Close, but no cigar.  Sounds negative at first, but when you look at the opportunities seized, the Roush racers in the #59 Ford Mustang did quite well in the KONI Challenge season finale at Virginia International Raceway.  The team of three drivers (Jack Roush, Jr., Dean Martin, and Ryan Phinny) piloted the pony to a very successful finish, less than a quarter second shy of sweet victory.  After six grueling hours on the track, the Roush team held up strongly against the competition, with methodic position gains and overcoming chafed tires near the end.  Near the finish and after an ugly caution was lifted, Martin was forced to give up the lead to Rehagen Racing teammate Matt Plumb, who was just out with fresh rubber on his #60 Mustang.  Martin still kept with Plumb down to the finish and closed out the second closest finish in KONI Challenge history, a mere 0.208 seconds behind.  There is much more to the exciting event in store, so keep reading the full story in the official Press Release from Roush.

We were recently invited to join Cooper Tires and Roush Performance at an unveiling event for a new high-performance tire (the RS3) that Cooper has developed exclusively for Roush Performance.  A nice dinner kicked off the event Monday (9/29/08) evening, track time took up all day Tuesday, and travel home closed it up on Wednesday.  We all tore up the 1.88-mile course at Gingerman Raceway in a Stage3 Roush Mustang to get a first hand feel of the results.  You’ve got to see the pictures!

Update 10/1:  We are back.  Click below to see full event coverage with pics! (more…)