Roush still challenging NASCAR, going to bat for team

Mike Brudenell | USA TODAY Sports

BROOKLYN, Mich. — They say a cat has nine lives.

Well, Jack Roush, known in NASCAR circles as the Cat in the Hat, makes the average kitty's existence look mundane.

Roush, one of racing's elder statesmen, has packed more living into his 71 years than the NASCAR garage as a whole.

The veteran Northville team owner has survived plane crashes and drag-racing wrecks, has flown jets and World War II fighters and has built an automotive supply empire in Livonia to emerge as one of the sport's most endearing and enduring characters.

He didn't let anyone down, particularly a few racing writers, at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, either.

Despite stories he is slowing down and will hand over his day-to-day duties to others, Roush took time to wave to fans, sign autographs and go to bat for his Roush Fenway Racing team and Ford Racing as a whole before the Pure Michigan 400 Sprint Cup event started.

The race was won by Penske Racing's Joey Logano in a Ford, with Roush's drivers Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finishing ninth, 10th and 19th, respectively.

On his way from the drivers' meeting before the race, Roush stopped to talk to a handful of local media and, as usual, he left nothing much on the table.

When asked about RFR — and other Ford-backed teams — playing catch-up to seemingly faster and better-handling Chevrolets and Toyotas at the beginning of the year, Roush pulled few punches in blaming himself and challenging NASCAR to address some of the problems associated with the new Gen 6 Ford Cup car's apparent lack of downforce as compared with Chevy and Toyota models.

It was classic Roush on the offense, but being honest and just within the bounds of not ripping on someone.

"Most of us, I shouldn't say that, my organization, anyway, thought that downforce on the Gen 6 wasn't going to be an issue, that we needed to work on center of gravity of the car, that we needed to work on the engine really hard, that we needed to work on the ... front suspension and that downforce was really an abundance," Roush said.

Roush paused and directed his next sentence at NASCAR, based on Ford submitting its Gen 6 car first to the sanctioning body, and Chevy and Toyota having more time to develop their process.

"Turns out that NASCAR had allowed that there was some consideration for some of the teams and manufacturers to do some serious underbody mods (modifications) to make the downforce even more," he continued.

Roush said he was surprised by that, but he took some responsibility, too, for not reacting sooner to his Fords being off the pace at the beginning of the season.

"I fault the lack of dominant performance in my organization with the assessment that we made of the relevant importance of additional downforce investigations," said Roush, who has never been one to duck blame.

As Roush and the media group in the garage area at MIS had to sidestep one of the race cars being pushed to pit lane, Roush continued by saying RFR had stepped up its game.

"We have made as an organization significant inroads and have improved the car (downforce-wise)," Roush said.

But he didn't dance around the fact he wanted NASCAR to look at the situation regardless.

"If you want to know where the relative stack up is between manufacturers, you take two cars from each manufacturer off the racetrack that are in good shape and don't have damage on them and you could take them to an independent wind tunnel — and not a manufacturer's wind tunnel — and see what you've got. I'd like to see that."

Roush refused to blatantly slam NASCAR for his cars' early-season gremlins — they have come on like gangbusters of late — but he urged some measurement of downforce.

"I hold my criticism of NASCAR and my assessment of where we are with regards to the other manufacturers until we get that data point," he said.

Roush said NASCAR "had made no indication that they would do that (wind-tunnel test). But I would very much like them to."

Roush said he believes NASCAR really doesn't want to discover, as he puts it, "that Ford is disadvantaged."

He added: "I don't think they want to introduce a reason why one manufacturer would scream foul."

Despite it all, Roush said RFR had and was still making gains in the car.

"I was off the mark for a while, but we are making significant gains," admitted Roush.

He also had time for a bit of humor before heading to his hauler.

"The fear is — and the reason I've not been outspoken about it (downforce) — is that (they) would go do the test and they'd find out that the Ford is not disadvantaged at all," he said with a grin.

Jack Roush — playing cat and mouse again.

Mike Budenell writes for the Detroit Free Press, a Gannett affiliate.