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| Jack Roush's Racing Heritage |
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Jack Roush has always
been interested in finding out why and how things work. If there was anything
mechanical in the house, he would take it apart to see how it worked and reassemble
it. He was fascinated with engines and was determined to become an innovator.
 Born in
Covington, Ky., in 1942, Roush was raised in Manchester, Ohio, a town of 2,500
people. He attended Berea College and received a mathematics degree with a minor
in physics in 1964. He was recruited by Ford Motor Company that year and moved to
Detroit to work on the processing of car assembling and tooling. Roush had always
been fascinated with engines and was determined to work in that area. He then went
on to obtain a Master’s Degree in Scientific Mathematics from Eastern Michigan University
in 1970, which he felt was needed in order to move into the engine research and
development area.
While working for Ford, Roush was drawn to the company’s extensive motorsports
activities. Always the organizer, he soon surrounded himself with others who shared
his enthusiasm for going fast in a drag racer. Roush joined a group called "The
Fastbacks" in 1966.
Working for Ford provided steady income, but security and professional accomplishments were
no substitute for going faster than the last time, and faster than anybody else at the
race track. Roush left Ford in May of 1969 and began buying his own equipment to
improve the racing performance of "The Fastbacks." It was not long before he
was doing development work for other teams.
 Roush worked
at Chrysler as an engineer for one year before leaving in 1970 to start his own
engineering business. As "The Fastbacks" disbanded that year, Roush began his
next venture into racing by forming a partnership with Wayne Gapp. For the next five
years, the duo attracted national attention by winning events and one championship each in
NHRA, IHRA and AHRA with their Pro Stock racer.
Roush also spent some time teaching in between his racing ventures. He taught
mathematics, physics and a variety of automotive subjects at Monroe Community College in Monroe,
Mich., in 1971 and 1972.
Roush was involved exclusively in drag racing until 1978, and advanced in power classes to
the NHRA Pro Stock division. He also managed to find time to provide engines for race
teams in other sports, such as the Pike’s Peak Hill Climb and various powerboat and oval track
series.
In 1976, Roush ended his partnership with Gapp and formed Jack Roush Performance Engineering.
Roush’s success at the track and his reputation as a performance engineer helped deliver project
after project to his doorstep. He stopped operating the drag racing team, but kept doing
race business for other teams. Roush primarily built engines for other teams throughout the
early 1980’s.
In 1982 Roush formed a partnership with Zakspeed Racing to run GTX and GTP cars for Ford in the
United States. Zakspeed had much success racing in Europe and wanted to partner with Roush
for the US races. Some of their drivers included Kevin Cogan, Bobby Rahal and European
superstar Klaus Ludwig.
In 1984, Roush returned to competition in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and International
Motor Sports Association (IMSA) road racing series and a legend was born. In the first year,
he won the manufacturer's title for Lincoln-Mercury. Since then, Roush Racing has claimed 24
national championships and titles in the two series, including 12 manufacturer’s
championships. Some of the drivers who helped Roush achieve his 119 road racing victories are
Tommy Kendall, Wally Dallenbach, Jr., Scott Pruett, Willy T. Ribbs and former Craftsman Truck team
general manager, Max Jones.
Roush has also earned 10 consecutive 24 Hours of Daytona sedan class championships. Some of
the drivers who competed for Roush are Kendall, Dallenbach, Pruett, Mark Martin, Bill Elliott,
Ricky Rudd, Kyle Petty, Ken Schrader, Robby Gordon, Pete Halsmer, Lyn St. James, as well as actor
Paul Newman and Olympian Bruce Jenner.
 In 1988, Roush moved
south and expanded his racing business to include a NASCAR Winston Cup team
with driver Mark Martin. During the team’s inaugural season, Martin won one pole and earned
10 top-10 finishes. In October 1989, Roush and Martin claimed their first NASCAR Winston Cup
victory at North Carolina Motor Speedway.
Today, Roush has expanded his racing operations to include five Nextel Cup teams, one full season
and two limited-schedule Busch Series teams and two Craftsman Truck Series teams. In October
of 2004, Roush earned his 300th career win in the post-drag racing era as a team owner with
Kenseth’s Busch victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway. His engine facilities in Livonia, Mich.,
and Mooresville, N.C., also supply the horsepower for several other teams in Nextel Cup and Busch
Series racing, including Wood Brothers Racing.
Currently, ROUSH Industries, Inc. employs more than 1,800 people and operates facilities in five
states, as well as in Mexico and Great Britain. 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. |
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