Is Ford about to turn the corner? Jack Roush's Take:

 Jack Roush (R) pumps up Greg Biffle (Photo: Autostock) 

  
   By Mike Mulhern
  mikemulhern.net
  
   BROOKLYN, Mich.
   The NASCAR media has been desperate for a Jack Roush Fix for too long. You know, those long, extended, almost poetic celebrations of language that the veteran car own is known for...when he's center stage, be it for a tour victory by one of his many teams, or a controversy, which he loves to get his teeth into as much as any stock car journalist
   Alas, Roush hasn't been heard from much lately.
   In part because Ford teams are mired a funky slump.
   In part because, for all the controversies raging on the Sprint Cup tour -- teammates Kyle Busch versus Denny Hamlin...newcomer Joey Logano versus tour points leader Kevin Harvick...or Jeff Burton versus Kyle Busch...Clint Bowyer versus Denny Hamlin -- Roush's guys haven't found their way into the middle of the action.
   In fact, the only controversy Ford teams can rustle up is that one about the mystery of Ford's long-awaited FR9 engine. And even that situation is so murky, and almost esoteric, that it's hard to get a good visual.
   The FR9 was under the hood of Ford stars Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards at Pocono, sort of a first, in a big 500-mile race. And yet the controversy Sunday was Ford teammates AJ Allmendinger and Kasey Kahne (the George Gillett-Richard Petty division) running into each other the last lap over the overtime race, Allmendinger blocking a passing move, and Kahne forcing the issue and winding up on the backstretch grass and then nearly up and over the wall.
   Highlights footage there.
   Okay, okay, Edwards did have that little flare up with Brad Keselowski at Atlanta, back in March. Video here:  http://bit.ly/cv2aPn  But otherwise it's been pretty quiet over in the Ford camp.
   This weekend the FR9 is to be in every Ford, a first for a NASCAR tour event at an unrestricted-engine track. And this, of course, is Detroit's backyard, so all the bigwigs will be on hand.
   Roush has won 11 times at this high-speed, flat two-mile track, which sits on the road from Detroit to Chicago.
   And Roush has his three top drivers in the top-12 in the regular season chase to the playoffs.
   Still, Ford is still winless on all three NASCAR tours this season, though Ford isn't competing on the Truck series this season (perhaps surprising, in a sense, since the hottest selling vehicle in the U.S. is still the F-150).
   Maybe that's about to change.
   
   

   Carl Edwards (R): A heavy Nationwide schedule this month...a lot of flight time (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
   

   "We were very competitive last weekend at Nashville with our Nationwide car," Roush says. "We were missing something in the suspension of the car all year, and we found last week there had been an unintended change made in some of the front suspension components, and we rectified that.
   "I'm sure we're on our way to reestablishing ourselves in that series.
   "There's good news, very good news, to come: Carl Edwards finishing second and Paul Menard finishing third -- and neither one of them had a chance to work on their cars before the race (because they were in Pocono)."
    Edwards and Kyle Busch have dominated the Nationwide tour lately, but Busch skipped Nashville to focus on Pocono. And Roger Penske's newest, Brad Keselowski, won Nashville, with Roush pointing to Keselowski making the Pocono-Nashville commute for practice.
    "I think we missed a little something, left a little something on the table there," Roush says. "But the interest was putting the focus on the Sprint Cup effort, and to make sure that the drivers were rested."
    And what's the game plan for next week's double-header, Cup at Sonoma, Calif., Nationwide at Road America, in Elkhart Lake, Wis. That's a heck of a commute.
    Roush will stay at Sonoma, but Edwards will make the commute: "I understand Paul Menard's father's Citation X is going to be used -- which is the fastest means of public civilian transportation possible," Roush says.
    Saturday's Nationwide race here may show something then.

   
   

    Paul Menard: coming around this season, and a lot of upside potential. So Jack Roush has him doing double-duty, Cup and Nationwide (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
   

    But what about the other side of the NASCAR garage...with the three Ford operations?
    "You say 'What is wrong with the Fords? The teams aren't getting it done,'" Roush says.
    "Ford support has been as good as it's ever been; monetary support has been equal to prior years; technical support has improved And a greater commitment was made over the winter."
    Indeed Daytona could easily have been a Greg Biffle victory. And if so, then there wouldn't be that many questions raised After all, Biffle in fact made the winning move in the final moments at Daytona...only it was Jamie McMurray taking advantage of it for the win.
    Kenseth won the Daytona opener in 2009, followed with a win in the California 500. But then the slump began, almost mysteriously. McMurray did win for Roush last fall at Talladega, but that was filled with mixed emotions, since NASCAR's four-team limits forced Roush to cut his five-team roster and McMurray was the odd-man out.
    This season, perhaps ironically, McMurray is off to the best start of his career, winning Daytona and finishing second in big races at Talladega, Darlington and Charlotte.
    Roush points to his men's work at Daytona, California and Las Vegas and says the "good results" gave him encouragement.
   
   


    Matt Kenseth, and his daughter Kaylin Nicola (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
   
    However Roush, following a line laid out two weeks ago by Ford racing boss Jamie Allison (new this year to the job), points to computer simulation programs as being a major issue now, in light of NASCAR's no-testing policy the past two years, a purported economic move which has in fact all but backfired, with teams flying around the country to non-NASCAR tracks for testing, rather than testing at NASCAR tracks. For example, NASCAR teams have just tested at Milwaukee for the upcoming Loudon, N.H., race, and they just tested at Virginia International Raceway for the upcoming Sonoma race.
    Roush says the people handling those computer programs for Ford teams -- he referred to them as third-party vendors -- simply haven't got the job done: "Quite frankly, we haven't got the results expected.
    "The results aren't as good -- from the simulation data -- as we had in 2008.
   "And, given the fact we don't have testing, that has been a handicap."
   So Roush says he and Ford are looking at other companies to provide that computer work.
  

  

  Jamie Allison (C), the Ford racing boss, with Edsel Ford (L) and crew chief Greg Erwin (R) (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

  One crucial aspect of computer simulation programs in this sport is that there is extremely limited practice each weekend at the track, maybe three hours or so. Which puts a premium on unloading the car in solid race-shape, and then simply tweaking things.
   The Ford teams apparently have been unloading with cars that didn't respond as the computer programs predicted.
   "We're working to fill that void," Roush says. "I hope we'll break through this weekend and win again."
   But Roush has suggested to NASCAR that the sport might be better off if it would allow more testing at real NASCAR tracks, on the real Goodyears.
   He says teams should be allowed eight to 10 such tests each season: "I encouraged NASCAR. They're certainly listening.
   "Right now if you don't have a simulation that's as good as the next man's, it doesn't matter how good your driver is, or how able your crew chief is, or how good your engine is -- you just can't get around the track."

  

  Crew chief Slugger Labbe (L) is making Menard (R) a figure to keep an eye on this season (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   And the new Ford engine? It is now scheduled to be in all Fords from here on out the rest of the season, except perhaps for the Sonoma and Watkins Glen road courses, Roush says.
    "The FR9 engine has been wonderful," Roush says.
    "We haven't broken an FR9 engine part.
    "We've had marginally better performance out of the engine...and it's all encouraging.
    "We hadn't had a new engine for several decades, and Ford took the time to make sure they had it right."
    Actually one issue in the delay of the FR9 may lay in speculation that NASCAR might be planning new engine rules. Certainly the issue of cars going way too fast at many of these tracks has been around since legendary Ford engine man Robert Yates first raised that specific point some 15 years ago.
   "We had four cars with the engines at Pocono; we performed well," Roush said.
    "We had all four (Roush) cars at Talladega with the engines; they performed well.
     "The engine is without a flaw.
    "It makes marginally more power. It has a very efficient cooling system. It will get marginally better fuel economy.
    "There is certainly nothing about the FR9 engine that has slowed us down this year, in terms of ability to win a race or be competitive.
     "We've had close to our share of top-10 finishes, and we've got three cars in the chase out of my four.
    "So it has not been a bad year."
     Still the bottom line: "We haven't won yet," Roush says.
    And with that comes frustration. "Everybody has pretty much done a good job not getting frustrated," Roush says.
    "Carl has matured the last four or five years. He's gone from being brash and if not ruthless, certainly overenthusiastic in some of his actions on the track.
    "Matt has certainly been a good soldier.  Greg Biffle has done a nice job....David Ragan has done a nice job.
    "But they look forward to winning."

     [Note: You can use Twitter as an easy headline service for mikemulhern.net stories, with our instant Tweets to your mobile as soon as our newest NASCAR story is filed. And mikemulhern.net is mobile-friendly for viewing. You can also use the orange RSS feed button as a quickie headline service on your laptop or home computer for mikemulhern.net stories, by creating a Live Bookmark RSS feed on your web browser's toolbar. Or you can create a Google Alert for mikemulhernnet.]
              

  
  

        Jack Roush: Ford is looking for new companies to provide computer simulation support... (Photo: Autostock)