Jack Jr. profiled on Speedtv.com
7/15/07, 06:31 PM
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Jack Jr. profiled on Speedtv.com
http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/grandam/38714/
[quote]
SPECIAL: When the Icon is Dad: Jack Roush Jr.
Written by: Bill Wood, for RACER Magazine Los Angeles, Calif. – 7/13/2007
Like father, like son: Roush Jr. is a "Mustang man"... (ROUSH Performance photo) MORE PHOTOS
Every son everywhere knows the experience of “Dad.” What to do with him? How do I live up to him? Can I do it? These issues are magnified enormously when Dad is famous like Jack Roush and you’re in his business, motorsports.
KONI Challenge Mustang driver Jack Roush, Jr. knows these questions and he’s worked out many of these answers on his own terms, behind the wheel AND at Dad’s side.
“I do get quite a few questions about that,” Roush told me on his birthday last week. “I don’t view my Dad’s legacy as anything negative or intimidating. Actually, about my racing in particular, my Dad has never pushed me to do that. He’s also very open to me following my own vision or path.”
To be clear, Jack Roush, Sr. might be one of the most iconic figures in contemporary American motor racing. He currently owns five NASCAR Nextel Cup teams and two Nextel Cup championships. He’s won championships in sports car road racing and NHRA drag racing. Personally, I think the near Gapp & Roush NHRA Pro Stock title in a 1975 four-door Ford Maverick (the Tijuana Taxi had three wins and three runner-ups in eight events but lost the title in the last race to Bob Glidden) might stand out as the greatest achievement in Roush’s career. Read up on the drama of that season…
Saying all of that, Jack Roush remains a tough hurdle to overcome when you carry his name into motor racing competition like Jack Roush, Jr. But to Jack, Jack Sr. is just Dad, even granddad.
“He loves his grandkids a lot. It’s kind of funny seeing him be so competitive but you set (my daughter) in front of him and he just melts.” You have to recognize there’s a non-racing side to any competitor but it’s fun to imagine Jack Roush in a fedora talking baby talk to his granddaughter then charging into the NASCAR breach to get another championship for Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle or Carl Edwards!
Here’s another example of Roush Sr. taking himself a little less seriously.
“As opposed to popular belief, he actually can take off his hat. I’ve seen him walk around crowds at race tracks and one of his techniques for going in disguise is taking off his hat and it works. People don’t recognize him as easily.”
Jack told me Dad appreciates the son’s success at becoming his own man while racing, raising a family and giving birth to a growing computer business. Among the software created at What U Seek is a navigation package to help you search through websites such as Grand-Am.com.
One viewpoint he does share with his Dad is the entry of Toyota into NASCAR. Senior was very vocal in his opposition to the move. Junior races in a series – the KONI Challenge – that embraces brands from Japan and Europe.
“One thing that’s different about Toyota’s entry into NASCAR is that it’s been such an American form of racing. Bringing in Toyota definitely changes that at a time when the American auto industry is struggling financially. Is it a good thing, I don’t know (but) I don’t think I’ll be rooting for the Toyotas.
Stay ahead of the curve in NASCAR each month in RACER. Ben Blake analyzes Penske Racing’s ever-evolving program in our August issue, on sale now.
“Looking at my series, I race against a couple German manufacturers. Road racing has had foreign manufacturers for a long time. For me to race an American car, I do have pride in that while racing against foreign brands.” He said he wouldn’t consider a ride in a Porsche or BMW. “I’m a Mustang guy.”
Jack is a rookie in the KONI Challenge. He’s currently 24th in points with two top ten finishes after eight of 12 races. KONI Challenge rules require two drivers with the driver who qualifies the car being the one who starts the race. Jack normally starts the races and hands the car over to co-driver Dean Martin, a much more experienced and faster driver. Still, at Mid-Ohio last month Jack qualified 26th and worked his way to the race lead before he turned the car over to Martin to much backslapping and handshakes from his Rehagen Racing teammates. However, a brake failure later in the race left the team 23rd.
At Watkins Glen last weekend, Roush qualified the no. 59 ROUSH Performance Mustang 31st but again he drove through the crowd into the top ten before turning the car over to Martin who wound up seventh. Apparently the rookie is learning!
Jack says the discipline of road racing led him to that form of motorsport over karting where he won four titles and tied for a fifth in five years of racing with Dad’s support while he was growing up. There was a flirtation with drag racing in a ROUSH Performance R&D Mustang when Jack returned to the racing waters again a few years ago.
“I like endurance road racing, the fact that you have to keep your cool and plan a strategy for an extended race. There’s also a physical challenge I enjoy.” He runs and lifts weights to prepare.
“One of the things that’s important in getting around someone on the track is to keep your focus on your own line and not pay attention to what they’re doing. It’s really easy to get over excited and start to make a move too early and either go off the course or sacrifice your own line and fall back.”
Jack is a quiet guy with the depth you would expect from a computer executive with an iPod filled with everything from classic rock to just classical music. In addition to his computer training and karting success while growing up, he also has some martial arts experience to draw from when he speaks of discipline on the race track. He says his competition on the track is with himself and not in seeing the other guy lose.
“I’m not sure if racing is a career path. That’s kind of a tough question. Even if I do go to higher levels of racing, I’ll still be a computer executive as I am now. I’m really enjoying the class that I’m in. At 34, he’d be in the middle of the demo for drifting but that doesn’t hold any interest.
“I’m a road racer who likes Mustangs. In fact, one of the things I like about the KONI Challenge series is that we race modified street cars.” He drives a ROUSH Mustang on the street as you might guess.
“I also like the competitiveness of it. We have some of the best drivers in the world like Boris Said and Andy Lally who compete in our series. I love the competition here.”
Evidently, Jack Roush, Jr. has figured out answers to those questions of dealing with an iconic Dad…
Bill Wood is a Senior Writer for RACER magazine.
[quote]
SPECIAL: When the Icon is Dad: Jack Roush Jr.
Written by: Bill Wood, for RACER Magazine Los Angeles, Calif. – 7/13/2007
Like father, like son: Roush Jr. is a "Mustang man"... (ROUSH Performance photo) MORE PHOTOS Every son everywhere knows the experience of “Dad.” What to do with him? How do I live up to him? Can I do it? These issues are magnified enormously when Dad is famous like Jack Roush and you’re in his business, motorsports.
KONI Challenge Mustang driver Jack Roush, Jr. knows these questions and he’s worked out many of these answers on his own terms, behind the wheel AND at Dad’s side.
“I do get quite a few questions about that,” Roush told me on his birthday last week. “I don’t view my Dad’s legacy as anything negative or intimidating. Actually, about my racing in particular, my Dad has never pushed me to do that. He’s also very open to me following my own vision or path.”
To be clear, Jack Roush, Sr. might be one of the most iconic figures in contemporary American motor racing. He currently owns five NASCAR Nextel Cup teams and two Nextel Cup championships. He’s won championships in sports car road racing and NHRA drag racing. Personally, I think the near Gapp & Roush NHRA Pro Stock title in a 1975 four-door Ford Maverick (the Tijuana Taxi had three wins and three runner-ups in eight events but lost the title in the last race to Bob Glidden) might stand out as the greatest achievement in Roush’s career. Read up on the drama of that season…
Saying all of that, Jack Roush remains a tough hurdle to overcome when you carry his name into motor racing competition like Jack Roush, Jr. But to Jack, Jack Sr. is just Dad, even granddad.
“He loves his grandkids a lot. It’s kind of funny seeing him be so competitive but you set (my daughter) in front of him and he just melts.” You have to recognize there’s a non-racing side to any competitor but it’s fun to imagine Jack Roush in a fedora talking baby talk to his granddaughter then charging into the NASCAR breach to get another championship for Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle or Carl Edwards!
Here’s another example of Roush Sr. taking himself a little less seriously.
“As opposed to popular belief, he actually can take off his hat. I’ve seen him walk around crowds at race tracks and one of his techniques for going in disguise is taking off his hat and it works. People don’t recognize him as easily.”
Jack told me Dad appreciates the son’s success at becoming his own man while racing, raising a family and giving birth to a growing computer business. Among the software created at What U Seek is a navigation package to help you search through websites such as Grand-Am.com.
One viewpoint he does share with his Dad is the entry of Toyota into NASCAR. Senior was very vocal in his opposition to the move. Junior races in a series – the KONI Challenge – that embraces brands from Japan and Europe.
“One thing that’s different about Toyota’s entry into NASCAR is that it’s been such an American form of racing. Bringing in Toyota definitely changes that at a time when the American auto industry is struggling financially. Is it a good thing, I don’t know (but) I don’t think I’ll be rooting for the Toyotas.
Stay ahead of the curve in NASCAR each month in RACER. Ben Blake analyzes Penske Racing’s ever-evolving program in our August issue, on sale now.
“Looking at my series, I race against a couple German manufacturers. Road racing has had foreign manufacturers for a long time. For me to race an American car, I do have pride in that while racing against foreign brands.” He said he wouldn’t consider a ride in a Porsche or BMW. “I’m a Mustang guy.”
Jack is a rookie in the KONI Challenge. He’s currently 24th in points with two top ten finishes after eight of 12 races. KONI Challenge rules require two drivers with the driver who qualifies the car being the one who starts the race. Jack normally starts the races and hands the car over to co-driver Dean Martin, a much more experienced and faster driver. Still, at Mid-Ohio last month Jack qualified 26th and worked his way to the race lead before he turned the car over to Martin to much backslapping and handshakes from his Rehagen Racing teammates. However, a brake failure later in the race left the team 23rd.
At Watkins Glen last weekend, Roush qualified the no. 59 ROUSH Performance Mustang 31st but again he drove through the crowd into the top ten before turning the car over to Martin who wound up seventh. Apparently the rookie is learning!
Jack says the discipline of road racing led him to that form of motorsport over karting where he won four titles and tied for a fifth in five years of racing with Dad’s support while he was growing up. There was a flirtation with drag racing in a ROUSH Performance R&D Mustang when Jack returned to the racing waters again a few years ago.
“I like endurance road racing, the fact that you have to keep your cool and plan a strategy for an extended race. There’s also a physical challenge I enjoy.” He runs and lifts weights to prepare.
“One of the things that’s important in getting around someone on the track is to keep your focus on your own line and not pay attention to what they’re doing. It’s really easy to get over excited and start to make a move too early and either go off the course or sacrifice your own line and fall back.”
Jack is a quiet guy with the depth you would expect from a computer executive with an iPod filled with everything from classic rock to just classical music. In addition to his computer training and karting success while growing up, he also has some martial arts experience to draw from when he speaks of discipline on the race track. He says his competition on the track is with himself and not in seeing the other guy lose.
“I’m not sure if racing is a career path. That’s kind of a tough question. Even if I do go to higher levels of racing, I’ll still be a computer executive as I am now. I’m really enjoying the class that I’m in. At 34, he’d be in the middle of the demo for drifting but that doesn’t hold any interest.
“I’m a road racer who likes Mustangs. In fact, one of the things I like about the KONI Challenge series is that we race modified street cars.” He drives a ROUSH Mustang on the street as you might guess.
“I also like the competitiveness of it. We have some of the best drivers in the world like Boris Said and Andy Lally who compete in our series. I love the competition here.”
Evidently, Jack Roush, Jr. has figured out answers to those questions of dealing with an iconic Dad…
Bill Wood is a Senior Writer for RACER magazine.
7/16/07, 02:38 PM
#3
I gotta say, we are really happy to have Jack Jr. on board with Rehagen Racing. Jack has grown tremendously in the short time that he's been with us, and is doing a fantastic job behind the wheel of the #59. He's just a general all around good guy, which is hard to find these days. He even brings his family to the track at most races.
7/16/07, 03:34 PM
#4
Brian, you making it to barbers? I am guessing Jack will be there, looking forward to seeing Dean and crew again, meeting jack and everything as well.
7/16/07, 07:00 PM
#5
I actually will be making Barber; I hadn't originally planned to, but it looks like we are running 4 cars, so we needed as many of the experienced crew as possible, lol. So basically Dean scammed me into going 
We got some new video recorders for inside both 59 and 52, so hopefully we'll be able to post some more in-car stuff in the future . . .
We got some new video recorders for inside both 59 and 52, so hopefully we'll be able to post some more in-car stuff in the future . . .
7/16/07, 09:57 PM
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Very nice find, Dan. Thanks for posting...
Brian... I loved the in-car shots from Mid-Ohio... running off the road at 120mph and watching that wild ride... whew, better Dean than me! Sorry we missed at The Glen. Must be some exciting times around the shop these days. Wish I was part of it!
Keep 'em in line!
Stan
Brian... I loved the in-car shots from Mid-Ohio... running off the road at 120mph and watching that wild ride... whew, better Dean than me! Sorry we missed at The Glen. Must be some exciting times around the shop these days. Wish I was part of it!
Keep 'em in line!
Stan
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