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HAMPTON, Ga. — With two drivers qualifying in the top five, and all three of Roush Fenway Racing‘s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams starting inside the top 15, it appears things have taken a positive turn for the longtime organization.
Trevor Bayne will start third in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will start fifth. And veteran Greg Biffle, typically the most consistent of the group, will go off from the No. 14 position.
The last time three RFR cars started inside the top 15 for a non-restricted Sprint Cup race? It’s been awhile.
The organization, founded by co-owner Jack Roush in 1988, hasn’t been to Victory Lane since 2014 when driver Carl Edwards was still a team member.
None of its three drivers qualified for last year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, a first, regretfully, for an organization that won back-to-back titles in 2003-04 and nearly won it all again in 2011.
With a lower downforce rules package in play — similar to that used at Kentucky and Darlington last season — has an organization that has won 135 times in NASCAR’s premier series finally rediscovered its footing?
“It was one qualifying session in the first race of the year with this rules package,” Robbie Reiser, general manager at RFR, said Saturday at AMS. “But, it’s obviously better.”
Reiser’s been around — he won 17 times as a crew chief at RFR before moving off the pit box. So he’s lived the ups and downs that come and go so frequently in the series.
The proof for RFR, of course, won’t come until Sunday, when 39 cars take the green flag for the series’ second race of the season. Or more likely much later, after the series rolls through Las Vegas and Texas and Kansas and Charlotte.
“Last season wasn’t a reflection of work ethic at all, it was a reflection of being a little bit behind,” Bayne said. “This season, we’re really looking forward to this low downforce package. We felt like our best races were at the low downforce tracks (last year), Kentucky and Darlington, so everybody that’s wondering what’s going on at Roush Fenway Racing, a lot of hard work and a lot of attention to detail.”
Bayne, a former Daytona 500 winner, is paired with crew chief Matt Puccia, Biffle’s former crew chief, for 2016; veteran Brian Pattie is calling the shots for Biffle while Nick Sandler returns to oversee the No. 17 of Stenhouse.
“I thought we had probably another tenth in it … so I feel really good about the speed the guys brought down in this car and all their hard work,” Stenhouse said after his qualifying effort. “Hopefully, it can continue in race trim tomorrow and making sure we have something that will run good on the long run. That’s going to be tough here at Atlanta with the low downforce and sliding around with the soft tire, so I felt good about it.”
Stenhouse was 13th on Saturday as teams made final race preparations.
“We had a meeting last week talking about execution,” Bayne said. “Everybody’s intentions are right. Everybody wants to go fast. Everybody wants to win races, but now we’ve got to execute and make sure we make these fast Fords last.”