Concord, N.C. — Their engines still warm after the Ford 400 at Homestead last weekend, teams, drivers, et al of Ford Racing were already looking ahead. Prime among them was Mark Martin, whose second-place finish behind Roush Racing teammate Greg Biffle had him wishing that the 2006 Nextel Cup season started the next day.
This, remember, is the same Mark Martin who believed 2005 would be his final season. Instead, he postponed his retirement until after 2006, which will be his 19th full season at NASCAR’s top level.
“I’m so excited about coming back that I can’t stand it,” he said after his 12th top-five and 19th top-10 finish boosted him to fourth in the final standings. “I’ve had the time of my life this year and I hope we can keep this crew together one more year. Really, I wish we were starting tomorrow—and I’m going to win. I’ve turned over a new leaf. Kenny Wallace said I was a pessimist after Charlotte, so I got mad. I’m excited about racing again. That’s the new me.”
Martin’s attitude was typical of Ford drivers looking forward to next year and the new Fusion. It’ll replace the venerable Taurus, which won 100 Nextel Cup races (plus eight non-point, special events), three Cups and three manufacturer’s titles between its 1998 debut and the Homestead finale. The Fusion will debut with pre-season testing in Daytona Beach, Fla., in January. Its competitive debut will be the Feb. 11 Bud Shootout for last year’s pole-winners. Front-row qualifying for the Daytona 500 will be Feb. 12, the Gatorade Twin 125s will be Feb. 17, and the Daytona 500 will be Feb. 19.
For some Ford teams, the brief off-season will bring not only a new Fusion, but personnel changes. For other teams, the off-season will be relatively calm.
Four of Jack Roush’s five teams will return intact: Pat Tryson and Martin in No. 6 for AAA (a new sponsor), Robbie Reiser and Matt Kenseth in No. 17 for DeWalt Tools, Bob Osborne and Carl Edwards in No. 99 for Office Depot, and Doug Richert and Greg Biffle in No. 16 for the National Guard. The organization’s only major personnel change will be Jamie McMurray moving into the Sharpie/Crown Royal No. 97 with veteran crew chief Jimmy Fennig.
As a father who loves all his sons, Roush loves all his drivers. But he feels a special kinship to Edwards, the newest and youngest member of Roush Racing. Edwards burst into the spotlight this year by winning two poles and four races, piling up 14 top-fives and 19 top-10s, and finishing tied for second in points. (Biffle got the spot based on more victories). After the finale, Roush couldn’t contain his enthusiasm for Edwards.
“I have to think about my words because I don’t want to make anybody mad,” he said. “Everybody who drives for me does a super job, but given the fact we don’t have another young driver who started in this decade, I’m saying that Carl Edwards will be the driver of the decade for not only Roush Racing, but for all of Nextel Cup. I can’t imagine anybody coming into the business in their first full year winning four Cup races and four Busch races, tying for second in Cup points and finishing third in Busch points. He’s got a willingness to accept advice, which a lot of people won’t do. He’s got a great crew chief, but the main thing is that he assimilates information.”
The landscape will be slightly different at Robert Yates Racing next year. Dale Jarrett will return in the No. 88 UPS car and Elliott Sadler will be back for a fourth year in the No. 38 M&M's car. But it’s expected—and reported in many areas—that Robert Slugger Labbe will replace Todd Parrott as Jarrett’s crew chief and Tommy Baldwin will replace interim Kevin Buskirk as Sadler’s chief. One thing that won’t change is Yates’ two-car Fusion lineup.
There was talk early in November that Yates might form a third satellite team, perhaps merging assets from Arnold Motorsports or Cal Wells III’s PPI Racing. Instead, Yates says he’s committed to making his existing teams better before adding to his stable.
The Wood Brothers will perhaps have the busiest off-season of any Ford Racing member. First and foremost, they’ll begin working with new driver Ken Schrader and new sponsor Little Debbie snack cakes. (Motorcraft Quality Parts and the U.S. Air Force will remain as major associates). The Wood Brothers also are moving from their too-small Mooresville, N.C. shop to a larger and more modern facility in Harrisburg, N.C., closer to Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
There, they’ll begin their new association with the Ford-based JTG Racing team of Jodi and Tad Geschickter. The Woods and crew chief Fatback McSwain will offer technical support to JTG’s Busch Series cars for Jon Wood and Stacy Compton, and their Craftsman Series trucks for Bobby East and Marcus Ambrose. The Woods are expected to field a second Cup car in seven races for Jon Wood in anticipation of him moving to Cup in 2007.
All told, 2005 was a spectacular year in Nextel Cup for Team Ford Racing. The nine full-schedule teams combined for nine poles and 16 victories, plus two more non-points victories. Biffle, Edwards and Martin were second, third and fourth in points. Matt Kenseth was seventh and Kurt Busch 10th, with Sadler and Jarrett 13th and 15th. At 21st in points, Rudd was the highest-finishing driver from a single-car team.
Ford’s full-schedule Busch Series teams did well, too. Edwards, Kenny Wallace, David Green, Jason Keller and Biffle finished third, seventh, eighth, ninth, and 10th in points and combined for four poles and seven victories. Ashton Lewis Jr., Jon Wood and Stacy Compton finished 14th, 15th and 16th in points, but showed their long-range potential with a combined 14 top-10 finishes.
