Greg Biifle won at Pocono last summer and Carl Edwards won the final two races of the season in 2010. Edwards finished second in Daytona and for the first five races of the season could have won every race.
Meanwhile, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle and David Ragan had fast race cars just the results weren’t there.
For Roush Fenway racing after nearly two years of working on a brand new engine program, adjusting to the cars 2011 has been a comeback yea r for the organization.
Ragan earned his first career pole at Texas Motor Speedway while Kenseth scored his first win in two years Saturday night.
To say that RFR is the organization to beat right now is a understatement.
Heading into 2011 much of the talk surrounded Richard Childress Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing as the organizations to bring down the powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports and Jimmie Johnson.
Not many expected RFR to compete or out run these two organizations early on in the season.
Owner Jack Roush says this offseason was exactly what they needed from a equipment standpoint. "I am really proud of what we have been able to do in 2011," Roush Fenway Racing owner Jack Roush told reporters Sunday in Texas. "We tuned up our engine with Ford's help over the winter and got a new Ford nose [for the car]. Everybody got a new nose this year, but our new nose is better than our old nose and we have our FR-9 engine up to speed. All of that is going well."
Yes, RFR’s early season speed can be linked to an improved engine package and nose package but it takes the drivers and the teams to put it all together.
Changes from those at the track to back in the shop in the off season have helped lead this this organization back into the title picture.
Roush changes weren’t highly published like HMS’s changes but they were subtle and now the pieces are coming together and all the teams are benefiting.
Edwards who won at LVMS earlier this season knows that right now this organization is hitting on all cylinders. "We are coming out of here with the points lead and with a teammate in Victory Lane, so it has been a good trip to Texas for us," Edwards said. "I was a little nervous after Martinsville and we talked about that. We came here and ran like we did at Vegas and there were times all the Roush cars were right there. Our cars are good right now and we are enjoying it. We just have to keep it going."
Keeping it going will be important and that means the continued development of Ragan who in recent weeks has flexed his muscles with solid qualifying efforts and solid results to follow.
It’s too early in the season to say that RFR will be the ones to knock HMS off the top.
Or that they will struggle but for now these teams and organization are the only ones in NASCAR with two drivers from their stable with wins.
Kenseth and Edwards early season wins and Biffle and Ragan’s solid runs in recent weeks could lead to bigger things in 2011.
The team has the power and now the people in place to take this team from out of the equation to right into the middle of it all.
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