Memorable Manufactures: Jack Roush

Memorable Manufactures:

Jack Roush Biography

Born in Covington, Ky., in 1942, Jack Ernest Roush was always interested in finding out what made things tick. He received his mathematics degree with a minor in physics from Berea College in 1964 and moved to Detroit to work for the Ford Motor Company that same year.
While working for Ford, Roush was drawn to the company’s extensive motorsports activities, and in 1966 joined a group of fellow racing enthusiasts called “The Fastbacks.” After leaving Ford, he partnered with Wayne Gapp in 1970 in a racing venture that would see the duo attract national attention by winning many national events and one championship each in NHRA, IHRA and AHRA with their Pro Stock race cars. He went on to earn his Master’s Degree in Mathematics from Eastern Michigan University in 1970.

In 1976, Roush formed Jack Roush Performance Engineering. His success on the track, combined with his reputation as a performance engineer helped his young business thrive, and although he stopped operating a race team in the late 1970′s, his company stayed well entrenched in the sport; building engines for other teams into the early 1980’s.

In 1984, with Ford’s encouragement, Roush returned to racing in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) road racing series. He went on to claim 24 national championships and titles in the two series, including 12 manufacturer’s championships, winning 119 races, while working with acclaimed drivers such as Tommy Kendall, Scott Pruett, Willy T. Ribbs, and many others. Roush also captured 10 consecutive sedan class championships at the prestigious 24 Hours of Daytona, teaming with drivers such as Kendall, Pruett, Mark Martin, Bill Elliot, Ricky Rudd and Kyle Petty, as well as actor Paul Newman and Olympic star Bruce Jenner.

In 1988, again with Ford’s encouragement, Roush launched his first NASCAR Cup team with driver Mark Martin. In October 1989, Roush and Martin claimed their first NASCAR Cup victory at North Carolina Motor Speedway (the first of 121 to date). The two would go on to form one of the most successful partnerships in NASCAR history.

Roush joined forces with Robert and Doug Yates to form Roush Yates Engines in 2005. The engine shop, located in Mooresville, N.C., supplies horsepower for Roush Fenway Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports and many other Ford teams in racing Sprint Cup, Nationwide, Truck and the ARCA Series.

Roush was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame on April 27, 2006.  In 2008, Roush was elected to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame and was inducted on Septepember 13, 2010, in Novi.

In 2007, Roush Racing and Fenway Sports Group (FSG) announced the formation of Roush Fenway Racing, an unprecedented relationship that brought together two championship organizations with a distinguished track record of success in their respective businesses and sports.

As of January 2012, Roush Fenway has won 5 Driver Championships across NASCAR’s three premier series. The win totals are 50 for truck, 124 for Nationwide, and 125 for Sprint Cup, bringing the grand total to 299. In 2010 Roush Fenway Racing turned its one millionth mile in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup series. 2012 got off to a great start with Roush Fenway celebrating the beginning of its 25th year in NASCAR by racking up its 300 NASCAR victory as Matt Kenseth won his second prestigious Daytona 500 event in February.
In total, 15 different drivers have driven Roush Fenway Ford cars and trucks into NASCAR’s victory lanes during its first 24 years.

THE COMPANY

Jack Roush is the founder, CEO, and co-owner of Roush Fenway Racing, a NASCAR team headquartered inConcord, North Carolina, and is Chairman of the Board of ROUSH Industries, Inc., which employs more than 3,000 people and operates more than 50 facilities in multiple states and globally. Although primarily known for providing engineering, management and prototype services to the transportation industry, Roush has developed a significant role in providing engineering and manufacturing for the electronics, sports equipment, aviation and motorsports industries as well.

ROUSH Industries is a Tier One supplier of fully integrated engineering and development support services to the worldwide automotive industry.

ROUSH Performance sells a variety of vehicles, parts, and high-performance crate engines. Perhaps best known for the line of upfitted Ford Mustangs, they have more than 16,000 vehicles on the roads today. Typical improvements on the base chassis include appearance packages (body kit, wheels, etc.), suspension and handling upgrades, and horsepower boosts through the use of a ROUSHcharger supercharger system. ROUSH Performance sells versions of their Mustang with as much as 675 horsepower and 510 lb-ft of torque.The company has a line of more than 1,500 high-performance parts that fit a variety of vehicles including the Mustang, F-150, Focus and others. The crate engines can be customized per owner preference and are the choice of many hot rod and Cobra replicar builders such as Chip Foose, Roy Brizio, and Superformance.

ROUSH Manufacturing accordingly provides prototype and production parts, tooling and paint services.

ROUSH CleanTech designs, engineers, manufactures and installs propane autogas fuel systems for Ford vehicles and Blue Bird school buses.
Roush has expanded into offering propane-autogas-fueled vehicles designed for fleet usage.The company product offerings include propane autogas fuel system technology for light light- and medium-duty Ford commercial vehicles, and Type A and Type C Blue Bird Corporation school buses. Most vehicle kits offer multiple tank configurations.
Propane autogas is a domestically produced alternative fuel which costs less than conventional fuels. Over the past 30 years, propane autogas has cost, on average, 30 percent less than gasoline and 40 percent less than diesel. More than 90 percent is produced in the U.S. (and an additional 7 percent from Canada), which lessens American dependency on foreign oil. The fuel burns substantially cleaner than gasoline or diesel. ROUSH CleanTech’s propane-autogas-fueled vehicles have the same horsepower, torque and towing capacity as their gasoline-powered equivalent so there is no loss of vehicle functionality. Ford’s factory warranty remains intact on the ROUSH CleanTech vehicles.
Across the nation, companies such as DISH, SuperShuttle, ThyssenKrupp Elevator and hundreds of school districts have experienced reduced fuel and operating costs while lowering their carbon footprint with propane autogas vehicles.

CURIOUSITY AND FACTS ABOUT JACK ROUSH:

– THE CAT IN THE HAT: Rarely seen without his trademark Panama hat, Roush is known on the NASCAR circuit as “The Cat in the Hat”.

– OPPOSITION TO TOYOTA: Throughout his NASCAR career Jack Roush is an outspoken opponent of Toyota’s NASCAR operations . One time in 2003 when asked for a reaction to Toyota’s interests in joining NASCAR as a manufacturer team, Roush compared it to Pearl Harbor and called them “Ankle-biting chihuahuas.” In 2007 Jack Roush entered a verbal feud with Toyota team leader Lee White during the Toyota controversy following the Rocket Fuel incident. Though he and White are close friends & former business partners , Roush and White have been seen exchanging verbal words in media conferences. Later Jack Roush almost sued Toyota accusing the Toyota teams (Joe Gibbs Racing, & Michael Waltrip Racing) of stealing some of his car parts.

– PLANE CRASHES: On April 20, 2002, and On July 27, 2010, Jack Roush had plane crashes. Luckily for all the automotive fans, this gentlemen is strong as a rock.

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