Archive for January, 2018

DRIVERS SHOWCASE MUSTANG HORSEPOWER AT ROAR BEFORE THE ROLEX 24

Posted on: January 9th, 2018
Location: post

DAYTONA, FL, January 9, 2018 – The Ford Mustang GT4s made their 2018 debut this past weekend at the Roar Before the Rolex 24. Ford NASCAR drivers Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Cole Custer and Ty Majeski got their first chance to jump behind the wheel of the Mustang GT4 to prepare for the upcoming Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race on January 26th.

No. 15 – Drivers: Scott Maxwell / Cole Custer / Ty Majeski

No. 22 – Drivers: Austin Cindric / Chase Briscoe

No. 8 – Drivers: Chad McCumbee / Patrick Gallagher

No. 59 – Drivers: Jack Roush Jr. / Joey Atterbury

No. 80 – Drivers: Martin Barkey / Brett Sanderg

Rounding out the Ford Mustang GT4 drivers will be Nate Stacy / Kyle Marcelli in the No. 60 and Alan Brynjolfsson / Trent Hindman in the No. 7.

 

*Photos Courtesy of Ford Performance

FORD GT SECURES PIT SELECTION FOR ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA

Posted on: January 9th, 2018
Location: post

DAYTONA, FL, January 9, 2018  –The Roar Before the Rolex 24 added a new twist to the event for the 2018 IMSA season. A special qualifying round happened this past Sunday morning that determined the order of choice for garage and pit selection for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The No. 66 Ford GT of Joey Hand /Dirk Müller / Sébastien Bourdais won the event and locked in the first selection, while teammates Ryan Briscoe / Richard Westbrook / Scott Dixon drivers of the No. 67 secured the third selection in the process.

Tune in January 27th, 2018 for the Rolex 24 At Daytona as Ford Chip Ganassi Racing goes for the back-to-back wins in this.

*Photos Courtesy of Ford Performance

2018 NASCAR HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE | ROBERT YATES

Posted on: January 18th, 2018
Location: post

ROBERT YATES | A LEGEND

 Career Highlights:

  • NASCAR Championship Team Owner for Dale Jarrett- 1999
  • Premier NASCAR Engine Builder with 77 wins – 1967-1988
  • NASCAR Championship Engine Builder with Bobby Allison – 1983
  • NASCAR Engine Builder for Richard Petty’s 199th and 200th win
  • Daytona 500 Engine Builder and NASCAR Team Owner- 1969, 1982, 1992, 1996, 2000
  • 3 time Winning Daytona 500 NASCAR Team Owner – 1992, 1996, 2000
  • 2 time Winning Brickyard 400 NASCAR Team Owner – 1996, 1999
  • 57 Wins and 48 Poles as a NASCAR Team Owner

Awards:

  • Recipient of the Bill France Award of Excellence – 2000
  • Recipient of the Buddy Shuman Award for lifetime achievement in NASCAR – 2007
  • Recipient of the Bruton Smith Legends Award – 2010
  • Inducted into NASCAR Auto Racing Hall of Fame
  • Inducted into NMPA Hall of Fame 2010
  • NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee – Class of 2018

Robert Yates worked in the sport of stock car racing for nearly 40 years building a legendary career, becoming part of  NASCAR history along the way. The Yates name became synonymous with “Speed” and “Horsepower”.

For four decades, Yates was one of NASCAR’s premier engine builders, officially becoming a NASCAR owner by opening Robert Yates Racing (RYR) in 1988. In 2004, Yates and Jack Roush decided to team up and forge a partnership to form Roush Yates Engines, becoming Ford’s exclusive engine builder for their NASCAR teams. In 2007 Yates retired from racing, but continued his involvement in Roush Yates Engines. A new business venture brought Yates out of retirement in 2010 and back to NASCAR to form Robert Yates Racing Engines. The company was named the exclusive North American provider of the NASCAR-Approved Spec Engines.

Robert’s fingerprints have left an unforgettable impression on millions of fans and thousands of colleagues in and around the sport of racing. His career as master engine builder,  championship car owner and mentor was his passion.

Being inducted into the Class of 2018 NASCAR Hall of Fame was a lifetime achievement for Robert and the Yates Family. He will always be remembered for delivering the legendary “Yates Horsepower”!

MAHLE AND ROUSH YATES ENGINES EXTEND LONG STANDING PARTNERSHIP

Posted on: January 23rd, 2018
Location: post

MOORESVILLE, NC, January 23, 2018 – Roush Yates Engines announced today that it has reached an extension agreement with longtime partner MAHLE. These two powerhouses continue to build upon their strong 14-year relationship.

“MAHLE has been with us since the beginning,” said Doug Yates, President & CEO, Roush Yates Engines. “We have collaborated on numerous projects over the past 14 years, developing the best products and results in the industry. MAHLE always strives to be the best in the industry making them a very valuable partner to Roush Yates Engines.”

The strong alliance between Roush Yates Engines and MAHLE was formed in 2004. They have been a vital contributor to the design and development of all Roush Yates Engines’ products. With the help of companies like MAHLE our engine packages are developed to maximize horsepower and efficiency with exceptionally reliable under the harshest of conditions.

Today, MAHLE products are an integral part of the Ford FR9 V8 NASCAR race engine, twin-turbo Ford EcoBoost V6 and Ford Mustang 5.2L V8 road race engine, as well as the Roush Yates Engines RY45 V8 purpose built engine. MAHLE parts were essential in powering key Roush Yates Engines’ wins last year in NASCAR and Road Racing, including the 2017 Rolex 24 At Daytona with the No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing team of Joey Hand, Dirk Müller and Sébastien Bourdais.

“MAHLE’s focus on quality is evident in all their products we receive,” noted Brett Manwill, Reliability Manager, Roush Yates Engines. “MAHLE has leveraged their experience making millions of parts each year to develop processes and procedures to ensure that every product that we receive is exactly what we expect. This quality is critical to ensure that each engine we build performs as intended and provides our race teams the power, performance, and reliability on race day. MAHLE products are the total package. They deliver ultimate performance, consistent quality and dependability.”

“The relationship we continue to maintain with everyone at Roush Yates Engines is very special to us, and remains one of the longest running partnerships we have in the sport,” commented Jon Douglas, President of MAHLE Aftermarket Inc.  Although these two companies officially only go back to 2004, the relationship dates much further back to the days when Robert was tearing up tracks as an engine builder and owner on his way to the NASCAR Hall of Fame. We are both committed to quality, technology, and innovation; and we look toward many years of success together.”

About MAHLE  
MAHLE, located in Farmington Hills, Michigan is a leading international development partner and supplier to the automotive industry. With its products for combustion engines and their peripherals as well as solutions for electric vehicles, the group addresses all the crucial issues related to the powertrain and air conditioning technology—from engine systems and components to filtration to thermal management.

For our customers, quality means failure-free assembly, satisfied end customers, no product recalls—and thus a strong brand. For MAHLE, quality is a significant factor in our global success. Quality management is fully integrated into all business processes. We have developed an in-house Group standard for quality planning and controlling. Learn more about MAHLE at http://www.us.mahle.com/.

FORD GT4 DRIVERS ARE READY FOR DAYTONA

Posted on: January 24th, 2018
Location: post

MOORESVILLE, NC, January 24, 2018 – After getting valuable seat time in their Ford Mustang GT4s for the first time at the Roar Before the Rolex 24 earlier this month, Ford Performance’s young NASCAR cross-over drivers, Chase Briscoe, Cole Custer, Ty Majeski and Austin Cindric will see what they can do together in the four-hour Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge’s BMW Endurance Challenge at Daytona International Speedway Jan. 26, 2018.

It was recently announced that Briscoe, a Ford Performance Development driver, Cindric and Majeski will share the full-time No. 60 Roush Fenway-prepared Mustang in the NASCAR XFINITY series in 2018, in collaboration with Team Penske and Ford Performance. Ford is in the midst of a youth movement and is giving drivers vital experience in different cars and tracks to build their skill overall. Included in this for three of the four was time in the Ford Performance simulator near Charlotte, N.C.

Both the No. 22 of Cindric and Briscoe and No. 15 of sportscar veteran Scott Maxwell, Custer and Majeski ran strong at the Roar as Cindric, who will also race in a prototype during the weekend, and Maxwell dished out advice on eeking every tenth out of a corner, doing successful driver changes, as well as explaining the difference in lingo between NASCAR (“garage”) and IMSA (“paddock”).

CHASE BRISCOE – “It’s been huge just being a Ford development driver, all the way from the NASCAR stuff and now the road course stuff, even production car development. The stuff I’m able to do is pretty remarkable. To get a shot to do sports car racing…growing up being a sprint car driver, I never thought in a million years I’d get to do this. It’s awesome. I’m really enjoying it so far. The biggest difference is (the course layout), but the car just drives so much different. There’s a couple similarities but not a ton, so as a driver it’s really neat to get the chance to be a little more versatile. The chance to compete over here is going to be huge, I think, down the line on my career path. I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is how much one mistake can cost a whole entire lap. On the road course stuff, you have to be so technical and really precise. One screw-up can affect so many other things. If you screw up one corner that leads onto a long straightaway, that costs you two or three seconds. That’s been the biggest thing. You just have to minimize mistakes. On the NASCAR side, if you make a mistake, it costs a tenth or two. Here it costs so much more.”

AUSTIN CINDRIC – “If there was a set list of what I could tell these guys to do to be successful, I would’ve given it to them (laughs). These guys all come from varied backgrounds. We all meet together in stock car racing, but for me, it’s kind of enlightening, because I get to see sportscar racing from a different perspective. It’s like meeting someone from a different culture and seeing how they understand life. It relates to racing in how things are described differently; how things are looked at. It keeps me open-minded towards what I do and makes me think about things. I’ve learned just from listening to questions, so that’s been a fun thing to experience. I’ve done some driver coaching in the past in similar race series, more to network than anything else, and this is kind of my first role within a team where I’ve had the most experience or back to experience something I’ve done before. I think we all see the potential for both cars to run well and be on the podium. Mustangs have always run well at Daytona, but I think this lineup is going to be really strong because every single driver in these cars are race car drivers. I think all of us are going to be able to put it to the big programs. Multimatic and Ford did an amazing job with this car, and I don’t mean to be dramatic at all. It does everything a driver would want it to do. You can put it where you want to put it and you can drive it how you want to drive it. I was up to speed within three laps. I was happy; I felt comfortable. I’m excited to be in the car because there’s a smile on your face every time you go around. That’s a credit to the guys who developed it.”

COLE CUSTER – “It’s been interesting. It’s been a learning experience, but it’s been fun. I definitely got a lot of help from Scott Maxwell and Austin. It’s been made easy on us. Multimatic brought great cars to the race track. I’ve done road course racing on the NASCAR side, but this is definitely a different world. It’s hard to get used to. It’s hard to get used to the driver changes, because we’ve never done anything like that before. Just getting to know everyone is really awesome.”

TY MAJESKI – “The Mustang GT4 is fun to drive, it’s just a lot different from what I’m used to, not only from getting acclimated to road racing in general, but getting used to a race car with ABS brakes and traction control. Stuff I have no experience with. It’s been fun to lean on Scott Maxwell, my teammate. He’s obviously had a lot of experience doing this and he’s been a lot of help to all us drivers. I’m looking forward to learning as much as I can. I’ve raced with Chase and Cole a little bit, but not much, only a few races. The Roar gave us the chance to bond a little bit, get to know each other, since we’ll probably be teammates in the Ford camp for years to come. Driver changes are something we’ll have to get used to. It gives you another set of eyes on the car and another opinion on the car and what we can do to be faster, another guy to compare data off of. All-in-all it’ll help all of us. Of course, there’s always internal competitions. We always want to be the faster driver, but having co-drivers will push us a little harder to be better as well.”

SCOTT MAXWELL – “The first day at Roar was more of an exposure day for them, just giving them time to figure things out and gathering as much data on what they’re doing. Then we applied it on day two. Chase would be the best example, because he had the most track time early on, other than Austin, who already has quite a bit of sports car racing experience and is racing in a prototype at Daytona as well. Chase totally changed his style overnight and found two seconds and is now right on pace. We’ll do the same with the others, work on the areas we’ve pinpointed, and they’ll be fine. There’s so much natural talent there and speed’s never an issue, it’s just getting it out of them and showing them how to use it in a road racing style.

In partnership with Ford Performance, Roush Yates Engines will provide the power under the hoods of the Ford Mustang GT4s with the Mustang 5.2L V8 engine.

*Courtesy of Ford Performance

 

STARRETT AND ROUSH YATES ENGINES RENEW PARTNERSHIP

Posted on: January 25th, 2018
Location: post

MOORESVILLE, NC, January 25, 2018 – Roush Yates Engines and L.S. Starrett Co. are pleased to announce they have reached a partnership extension.

Starrett precision measuring solutions provides the Roush Yates Engines’ team with premier measuring and inspection tools required in the fast paced and competitive world of motorsports.

“Starrett is bar none the premier metrology instruments and measuring tool manufacturer,” said Todd English, VP Business Development, Roush Yates Engines. “We rely on their high standards of workmanship and quality every day on and off the track. We are excited for the opportunity to grow and expand this valued partnership and look forward to taking it to the next level.”

Starrett has been a trusted and valued supplier of Roush Yates Engines’ since 2003 and became an official Roush Yates Engines’ partner in 2016. They have been an integral part of over 14 Championships, 312 Wins and 282 Poles with Roush Yates Engines, proving that precision and repeatability are vital for winning results.

We utilize the Starrett product line because they are a trusted, made in America, industry leader in metrology equipment,” said Chad Johnson, QA Manager, Roush Yates Engines. “The name alone speaks for itself in the machining world. In order to produce the best product, we use the best equipment.”

Their shared commitment to quality ensures a continued level of excellence that is expected from a world class organization.

“Being technical partners with Roush Yates Engines has been a significant win for Starrett,” commented James B. Taylor, Ph.D., VP of Operations, L.S. Starrett Co. “As with any true partnership, both parties were able to bring expertise and relationships to the table to be leveraged in a synergistic way. Starrett’s metrology expertise helped win the 2017 Daytona 500 and keep Roush Yates Engines making lots of steam! RYE networked Starrett into an entire industry and helped develop B2B relationships that continue to bear fruit. We look forward to continuing to win in business as well as on the track.”

About L.S. Starrett Co. (NYSE: SCX):  
The L.S. Starrett Co. was founded in 1880, in Athol, Massachusetts. Starrett, a leader who has set the standard for fine precision tools in the industry for over 130 years, has rightfully earned the title, “World’s Greatest Toolmakers”.

Manufacturing more than 5,000 variations of precision tools, gauges, measuring instruments and saw blades for industrial, professional and consumer markets worldwide. Starrett operates sixteen manufacturing locations worldwide with six in the United States.
For more information about L.S. Starrett visit http://www.starrett.com.

VIDEO | IT IS TIME – ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA

Posted on: January 26th, 2018
Location: post

MOORESVILLE, NC, January 26, 2018 –

The 2018 IMSA season kick off is this weekend at Daytona International Speedway with the running of the 56th annual Rolex 24 At Daytona race.

IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge (ICTSC) – Friday, January 26th – 1:00pm to 5:00pm ET.

IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship (IWSC) – Saturday, January 27th – 2:40pm ET to January 28th – 2:40pm ET.

 

FORD GT WINS BACK-TO-BACK ROLEX 24 RACES

Posted on: January 29th, 2018
Location: post

DAYTONA BEACH, FL, January 29, 2018 – It was a 1-2 finish for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing at the 56thrunning of the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Teammates Ryan Briscoe*, Richard Westbrook and Scott Dixon drove the No. 67 across the finish line, recording back-to-back wins for the Ford GT and delivering the 200th win to team owner Chip Ganassi. The No. 66 sister-car with drivers Joey Hand*, Dirk Müller and Sébastien Bourdais (2017 Rolex 24 At Daytona winners) secured a second place podium finish in this year’s season opener.
“Both teams ran an exceptional race,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “Congratulations to Chip and Ford Performance, they put together a great team and race strategy for the weekend. It’s an honor to partner and work with Ford Performance on the Ford EcoBoost V6 program and power Chip’s 200th win. To win an endurance race of this length two years in a row takes an extraordinary team effort and I’m so proud of the entire Ford team.”
This win marked Chip Ganassi’s historic 200th win; 103 Indy Car, 56 Sportscar, 39 Stock Car and 2 Rally Car wins, exemplifying his legendary career in motorsports. “Congratulations Chip,” from all of us at Roush Yates Engines.

“It’s obviously a great win and a great weekend,” Ganassi said. “In terms of the win, it was one of the most nerve-wracking races. You know, when you come out of the blocks like that and leading it after about three or four hours or something. After a certain amount of hours go around the clock a little bit, it’s your race to lose. It’s one thing not to win a race, it’s another to lose it. It was our race to lose and those are one of the worst races from my point of view, because everything is out of my control. My hats off to the team, the drivers, the engineers, the mechanics, the people that build the engines, and the people who built the cars. They’re the ones that deserve to be sitting up here along with the drivers and myself.”

The direct injection, 3.6L, twin-turbo Ford EcoBoost V6 race engines performed superbly during the 24-hour endurance race, completing a record 2,787.48 miles (783 laps x 3.56-mile circuit) each. The No. 67 and No. 66 each completed 783 race laps, surpassing the previous 719 lap (3.84-mile circuit, 2,760.96 miles) record for the race.

All Ford entries who competed during the IMSA weekend bore a special decal for Ford racing legend Dan Gurney, who died Jan. 14, 2018. The serial number on the winning Ford EcoBoost engine was “GT40.”

The Roush Yates Engines’ Calibration Engineers Craig Ashmore, Charles Vogel and Adam McMaster, alongside Ford Performance teammates monitored the engines, adjusted calibration mapping and traction control inputs in order to maximize the power and performance of the Ford EcoBoost throughout the challenging endurance race.

“This win was a complete team effort,” commented Wade Riesterer, Technical Manager of Road Racing for Roush Yates Engines.

The Ford Mustang GT4 entries also had a successful weekend in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge GS class with NASCAR development drivers adapting quickly to their first IMSA endurance sports car race. The No. 15 Cole Custer, Ty Majeski and veteran champion driver Scott Maxwell claimed their first podium, finishing third overall. The podium was the sixth overall for the Mustang GT4 in the Continental Tire series since Ford debuted the car at Daytona last January.

This past weekend’s results provide momentum to Ford Chip Ganassi Racing as they head into the Twelve Hours of Sebring. The next IMSA race will be held at Sebring International Raceway, March 14 – 17.

14 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 313 WINS – 282 POLES!

 

*Photos Courtesy of Ford Performance

 

JACK ROUSH RECEIVES THE PRESTIGIOUS NCMA ‘ACHIEVEMENT IN MOTORSPORTS TRIBUTE AWARD’

Posted on: January 31st, 2018
Location: post

CONCORD, NC, January, 30, 2018 – Racing legend and entrepreneurial pioneer Jack Roush received the prestigious Achievement in Motorsports Tribute Award by the North Carolina Motorsports Association (NCMA) during the 12th Annual Awards Ceremony presented by Fifth Third Bank.

“Jack Roush’s contributions to motorsports are immeasurable and for 30 years, Roush Fenway Racing has been the standard in innovation and performance,” said NCMA Chairman Greg Fornelli. “When you look at his innovations, his record of success and his impact on the sport of auto racing, Jack Roush is the epitome of achievement in motorsports and we look forward to celebrating his amazing career on our biggest night.”

Roush, who founded Roush Fenway Racing in the late eighties, is the winningest car owner in NASCAR history. The Covington, KY native started his NASCAR career in 1988 and has amassed eight championships across NASCAR’s three main major series, including two in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS), five in the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) and one in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) with drivers Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Chris Buescher and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Overall, Roush has earned a NASCAR-record 325 wins – including two Daytona 500 victories – 1,456 top-five finishes, 2,566 top-10 finishes, 232 poles, 67,783 laps led and has an average finish of 14.1 in 5,878 career NASCAR starts.

Roush’s multi-car efficiency of scale model become one of the most successful in NASCAR history, with his organization placing an unprecedented five teams in the 2005 10-team ‘Chase’, after coming off back-to-back Sprint Cup Championships in 2003 and 2004. Roush has also been recognized as one of the premier leaders in the garage in driver development, with Roush Fenway having led drivers to 13 NASCAR rookie of the year awards. All-in-all, 19 different drivers have celebrated in NASCAR victory lane with Roush and his teams.

The Roush Fenway organization currently fields multiple teams in MENCS and the NXS with drivers Stenhouse, Trevor Bayne, Ryan Reed and Ford Development Drivers Chase Briscoe, Ty Majeski and Austin Cindric.

An engineer at heart, Roush has always employed a solutions-based approach, be it in competition, business or safety initiatives. He has been involved in numerous safety innovations, including the roof flaps designed to disrupt airflow and prevent cars from going airborne that now are standard equipment for all NASCAR racers.

Roush collaborated with Robert Yates and Ford Motor Company in 2003 to join forces as the exclusive Ford Engine builder for NASCAR. These two legendary engine builders, led by President & CEO Doug Yates helped turned Roush Yates Engines into an immediate success and to date has achieved over 300 combined wins in the NASCAR, IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) and FIA (Federation Internationale De L’Automobile) Series.

In addition, Roush owns Roush Industries, Inc., which employs more than 1,800 people and operates facilities in five states, as well as in Mexico and Great Britain. It is primarily known for providing engineering, management and prototype services to the transportation industry. Roush has also developed a significant role in engineering and manufacturing in the electronics, sports equipment, aviation and motorsports industries.

*Courtesy of Roush Fenway Racing