ROUSH FENWAY CAPTURES 100TH CUP WIN; FORCE SUFFERS SERIOUS INJURIES IN NHRA CRASH


   * Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fusion, won Sunday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup race in Dover and moves up five spots to third in the Chase standings. The victory marked the 100 th Nextel Cup win for team owner Jack Roush, the most by any Ford team in history.
   * Matt Kenseth was the top Ford driver in the NASCAR Busch Series race, finishing third in his No. 17 Fusion. Carl Edwards continues to lead the championship.
   * Travis Kvapil, driver of the No. 6 F-150, won Saturday Night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in Las Vegas. Kvapil remains third in the standings, 181 points behind leader Mike Skinner.
   * John Force, driver of the Castrol GTX Mustang, was involved in an accident in his second round race against Kenny Bernstein in the NHRA race in Dallas. After the wreck, Force was awake and talking but suffered serious leg and hand injuries.
   * Mikael Forsten and Maxime Soulet were the top Ford drivers in both races of the FIA GT3 European Championship race, finishing eighth in Race 1 and sixth Race 2.

DEARBORN, Mich., September 23 – Carl Edwards and Travis Kvapil took their Fords to victory circle in NASCAR events on a strong weekend for Ford Racing that was tempered by a serious crash with John Force in the NHRA event in Dallas.

NASCAR

Ford finished 1-2 in the NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Dover, with Edwards crossing the line first, followed by Roush Fenway Racing teammate Greg Biffle. The win moves Edwards up five spots to third place in the Chase standings, just three points behind leader Jeff Gordon.

“I think this Chase is turning into what people predicted,” said Edwards, “the depth is such that I think you’re going to have to win races. We’re two races in and guys had bad luck and all that stuff, to have the top seven guys within 30-something points – is that right? – that’s insane. I think it’s going to be an extremely tough Chase. You’re going to have to have win races to be leading the points at the end. And, I wouldn’t have said that before it started, really, looking at the past Chases, but this one’s for sure that way.”

The win marked the 100 th Cup victory for team owner Jack Roush, who didn’t realize that he had hit the century mark. Roush Fenway Racing becomes the first Ford team to win 100 races in NASCAR’s top series.

“The track owner here that passed away last year, Melvin Joseph, was a Ford man all the way and he really enjoyed celebrating every time we won here,” said Roush, “it feels like we won eight or 10 times at Dover, Delaware, for him. This is where he’d have wanted us to win our 100th win, and he wanted a Ford win, I’m sure.”

Another Roush Fenway driver, Matt Kenseth, may have actually had the best car on the track Sunday, but he lost a cylinder late in the race while running in second and his engine blew on a restart. Kenseth received 10 points for leading the most laps, but dropped three spots to 10 th in the Chase.

Kenseth had better luck in the NASCAR Busch Series race, where he took third place in the No. 17 Fusion. His teammate, Edwards, is still the runaway Busch Series points leader.

“There’s a lot to talk about, I guess,” Kenseth said. “We started in the back. We didn’t run good at all yesterday, and this morning we took it apart and put Carl’s [Edwards] set-up in it and it ran a lot better today. We still weren’t near as good as the 20 [Denny Hamlin] and a couple of them other guys, but we did some pit strategy to get some track position and then we had it running good enough where we could kind of hang out where we were at.”

Travis Kvapil also brought Roush Fenway and Ford a victory when he won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in Las Vegas on Saturday night in his No. 6 F-150. He remains third in the standings, 181 points behind leader Mike Skinner with six races to go.

“I tell you what, coming into tonight, I didn’t think we had much of a shot,” Kvapil said of his chances of winning the championship. “You never give up hope and you never know what can happen in six or seven races. We gained 80-some points in one night. And one or two more nights like that, we’re right in the mix.

“We’ve got some tracks I feel like we’re going to keep running this truck right here at Texas, Atlanta and Homestead. This is the third win this truck has this year. It just seems to run really good. We’re going to continue to run up front and try to win races. If they have a bad day here and there, I think we’ll be right there in the hunt by the time we get to Homestead.”

NHRA

There was a scary moment for Ford Racing fans in the Dallas NHRA event as 14-time Funny Car champion John Force was involved in a violent accident that sent him to the hospital.

During the race, Force and Kenny Bernstein collided after the finish line, eventually sending Force’s Castrol GTX Mustang into the wall. After the wreck, Force was awake and talking but, according to team sources, suffered a severely broken left ankle, a deep laceration on his right knee, a fractured and dislocated left wrist, and abrasive injuries to his right hand.

Force ended up winning the race because Bernstein was disqualified for a centerline violation. The victory moved Force up to fourth place in the standings, although he’s expected to miss the rest of this season.

Force’s daughter Ashley also won her second round race, but did not show up for her third round race because she accompanied her family to the hospital. With both of the Forces out of the competition, brothers Tony and Cruz Pedregon advanced to the Funny Car final round unopposed.

Robert Hight brought his AAA of Southern California Mustang into the weekend leading the Funny Car standings, but failed to make the field and dropped to second place in the standings.

European GT Racing

In the FIA GT3 European Championship, Mikael Forsten and Maxime Soulet were the top Ford drivers in both races of the weekend. The duo finished eighth in the first race and sixth in the second race in their No. 45 Ford GT.

“New track, new car, this is not easy,” said Soulet. “We have to work, the potential of the car is incredible, and I’m sure we will be able to fight for the win very soon. Maybe not in Dubai, but next season for sure. The team did a great job, to be here with three cars was a real victory for them. We are looking forward to Dubai, this track should be good for us. We have a lot of work to do, but the team is working well, and we want to succeed.”

Next weekend the NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series competitors head to Kansas, while the GT4 European Cup will compete at Nogaro Circuit in France.

Via: Ford Motor Co.