Team happy to have Roush back at the racetrack
Jack Roush was at the racetrack again Sunday, continuing his busy weekend just days after being released from the hospital.
Roush, who lost vision in his left eye and sustained other significant injuries in an airplane crash last month, originally was expected to watch the Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway from a trackside suite. But that plan didn't last long, as he made his way out to pit road early in the race.
Roush Fenway drivers Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth welcomed their boss back by finishing third, fourth and fifth.
''Glad to have Jack back here at the racetrack,'' Edwards said. ''I wish we could have gotten a win for him.''
Roush Fenway Racing president Geoff Smith said the team was happy to have Roush back at the track. Roush, whose automotive company is based outside Detroit, made a surprise trip to pit road for qualifying Friday and hasn't slowed down much since.
''We've had this NASCAR dinner for 17 years, and he stayed there for three hours,'' Smith said. ''(Former Roush driver) Mark Martin came over for at least two of the three hours.''
And while Roush is facing plenty of follow-up medical appointments, he isn't about to take a step back from spending time at the track.
''Oh, no,'' Smith said. ''He's in.''
Despite the life-changing nature of Roush's injuries, Smith said he didn't sense that his boss was feeling sorry for himself. And despite surviving his second serious airplane accident - he also crashed into a pond in Alabama in 2002 - Roush doesn't plan to stop flying.
However, Smith said he'll likely have a co-pilot in the future.
''There's been a lot of pressure on him, and he was headed there, to have somebody else with him,'' Smith said. ''Every once in a while, an extra set of ears and hands might make the difference.''
Smith also joked that Roush's doctors might have done some extra work while treating Roush's facial injuries.
''I mean, he's going to look like Brad Pitt before it's all over,'' Smith said. ''What they did to him was, they gave him like a Beverly Hills makeover as near as I can tell.''
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RUFFLED RYAN: Ryan Newman and Joey Logano tangled on the track, then had to be separated after the race.
Logano's car got loose and tapped the left rear fender of Newman's car, causing Newman to spin out with 53 laps remaining. Newman confronted Logano after the race, but NASCAR officials stepped in before the situation escalated.
''He races me way too hard, he races everybody too hard,'' Logano said. ''I'm not the only one that complains about it every week.''
Logano said he was trying to keep his car under control and thought Newman should have given him more room.
''I'm down there just hanging on and hanging on,'' Logano said. ''I saved it three times before I'm like, 'I can't save this one, he should have given me room by now.' I will have to call and talk to him about it because I know I'm not the only one that complains about it, but I dont know why he races everyone so hard. I hear it from too many people.''
Newman was not available for comment.
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NO CAMARO: Two automakers have used NASCAR's introduction of a redesigned next-generation Nationwide series car as an opportunity to introduce muscle car brands into the series, with Ford racing a Mustang-branded car and Dodge racing a Challenger-branded model.
Don't expect Chevrolet's Camaro to join them anytime soon.
General Motors officials don't think they can design a race car that looks enough like a street-going Camaro and still fits within the boundaries of NASCAR's inspection templates.
''NASCAR expressed an interest in having the Camaro, and we looked very hard at running the Camaro in Nationwide,'' GM racing manager Mark Kent said. ''But we have two cars within the Chevrolet lineup that have iconic lines. The Camaro and the Corvette both have iconic lines that we didn't want to take away from by forcing that car into a templated car that didn't at the end of the day meet our requirements.''
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GENTLEMEN, START YOUR IZZO: Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo is known for leading his players on the basketball court. Sunday, he got the opportunity to lead a 43-car field as the honorary pace car driver.
''It's exciting,'' Izzo said. ''I love being in somebody else's venue. It just kind of gives you a sense of understanding of how good you've got to be and how hard it is to be great in each venue. Just seeing those banks on the track was a little intimidating to me.''
Although it was his first visit to Michigan International Speedway, Izzo is familiar with NASCAR.
''I do stay away from having a favorite driver so that I can be politically correct,'' he said. ''I watch some NASCAR. I watch different races, of course Daytona and things like that.''
Izzo said he and his family were able to spend time before the race with driver Jeff Burton, a Duke fan.
''We had a fight that was right there in the trailer,'' Izzo joked. ''I told him he picked a pretty good team to be a fan of. He said his dad had tickets when he was a young kid. I told him that maybe sometime we can bring over to our side.''
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SPARK PLUGS: The announcement that Kasey Kahne will spend next season with Red Bull Racing before moving to Hendrick Motorsports in 2012 sets up an interesting contrast: Red Bull races Toyotas, while Hendrick races Chevrolets. And that isn't likely to change. Jim Campbell, vice president of Chevrolet marketing, said the brand won't talk to Red Bull about switching. ... Chevy might not be taking the Camaro to the Nationwide series anytime soon, but Campbell said the car is getting a lot of attention for another advertising venue: its role in the ''Transformers'' movies. ''Really young kids - I'm talking 8 to 15 - have an affinity for Camaro because of our involvement in Transformers,'' Campbell said. ... NASCAR officials impounded engines from the following cars for routine testing: Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Juan Pablo Montoya, Denny Hamlin, Reed Sorenson, Martin Truex Jr., Marcos Ambrose, Scott Riggs, Joe Nemechek, Sam Hornish Jr., Brad Keselowski, J.J. Yeley, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne and Patrick Carpentier.
