Dearborn, Mich. — Listenin’ to Jack Roush talk is a fascinatin’ experience. He can flat-out mesmerize an audience when he speaks. The Cat in the Hat knows pretty much everything. He knows what something is, and why something is. He’s kinda like Ask.com before the Internet.

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Doug Yates is quieter. But his famed 850-horsepower engines speak in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS!

Roush has been makin’ cars go fast since his days at Ford Motor Co. in the 1960s.

Yates is a second-generation engine builder; his dad, Robert, was an integral part of Holman-Moody and saw a lot of his engines cross the finish line before he became a team owner—and won a championship in 1999.

Together, Jack Roush and Doug Yates (with Ford Engineering) are the names behind Roush Yates Engines, synonymous in auto racing with great horsepower and great fuel mileage.

What? Racing? Fuel mileage?

Yep.

Those Roush Yates Engines go fast and go far—both fundamental ingredients to winnin’ races.

And, the goin’ far part—without sacrificing performance—is also a very important element for Ford’s production vehicles.

And, while Roush and Yates are doin’ their best to make the Ford Racing stable of NASCAR Fusions go as fast as they can for as long as they can—don’t forget those two late-season fuel mileage wins by Carl Edwards in 2008 when he led all drivers with nine Roush Yates-powered victories—the production version of the Fusion, specifically the 2010 Fusion Hybrid—has been certified at 41 city miles to the gallon and get better’n 700 miles of city drivin’ on one tank of gas.

How’s that for an attention-getter?

It should be. After all, the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid is rated the most fuel-efficient midsize sedan in the country. Period.

At any rate, both Mr.’s Roush and Yates talked with Ford Racing and talked about fuel mileage—both on and away from the track. That conversation can be found here on fordracing.com.

Meanwhile, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series takes a break this weekend—its first of the season.

Usually, ’bout now would be a pretty good time to take a break, but this year has been anything but “usually.”

Usually, by this time of March, there’s been a couple of weeks of testin’ at Daytona, some testin’ out west and various other tests, plus everything leadin’ up to and includin’ the Daytona 500, a long trip out west (or two, if you go back-and-forth-and-back-and-forth to Fontana and Las Vegas), and then back east for one of the fastest tracks, Atlanta.

Whew! That gets a little exhaustin’ just readin’ about it.

But 2009 has been different.

There was no testin’ at any NASCAR tracks, so that meant no two weeks in Daytona in January and no pre-race trip out west. And that was a lot of time at the track.

Maybe that’s why the Sparkster’s not so tired this week. But Ol’ Sparky forgot to turn his clocks forward last weekend, so the Sparkster never lost that hour’s sleep.

Anyway, that means that last Sunday’s run at Atlanta will be the last of big-time stock-car racin’ until next weekend at Bristol. Only one Ford managed to finish in the top 10 in Atlanta—and Edwards almost managed to pull off a victory, but he was passed on the final re-start and ended up third.

Still, not a bad afternoon.

Now, had Edwards managed to win, not only would it have been his first of the season, but it would’ve marked the first time since 1994 that Ford Racing had opened a season by winnin’ three of the first four races.

Kenseth, despite a less-than-perfect day, still managed to rebound and finish 12th.

So, goin’ into the first break, three Ford drivers are in the top 12: Edwards (fourth), Kenseth (fifth) and Greg Biffle (10th). And, you know that those three will still be in the top 12 when it counts, after the Richmond race in September.

While Edwards and Kenseth and The Biff were out there tryin’ to build on Kenseth’s season-openin’ back-to-back victories, the very fastest Fords of them all were takin’ a couple of weekends off. But, that all ends this weekend in Gainesville, Florida, as the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series returns to lightenin’-fast action—1,000 feet at a time.

Five Ford Racing drivers are among the top 12 in the standings after two races; Robert Hight and 2008 Rookie of the Year Mike Neff are sittin’ second and fourth, respectively.

And, you can be sure that that’s the only sittin’ those two ever do.

By the way, is anybody else seein’ the similarities between Hight and Kenseth?

Ol’ Steady Matty.

Ol’ Steady Robert.

Hight could very well be not only the nicest guy in racin’ today, he could very well be the nicest guy on the planet, period. And, you don’t have to look all too closely to realize that he is always in contention, always competin’ in the standings each year, every year.

He is the Matt Kenseth of drag racing.

Like Kenseth, Hight is a bit overshadowed by at least one teammate. Like Kenseth, he’s a true professional in every sense of the word. Kenseth has made the NASCAR Chase every year that it has been in existence, and Hight has finished in the top five each year he’s run. Both were Rookies of the Year, Kenseth in 2000 and Hight in 2005. Kenseth’s No. 17 Fusion team is tremendous at makin’ adjustments during a race, and Hight’s Mustang team is tremendous at makin’ adjustments between roiunds, because, well, frankly, there’s not a whole lot of adjustin’ that can be done in the slightly more than four seconds it takes to go 1,000 feet.

By the way, it is Hight who owns the two quickest 1,000-foot times in Funny Car history—and the two quickest quarter-mile times.

But, unlike Kenseth, Hight is a very good qualifier. Kenseth prefers to win races by startin’ near the rear of the field. Maybe that poses more of a challenge for him, or something.

Hight has never won at Gainesville, but he has twice been the top qualifier there.

Neff, by the way, is still runnin’ that Ford BOSS 500 motor in his Ford. Drive one. Funny Car, and has been doin’ quite well with it since it debuted durin’ the ’08 season-opener at Pomona. Neff drove that Ford power to three finals and a Rookie-of-the-Year crown last year.

The fourth he currently sits is the best he’s ever been in the standings.

About the only thing right now movin’ as fast as the Ford Mustang Funny Cars is the technology available on the Internet, and Ford Racing has ramped up its coverage so race fans can find out even sooner how their favorite drivers are doin’.

Did you know that—besides all you want to k now and more on this website—you can now follow the Ford Racing drivers by becoming a fan of Ford-Racing on facebook or follow FordRacing from the track on twitter.com. Try either and you’ll know how Hight or Neff or John Force or Ashley Force Hood or Bob Tasca III or Tim Wilkerson qualified on Friday and Saturday, or how their rounds went on Sunday.

How fast can you now get that information?

Thisfast.

That should be fast enough.

Just last Friday, Ford Racing fans participated in a live Q&A with Rick Crawford via twitter, askin’ questions and gettin’ answers in 140-character increments. Ol’ Sparky hears there’s more of that kind of thing planned this weekend, with Ashley Force and defending Mustang Challenge champ Andrew Caddell.

Who knows, if the Sparkster could ever figure out how to say, “Hello,” in less than 140 characters, he just might contribute somethin’, too. (And, for the record, that last sentence was exactly 140 characters.)

While realizin’ that by the time he gets around to changin’ all the clocks in the house it’ll be time to change ’em all back again, Ol’ Sparky went through this week’s mailbag.

Hey, Sparky:

There seemed to be a lot of engine problems the last couple of weeks at Las Vegas and Atlanta. As far as the Fords are concerned, is that because they haven’t worked all of the bugs out of the new FR9 engine?

Kent
Washington

Good question, Kent. No. The reason is quite simple: The new FR9 engine is not yet bein’ run in any Fords. In fact, it probably won’t see competition until later in the season. So, as of right now, the Ford teams are still runnin’ the same engine that they’ve been runnin’, and high RPMs needed at Vegas and Atlanta were the primary factor for a problem that was experienced by all the manufacturers.