News Releases
Matt Kenseth 2009 Homestead-Miami Advance
The No. 17 DEWALT Team will look to close the 2009 season out the way they started by going to victory lane, as the team heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the season finale. The team finished no better than 19th and averaged a 30th-place finish in its first five trips to HMS. However after that Matt railed off three straight finishes of sixth or better, including a win in 2007! Check out all of Matt's statistics and thoughts on racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Ford 400
Homestead-Miami Speedway
2:30 pm ET on ABC
Click here to download the full preview (PDF format)
Roush Fenway Racing 2009 Homestead-Miami Advance
Roush Fenway Racing heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend for the final race of the 2009 season! Looking for a strong season ending performance, Roush Fenway Racing has won more races at Homestead-Miami than any other team with a total of six out of 10 races! A Roush Fenway Ford has won the Sprint Cup race during Ford Championship Weekend each year since 2005 for a record five consecutive races won! Check out all of Roush Fenway Racing drivers' statistics and thoughts on racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway!
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series:
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Ford 400
Homestead-Miami Speedway
2:30 pm ET on ABC
NASCAR Nationwide Series:
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Ford 300
Homestead-Miami Speedway
4:00 pm ET on ESPN2
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series:
Friday, November 20, 2009
Ford 200
Homestead-Miami Speedway
7:30 pm ET on Speed
Click here to download the full preview (PDF format)
Roush Fenway Looks to Bookend the 2009 Season with a Win
Concord, N.C. (November 17, 2009) – Hoping to finish as they started Roush Fenway Racing drivers are anxiously awaiting their return to Ford Championship weekend to try and cap off a season that began with Matt Kenseth’s win at the Daytona 500. The team’s success at the Homestead-Miami Speedway is un-paralleled with highlights that include six Sprint Cup wins in only 10 races at the track. That puts Roush Fenway at the top of the charts when it comes to wins at the track. It’s a record that three-time winner and driver of the No. 16 3M Ford, Greg Biffle are happy to brag about.
“It’s always been a good track for me and I’m pretty proud to have contributed half of those six wins,” said Biffle. “As for the team as a whole, I think that we hit on something there a few years ago and were able to just carry over the success. It’s also a driver’s track and we have some of the best drivers in the series.”
In addition to the team’s first win in 2002, Roush Fenway has won the Sprint Cup event there every year since 2004 for a record setting five straight years. Carl Edwards is the team’s most recent winner in 2008 when he claimed both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup race wins in the same weekend, the first driver to do so at Homestead-Miami. The team is looking for a repeat of the 2006 season when Roush Fenway Ford’s swept the entire weekend after Mark Martin claimed Friday’s Truck win, Kenseth captured Saturday’s Nationwide win, and Biffle garnered Sunday’s Cup win.
“It would mean a lot to me as a driver and to all the Ford fans that come down there for Championship weekend (to win Ford Championship weekend),” said No. 6 UPS driver David Ragan. “Hopefully a Ford can win all three races.”
To win all three races, Roush Fenway’s nine entries (five in Sprint Cup, three in Nationwide and one in the Truck Series) will have to masterfully circle the 1.5-mile oval from green to checker without incident. A challenge for sure, but definitely not impossible.
“Homestead is pretty cool,” said Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 DEWALT Ford. “It’s really unique with the way it’s built right now and the way the banking is and the elevation changes and all that stuff, so it’s pretty cool. They did a great job and spent the money and did the research and they weren’t scared to go out on a limb and build it like no other track.
“It's the only track we have that's that big that is a true oval without the dogleg, and the backstretch being higher than the front stretch, it makes all four corners a lot different, so it's a fun track I think the racing there is as good as anywhere now.”
Overall Roush Fenway has achieved six Sprint Cup wins, three Nationwide wins and one Truck Series win at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The team is known for their 1.5-mile expertise and this weekend should be no different.
“Our mile-and-a-half program is just very good,” said Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 26 Crown Royal Ford. “Homestead is just a place where if you’re able to find something that works for your car, it seems to carry over from year to year to year.”
It’s a storied history for the team under the palm trees of sunny Florida. One that they hope to continue as the season comes to a close during Ford Championship weekend this week.
About Roush Fenway Racing
Roush Fenway Racing is NASCAR’s largest team operating nine motorsports teams. Five in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with drivers Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; three in the Nationwide Series with Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards, McMurray, Ragan, Erik Darnell, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Colin Braun; and one in the Camping World Truck Series with Braun. For more information on any of the Roush Fenway Racing teams, log onto www.RoushFenway.com. For sponsorship inquiries please contact Robin Johnson at 704.720.4645.
Matt Kenseth 2009 NNS Homestead-Miami Advance
Matt is eager to get back to the track where he was first to see the checkered flag in 2006! Homestead-Miami Speedway is a track that the No. 16 team has only finished outside of the top-10 three times since 1997! Be sure and tune in on Saturday to see Matt and the No. 16 team battle for a win! Check out all of Matt's statistics and thoughts on racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Ford 300
Homestead-Miami Speedway
4:00 pm ET on ESPN2
Click here to download the full preview (PDF format)
Kenseth, No. 17 USG/DEWALT Team Finish 18th in Phoenix
Avondale, Ariz. (Nov. 15, 2009)– Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 USG/DEWALT team drove to an 18th-place finish in Sunday’s Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. The team was forced to overcome an accident midway through the race, before driving back to the top-20 finish.
“The guys did a great job all day on pit road and we were able to come back after that accident,” said Kenseth. “The car just really wasn’t fast enough today and that is pretty much what we had out there. We’ll take that and move on to Homestead next week, where hopefully we’ll be competitive.”
Kenseth was running in 20th position when he got caught up in a multi-car accident on lap 170 of the 312 lap event. The team was able to come down pit road and make repairs to the car. The car struggled on the run after the repairs, with Kenseth losing valuable ground and eventually going down a lap to the leader.
The team later opted to stay out under green longer than the remainder of the field, hoping for a caution to fall and gain track position. However, the caution never came and although Kenseth was able to lead four laps, he would lose valuable time to the leaders who had pitted earlier.
Late in the race the USG Ford would come back to post some of the fastest times on the track, but the damage was done and the team was forced to settle for the 18th-place finish, one lap down once the smoke had cleared and the checkered flag had waved.
Kenseth started the race 28th based on Friday’s qualifying effort. He was able to quickly move up to 23rd, but his USG Ford was ‘loose’ and he would settle back to 25th by lap 30. He eventually settled in 20th. The No. 17 over-the-wall crew was quick on the day, picking up positions on each of its five stops during the race.
The No. 17 team heads to South Florida next week for the series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where Kenseth has led 287 laps in the last two races. Kenseth and the team have finished inside the top-six in three of the last four at HMS, including a victory there in 2007.
Kenseth Struggles to Find Grip at Phoenix
Avondale, Ariz. (November 15, 2009) – The No. 16 team headed to Phoenix International Raceway this weekend as the track’s most recent NASCAR Nationwide Series winners. Greg Biffle took the CitiFinancial Ford Fusion to victory lane in the spring race and the Roush Fenway Racing team had hopes of a season sweep. The team had both a different driver and different luck this time around. Matt Kenseth was behind the wheel as the CitiFinancial crew struggled to find the winning setup. Kenseth showed signs of life toward the end of Saturday afternoon’s race but was never able to challenge for the win. The No. 16 Ford Fusion finished seventh, Kenseth’s ninth top-10 in 14 starts this season.
The CitiFinancial Ford Fusion rolled off 12th and Kenseth quickly voiced concern about the car’s handling. Under the first caution period just eight laps in, Kenseth told crew chief Eddie Pardue that he had “no grip” and was “all over the place.” The CitiFinancial Ford Fusion looked better at the end of a run and by lap 30 Kenseth was 10th and slowly moving forward. He was still complaining of having “zero grip” when the caution came out on lap 77 and Pardue brought the car in for the first stop of the day. The CitiFinancial crew gave Kenseth four fresh tires, air pressure and track bar adjustments and sent him back on the track running ninth.
Shortly after the restart Kenseth told the team that the car had gotten worse and he now had “no side bite at all.” The CitiFinancial Ford Fusion was back to 11th when another caution fell on lap 97. Kenseth needed major adjustments so Pardue brought him down pit road again. This time he got four tires, wedge, track bar and air pressure adjustments and restarted ninth. The changes were in the right direction but Kenseth told the team he was still struggling with front grip. The last stop of the day came under caution on lap 153. The CitiFinancial team gave Kenseth four tires and another air pressure adjustment. Kenseth restarted eighth with 44 laps remaining. The CitiFinancial Ford Fusion picked up one more spot before the checkered flag flew and Kenseth finished seventh.
“I’m really not sure what the problem was today,” said Kenseth. “The CitiFinancial Ford Fusion was really good right off the truck in first practice but it got worse and worse after that. The changes helped on the long run but these races are so short you have to get it right pretty quickly or you’re going to run out of time. The guys had another great day on pit road – they’ve been strong all year and I really appreciate that. It’s hard to believe there’s only one week left this year – these guys all want to end things on a high note so hopefully things go better in Homestead.”
About Roush Fenway Racing
Roush Fenway Racing operates nine full-time motorsports teams, five in NASCAR Sprint Cup with drivers Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; Three in the Nationwide Series with Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards, McMurray, Ragan, Erik Darnell, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Colin Braun; and one in the Camping World Truck Series with Braun. For more information on any of the Roush Fenway Racing teams, log onto www.RoushFenway.com. For sponsorship inquiries, please contact Robin Johnson at 704.720.4645.