04-06-06: FnSweet Staff: Jack Roush obviously is well known among NASCAR fans, and his teams have combined to win four championships, including two at the elite Nextel Cup level. Now fans of drag racing will see this same level of excellence as Roush, through his ROUSH Performance division, will field a multi-car program in the National Mustang Racer’s Association (NMRA) Denso Ford Drag Racing Series during 2006. What many people don’t realize is that Roush started his career in motorsports in 1966 with “The Fastbacks,” a drag program. He remained with them until they disbanded in 1970, at which time he formed a partnership with Wayne Gapp, one that eventually led to Pro Stock championships in NHRA, IHRA and AHRA. Roush remained in drag racing until 1978 when he migrated to the areas of racing he is best known for, his tremendous success in both Trans-Am and NASCAR. Though not fielding a team himself, Roush did build drag engines for other teams through 1980 before leaving the sport until now. “I have never lost my love for the sport of drag racing,” Roush explained. “It is where I first began my career in motorsports, and now drag racing has become a way for me to spend some ‘fun time’ with my son (Jack Roush, Jr.), daughter (Susan McClenaghan) and her husband (Dale McClenaghan). I have enjoyed drag racing nearly my entire life, and I am thrilled that it is now something my family can share together.” “Drag racing is one of the most extreme tests for auto parts due to the speeds, the stresses at launch, and torque on the vehicles,” said Joe Thompson, general manager of ROUSH Performance. “We always strive to make the best-engineered, best-performing parts on the market and in doing so need to prove that they will work as intended. What drag racing offers is a ‘real world’ test lab that we could never duplicate on a computer screen or dyno. “Furthering the development of our product line, by being at the track allows us direct one-on-one communication with the other teams and end-users for our Competition Line parts program. We can see first-hand the problems they are having, ask for their feedback, and together develop parts that we know will meet their needs, not just the ones we think they will want,” added Thompson. The ROUSH Performance team began the season at the 5th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA Spring Ford Nationals at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida. This event, which ran from March 9-12, saw the entire ROUSH Performance fleet participate, which includes the following cars and drivers: •2005 Mustang - Doug Thompson - Detroit, Mich.
•2001 Mustang - Jack Roush, Jr. - Livonia, Mich.
•2005 Mustang - Don Bowles - Madisonville, Ky.
•2003 Mustang - Susan McClenaghan - Livonia, Mich.
•1967 Cougar - Dale McClenaghan - Livonia, Mich.   
The red 2005 Mustang driven by Thompson is the primary vehicle for parts testing, while the black 2001 Mustang will be the showcase for the ROUSH Performance crate engines. This car will be piloted by Jack Roush, Jr., at some events, and Kyle Carrothers in others. Although no trophies were added to Jack Roush’s display case this weekend, the debut of the ROUSH Performance drag racing team at the 5th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA Spring Ford Nationals was still deemed a success.
Even though all five cars in the program were eliminated in the early rounds at Bradenton Motorsports Park, the baseline for this research and development team was established so it will be easier from this point forward to see how changes to the test vehicles and parts affect the performance.
"I think the highlight of the weekend from a pure developmental standpoint was the modular engine in the car that Kyle (Carrothers) drove," reflected Paul Burke, ROUSH Performance engineering manager. "It ran exactly as intended all weekend. In fact, I would say that all the ROUSH Performance Competition Parts that we had in the cars stayed together and performed just like they were engineered to."
Carrothers agreed that his ROUSH-built, ROUSHcharged 4.6L, 2-valve modular engine was a high point of the first race.
"I was really pleased with the performance of the engine," stated Carrothers, a ROUSH Performance developmental engineer and one of the test drivers. "It ran a 10.58 (elapsed time) at more than 123 mph and behaved exactly as we had hoped."
The primary goal for this drag racing program is to do some "real-world" testing on the new line of Competition Parts which are under development by ROUSH Performance, as well as the modular performance engines that the company builds." The best way to test how they will perform on the racetrack is on the racetrack itself, experiencing the high stresses at launch and the top-end speeds. |
