Roush race cars charge to the front of the pack

DOVER, Del.— Few, if any, complained as vehemently about NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow as Jack Roush did.

The longtime Sprint Cup owner suggested last season that Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing had gained a considerable advantage with testing. He wondered if his team — Roush Fenway Racing — could regain its competitive edge.

He's no longer wondering.

On Sunday, Roush watched as his team of drivers — Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Jamie McMurray — all led the Camping World RV 400 at Dover International Speedway.

Roush, too, watched with angst as Biffle and Kenseth rubbed paint off each other's cars as they raced side-by-side during the final 25 laps at the Monster Mile, disrupting Rouish's already unsteady heartbeat.

"I hyperventilated," Roush said. "I really need to have a paper bag to put my head in and not take in all this oxygen that was making me crazy.

"It's hard not to lose your mind when you have as many opportunities as there are with the multiple cars to be involved in something that's just going to break your heart, just holding your breath, breathing too fast — both at the same time — as you watch it unfold."

In the end, Biffle pulled away and took the checkered flag nearly a second ahead of Kenseth and Edwards. Only then could Roush breathe easy.

Biffle has won both Chase events — the Dover race and the postseason opener at Loudon, N.H. That vaulted him from the bottom of the 12-driver postseason roster into a tie for second with two-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. Edwards holds a fragile 10-point lead on those two.

"I'm obliged to be on the winning pit box whenever the checkered flag comes out," Roush said. "I was really in a quandary of what I should do. I've been pretty lucky in making my move when it counted in the past.

"I've never been on the wrong pit box when one of my cars won. Greg kept it out of trouble, and ran clean until he was able to get the track position figured out. He did what he needed to win the race."

Biffle's victory gave Roush Fenway a combined eight wins — three more than Hendrick Motorsports and six more than RCR. Roush may not be totally sold on the Car of Tomorrow, but he is no longer complaining.

"The Car of Tomorrow is working well," Roush said. "It bodes well for having close competition.

"We know how to use the tests to our advantage. Our test sessions at the racetracks are not like prequalifying sesssions."

Now, Roush's drivers will head to racetracks he figures favor his drivers. Edwards and Biffle are expecting to get out of Kansas this Sunday sitting 1-2 in the Chase standing.

Biffle won in Kansas last year. However, Edwards crashed on Lap 182 to finish 37th to dash his title hoops.

"We think we're ready to go to the one-and-half-mile tracks and race," Roush said. "We were confident that we would make a good showing at Dover.

"We were apprehensive about Loudon. The same apprehension flows to some extent, in my mind, to Phoenix and certainly to Martinsville. We'll, at least, be able to maintain and win some more races."

Even though his top three drivers — Edwards, Biffle and Kenseth — are in championship contention, Roush seemed most pleased with the effort by McMurray and his crew on Sunday.

"The best car we had may have been [McMurray]," Roush said. "Of course, he got tangled up in a wreck early on." McMurray finished 36th.

"Matt, Carl and Jamie, they all like to be up in the gas. They're extraordinarily brave. If we behind the scenes get the car where it will do what it might, they're the guys to close the deal."

Right now — with two Chase races down and eight to go — it's Biffle playing the role of closer.

Ralph N. Paulk is a staff writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.