amount of information being shared, and, resultingly, limits the speed of progress.(Concord Monitor)(4-9-2007)
- Roush Not Gloating Over Toyota's Woes: After all the buildup from Detroit rivals about the Toyota monster crushing NASCAR competition, the season so far has seen quite the opposite, with most Toyota teams struggling just to make the fields. But [Jack] Roush isn't backing away from his quite vocal worries. "I'm not going to gloat over what's happened, or take any glee in it," Roush said, "because it's hard to start a new program, around new people and new drivers and a new manufacturer. And this year's hardware issues (like the car of tomorrow) make it triple tough. I didn't expect Toyota to be a factor early on. But the comments I've made were not based on what I looked for in the first half of 2007, or even all of 2007, but rather 2008, 2009 and beyond will be a very good time for Toyota, if they continue to have the money they now have available to get the people and technologies. Toyota will get it right ... and they will put the rest of us in the back, unless NASCAR is vigilant in its effort to protect against unlimited amounts of money coming into this sport and buying everything of value from the existing teams. If Toyota can do that, there will be an upset the likes of which we have never seen. Right now the good news for the established teams is that the good drivers have all been under contract, and the good crew chiefs and the best crewmen have not been willing to take a chance on an upstart team or a new program. But as time goes on, as the Toyota teams get their legs under them and start to consistently qualify, the more those people who have the talents to make a difference in the programs will be inclined to consider the generous offers they've made- offers that will escalate as time goes on."(Winston-Salem Journal)(4-8-2007)
- Biffle contract extension possible with new sponsor With Roush Fenway Racing looking for a sponsor for Greg Biffle and the #16 team next season, the team might end up negotiating more than just a sponsor contract. Biffle's contract ends in 2008, and Ameriquest has asked to be released from its sponsorship agreement at the end of the season. Team president Geoff Smith said April 1 that he would like to couple a new sponsor agreement with a contract extension for Biffle. "Greg and I, we've talked and we're going to try to make a better opportunity out of this," Smith said. "It's in all of our best interests to be able to make a longer-term offering. We've got some sponsor interest from some real high-quality companies. That would be the best scenario for both of us." Smith said the market for sponsors is good because the economy is on the upswing and many teams are solid in their deals for 2008. "Most of the big programs are sold out for next year," Smith said. "It's not like you're sitting here and all top-10 quality drivers are looking for sponsorship next year."
This also will be the first Cup sponsorship that will be negotiated by Smith under the new Roush Fenway banner as Fenway Sports Group (operated by Red Sox owner John Henry) bought half the team in January. Smith said that the Fenway Sports Group has people who can make a run at prospective sponsors. "Fenway Sports Group has the capacity to double and triple our marketing network in short bursts," Smith said.(SceneDaily.com)(4-2-2007)
- Why no penalty for Biffle? Nextel Cup Series Director John Darby said Greg Biffle's #16 Ford Fusion wasn't penalized for being low at Bristol Motor Speedway in part because NASCAR doesn't have a rule for minimum rear height except at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. There are requirements for minimum heights at other tracks but no set penalties for violators [Jayski Note: but many have been penalized for cars too low]. Biffle's fifth-place car was whisked to the NASCAR R&D Center because it measured lower than in prerace inspection, but officials found nothing improper after scouring the car Monday. NASCAR will allow a quarter-inch more tolerance on minimum height at Martinsville. "We will need a minimum height down the road," Darby said. "Right now, we don't need where we or the teams need it to be."(USA Today)(3-31-2007)
- Biffle will not face discipline for car height: NASCAR will not penalize Greg Biffle's #16 team, despite the fact his Ford was found to be too low in post-race inspection at Bristol Motor Speedway, NASCAR vice president for competition Robin Pemberton said Wednesday. NASCAR has scheduled a news conference for Friday morning at Martinsville Speedway to explain their reasoning in detail.
NASCAR took the #16 car back to its research and development center Sunday night after the Food City 500 and gave it a thorough inspection Monday. Officials determined that no unapproved adjustments had been made to the car, so NASCAR cleared the machine and returned it to Roush-Fenway Racing on Monday afternoon. The 2007 season began with a new, less tolerant approach toward rules violators, prompting many to suspect that Biffle and his team would receive a stiff penalty following the Bristol mishap. But NASCAR officials said the Car of Tomorrow is a work in progress, and that they anticipated the cars would lose some height during the race at Bristol. Officials ran eight cars through the height sticks during post-race inspection, and Biffle's was the only one that came back too low. Before making any permanent changes, NASCAR said it will likely make some rules adjustments in the future that benefit everyone.(ESPN.com)(3-28-2007)
- #16 declared too low after Bristol race: UPDATE: No penalty announcement this week? #16-Greg Biffle's team faces penalties after his car failed post-race inspection following a fifth-place finish. Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president for competition, said the car was too low. Pemberton would not speculate on the penalty, which could include a fine and points deduction, saying inspectors wanted to go over the car completely at the R&D Center in Concord, N.C., before a ruling is made. Biffle's car, as well as the #5 of winner Kyle Busch, were taken to Concord as a part of what will be a routine process as NASCAR implements the Car of Tomorrow this season. Pemberton said Busch would have the car back in time for Martinsville. That was good news to crew chief Alan Gustafson, who plans to use the car as a backup next week.(ESPN.com)(3-25-2007)
UPDATE: From Larry McReynolds' column at FoxSports.com: "Don't expect to see a decision handed down this week against Greg Biffle and the #16 Roush Fenway Racing Nextel Cup team because a rear quarterpanel was low, and that's not something a team would want to have at Bristol. NASCAR can't figure out how it would be a performance enhancement. I don't look for any penalties this week. You're going to probably see something next week as this scenario is another part of the learning process with the Car of Tomorrow.(FoxSports.com)(3-27-2007)
- Roush Fenway must lose team by 2010 UPDATE losing Ameriquest after 2007: Roush Fenway Racing will have to decrease its number of Nextel Cup teams from five to four by the start of the 2010 season, team president Geoff Smith said Saturday. NASCAR announced in 2005 that it would limit organizations to four fulltime Cup teams and that it would work with Roush to get down from four to five. Originally, the agreement was that once Roush lost a sponsor and driver at the same time, it would have to get down to four. "That [original discussion] triggered a loop that made the shrinkage date unpredictable, so it was [changed to] very simply, when the 2010 season starts, you'll have four," Smith said. "We have to be at four at the start of 2010, regardless of what happens to us in the interim, if we lose a driver, lose a sponsor." Smith indicated that his contracts are solid through the 2009 season. He also said in the perfect world, Roush would sell one of the teams. "We've got three more years to sell one of our teams off," Smith said. "Hopefully, we can retain some business with that sale."(SceneDaily.com)(3-24-2007)
UPDATE: Changes are on the way at Roush Fenway Racing, which is losing one primary sponsor after this season and has been ordered by NASCAR to drop one of its five Nextel Cup teams by 2010. Ameriquest, the mortgage company that became the primary sponsor of Greg Biffle's #16 car this season, has asked Roush Fenway to sell off the final two years of its contract, which expires in 2009. The lender's struggling parent company recently announced a second round of layoffs, and Ameriquest last week pulled out of a 30-year deal as rights holder to the name of the Texas Rangers' ballpark. "It's very clear that they want to reduce their contract exposure to us," Roush Fenway president Geoff Smith said Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway. "If we weren't able to do that, then you get into, OK, here's your car, what are we going to do with it? You've got this lame duck environment going on, which is not helpful to anybody. So in practical terms, we can assume that we'll have another sponsor for next season." Smith doesn't anticipate any difficulties in finding a new sponsor, especially given that Roush Fenway has nearly an entire season to search. Roush Fenway also has until the 2010 season to comply with NASCAR's maximum of four cars per organization, announced by the sanctioning body in 2005. The car cap was put in place after all five Roush cars qualified for the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship. "There's no mistaking our understanding of what we have to do," Smith said. "Regardless of what goes on within our programs, we have to go to four [cars] in 2010."(NASCAR.com)(3-25-2007)
- Jackson Hewitt scheme for Biffle at Atlanta: This weekend at Atlanta, #16-Greg Biffle will run a black and red Jackson Hewitt paint scheme.(Roush Racing PR), see image of a the scheme on my #16 Team Schemes page.(3-15-2007)
- Wrestling's Goldberg to serve on Biffle's crew at Vegas: On Sunday, March 11, former wrestling champion Bill Goldberg will go from the squared circle to the 1.5-mile oval track of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Goldberg, a die-hard motorsports fan, will serve as an honorary member of Nextel Cup driver Greg Biffle's #16 Ameriquest Ford pit crew for the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400. Goldberg, a devoted car enthusiast, will also be in Las Vegas to promote his new Spike TV show Bullrun. The taped ten-episode reality show premieres March 13 at 10:00pm/et. Bullrun, based on the same-named international automotive rally, features 12 teams of two drivers who use their own cars in a rally that takes them across America on a 4,000-mile journey. Spike TV is available in 90 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc.(PR)(3-6-2007)
- Roush Fenway Racing owner gives MLB player a...Toyota: [Boston Red Sox slugger David] Ortiz got his own present Wednesday morning. Arriving at the Red Sox minor league facility for his physical, Ortiz was greeted with a Toyota Tundra pickup, courtesy of owner John W. Henry......why is this of interest? Red Sox owner John Henry is Jack Roush's new partner at Roush-Fenway Racing, they run Ford Fusion's and Jack Roush has spoken out against Toyota's involvement in NASCAR.....oops.(Heads up at Motorsports Soapbox, full article at the Hartford Courant)(2-26-2007)
- Gulf Oil shows interest in Roush-Fenway: Roush Racing's 50-50 partnership with John Henry's Fenway Sports Group, finally announced last week at Daytona International Speedway, might show an immediate return. One of the Boston Red Sox's longtime partners, Gulf Oil, has expressed an interest in a sponsorship position with Roush. Gulf, a Fenway Sports Group client based in Chelsea, Mass., distributes motor fuels and lubricants in about 2,600 branded gas stations, with a footprint that extends from Ohio to the east and Delaware to the north. The company's 65-foot logo is painted on the left-field wall at Fenway Park. "NASCAR really never made sense for us before because it is a national play and we're a regional company," said Richard Dery, Gulf's vice president of branded marketing and sales. "A race at Daytona doesn't do us a lot of good, but a race at Loudon, N.H. -- that could be a really fun day." Dery said his discussions with Roush have involved sponsorships for select races in Gulf's footprint, primarily the July 1 Lenox 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. Gulf also could become the official motor oil of Roush Fenway Racing. Fenway Sports Group and the Red Sox are sister companies, both owned by John Henry, who said he hoped the partnership with Roush would vault FSG into a prominent position in sports marketing.(Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service)(2-23-2007)
- Roush Racing & Fenway Sports Group partner up: Today, during Speedweeks in Daytona Beach, Fla., Roush Racing and Fenway Sports Group (FSG) announced the formation of Roush Fenway Racing. Under the agreement, FSG will purchase 50% of
Roush Racing to form the new entity. Jack Roush will continue to manage the competitive operations of the race teams and Geoff Smith will continue as president to oversee business activities. FSG will support Roush Fenway Racing’s marketing and sales activities by using their experience, network of relationships, and powerful demographic base to add value to Roush Fenway Racing sponsors and help Roush Fenway Racing maintain an unsurpassed position among NASCAR teams on and off the track.
“This partnership will bring a whole new perspective to our business,” said Jack Roush. “There is a lot of hard work that goes into being successful in sport. John Henry and FSG understand what it takes. Anybody that has watched the Red Sox has been impressed with their tenacity and their ability to prevail after all the frustration. To be able to have someone to bounce ideas and strategies off of will be fun. Everyone at Roush Racing is excited to welcome our new partner and we look forward to our success together.”
“This is an unprecedented partnership of two extremely successful organizations with proven track records for winning in their respective businesses and sports,” said Mike Dee, chief operating officer of the Boston Red Sox and president of Fenway Sports Group. “We believe in NASCAR and like its long-term business future and are thrilled to be a part of this exciting and growing industry.”
The new Roush Fenway Racing logo will make its track debut at Daytona International Speedway beginning Thursday, February 15 during the Gatorade 150 qualifying races. All of Roush Fenway Racing’s 13 teams will be competing throughout the weekend.
Off the track, the Roush Fenway Racing focus will be to continue to service its world-class sponsorship base which includes such great companies as; DeWalt Power Tools, Diageo (Crown Royal), AAA, Office Depot, Ameriquest Mortgage Company, 3M, Ford Motor Company, Northern Tool + Equipment, Dish Network, Discount Tire and Coca Cola, whose sponsorships Roush supports with public relations, licensing, event marketing and account management services.
Geoff Smith summed up the overall goal by saying, “We wholeheartedly believe that the addition of FSG, and the incorporation of its expertise and demographic power will insure that Roush Fenway Racing will indefinitely preserve our pre-eminent position among NASCAR teams both on and off the track.” FSG’s core strengths include property representation and acquisitions, entertainment marketing, sponsorships and consulting services. For more information please visit FenwaySportsGroup.com.(Roush Fenway Racing PR)(2-14-2007)
- 3M to sponsor Biffle and Kluever in 2007: 3M Company and Roush Racing announced today that 3M will sponsor the #16 3M Ford Fusion in seven Nextel Cup races and the full Busch Series in 2007. Greg Biffle will represent 3M in the Nextel Cup Series and
will share driving responsibilities with Todd Kluever in the #16 3M Ford Fusion for the 2007 Busch Series. Biffle is scheduled to drive 19 Busch races for 3M in the 2007 season. Kluever will drive the remainder of the schedule, beginning with the season-opening race February 17th at Daytona International Speedway. Biffle drove the #16 3M Post-it Ford in nine Nextel Cup races in 2005, winning at California and Texas on his way to finishing second in the Nextel Cup Championship. In 2007, 3M will again activate its sponsorship through a comprehensive marketing communications programs on several levels throughout the year, including customer hospitality, product promotions and at-track marketing.(Roush Racing PR), so much for the rumors of Biffle going to the #88 RYR Ford in 2007.(11-3-2006)
