Struggling Roush teams rue Hendrick advantage

LONG POND, Pa. -- Roush Fenway Racing drivers realize they've fallen behind the competition, particularly Hendrick Motorsports. But can they get up in time to make a serious run at the championship?

A year ago, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle combined for 11 Ford victories. However, since Matt Kenseth started off the 2009 season with back-to-back wins at Daytona and Fontana, the blue oval has looked more like a zero on the manufacturer scoreboard.

Pocono

Practice 1

Pos.	Driver	Make	Speed
1.	M. Martin	Chevy	169.354
2.	J. Johnson	Chevy	167.604
3.	Dale Jr.	Chevy	167.470
4.	J. Gordon	Chevy	166.799
5.	Ky. Busch	Toyota	166.257
6.	T. Stewart	Chevy	165.954
7.	R. Newman	Chevy	165.874
8.	G. Biffle	Ford	165.724
9.	D. Blaney	Toyota	165.426
10.	S. Hornish Jr.	Dodge	165.411

• Speeds | Lineup | Photos

Hendrick-built Chevrolets have won the past three races, including Jimmie Johnson's victory at the Brickyard last weekend, and Friday's rain-shortened practice at Pocono Raceway looked like more of the same, as all four Hendrick teammates and the satellite Stewart-Haas team taking up six of the top seven places on the lap charts.

So what is Roush Fenway doing to close the gap? Biffle said knowing why Hendrick has the advantage in the first place is of prime importance.

"We're looking at the films, we're looking at their cars, trying to pay attention," Biffle said. "They're a little bit ahead of the curve right now, I think, than most of the other teams. But it's so small of a change. It's 10- and 20-thousandths of this or that. It's not a big chunk. We feel like it's real small and we're trying to hone in on what that is."

Edwards, who has gone from nine wins in 2008 to none in 2009, wonders if perhaps some of the perceived advantage is psychological.

"I don't know if it's based on psychology and how people operate in competitive situations, when you gain an advantage, then you don't work on those things because you don't want to mess it up, and maybe during that time other people are working things and maybe they can surpass you," Edwards said. "I don't know how it ends up going in waves like that, but for me it definitely has.

"In 2005, the races that we won were easy to win. I say easy [because] it's relative. It wasn't like we backed into them, but we ran really well. And then last season, we won nine races and I really feel there was about 12 or 13 of them that we could've won, if things would've gone just a little bit better. I don't know. I feel like I'm doing a better job this year in a lot of ways than I did last year."

Whatever advantage the Hendrick cars possess was evident at Indianapolis, a flat track with many similar characteristics to Pocono.

"We ran decent at Indy, but [Mark Martin] and [Johnson] were faster than us. It's just that simple. We were a little better than [Tony Stewart], which gives us some confidence, but still the two Hendrick cars were beating us, and we've got to figure out how to beat them or be better."

For Kenseth, it's being able to finish what he's started.

"We haven't been able to finish as good as we've been running -- up until last week -- for a long time, and that's important," Kenseth said. "Even if you're off a little bit in performance, at least to finish where you're running or try to get a better finish than where you're running through pit strategy or fuel mileage or something like that. We haven't been able to do that. We've been on the wrong end of that, and that's part of the reason why we are where we are in the points."

That's particularly the case for Biffle at Pocono. In 13 starts here, he has just two top-10 finishes.

"This race track and myself have a love-hate relationship that we're trying to work through," Biffle said. "I think it's a lot of fun to race on. I love the way it's laid out. But I can't remember a time we've been that we haven't run in the top five, but we could never finish there.

"For instance, the last race. We led, we ran second to Carl for a long time, passed [Johnson], the green flag would come out and I would pass [Stewart]. We ran there all day long and then it comes down to the last run of the day and we don't make it and have to pit for fuel. So it really hurts to not finish where you've been running."

Edwards, for one, is not one to throw in the towel -- although one would have come in handy, as persistent bands of heavy showers peppered Pocono all afternoon.

"There's [16] races left, I guess, and so far Matt Kenseth's won two really big races, and we could still go win 10 races as a team, so I'm not willing to write anything off," Edwards said. "I still feel like we can win this championship. I feel very strongly that we can win it, so I guess we'll just have to keep our heads up and keep moving forward and keep working on it.

"If anybody figures out how come we kind of go like that, you let me know. Hopefully, the worst of our trough, we're through that. I feel like we're on our way up. I hope it's true."

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