The Roush of the South
What Happened
Roush-Fenway Racing combined to win the second most races and had two drivers make the Chase but still fell short of expectations. Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray both spent the season fighting inconsistency. Matt Kenseth was never in danger of missing the Chase, but also never looked like a threat to win until it was too late. David Ragan was thrown in the deep end and had lots of struggles, but hints of his potential were also seen.
Roush drummed up a surplus of financial muscle when he merged with John Henry to form Roush-Fenway Racing, a deal that took nearly three years to finalize. The merger didn’t have immediate benefits, but the long term payoffs could be enormous.
What Went Well
Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards combined for five wins and both made the Chase. Kenseth finished the season on fire with five straight top fives and a dominating win at Homestead. Edwards rebounded from a disappointing 2006 to post three wins and the accompanying backflips. That was especially good news for his motorcoach driver Tom Giacchi.
Elsewhere, Jamie McMurray won his first race in almost five years at the Pepsi 400 in July. Greg Biffle’s win at Kansas was his fifth straight season with at least one win. Rookie David Ragan began the year with a 5th place at Daytona and later scored a 3rd place at Richmond.
What Went Wrong
The team really struggled with the CoT. Kenseth and McMurray’s averages were significantly worse in the CoT compared to the old car. The team admitted it didn’t test as much as other Cup teams and the initial results reflected that. By the summer, the organization had regained most of the ground they had lost, but with the CoT featuring exclusively in 2008, they cannot afford similar stumbles.
Biffle’s team was assembled in the hopes of competing for a championship. Things didn’t work and crew chief Pat Tryson left the team for Penske in the summer. Biffle didn’t score consecutive top tens until September, and only won the one race at Kansas. Maybe the most telling stat was his meager 78 laps led. He led over 900 laps in each of the previous seasons.
Meanwhile McMurray celebrated his first win at Roush with five straight finishes of 30th or worse. That quickly dashed any visions of the #26 car making the Chase. McMurray has the talent to win at almost every track, but still struggles to simply run in the top ten on most weekends.
Ragan assumed the seat of the #6 car that Mark Martin had made legendary. After a surprise top 5 a Daytona, Ragan’s season was filled with several tough days. He “led” the tour with 22 crashes, according to USA Today.