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Jack Roush (born Jackson Earnest Roush on April 19, 1942) is the founder, CEO, and co-owner of
Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Roush is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Politics *Glenn Roush (1934–2020), American politician in Montana * J. Edward Roush (1920–2004), United States Representative for Indiana, namesake of: ** J. Edward Roush Lake, a res ...
, a NASCAR team headquartered in
Concord, North Carolina Concord is the county seat and largest city in Cabarrus County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 105,186, with an estimated population in 2021 of 107,697. In terms of population, the c ...
, and is chairman of Roush Enterprises. Roush Enterprises is the parent company for Roush Racing as well as Roush Industries, a freelance engineering firm;
Roush Performance Roush Performance is an American automotive company primarily involved in the engineering, development, and manufacturing of high-performance components for street and competitive racing applications. The company's namesake is automotive mogul ...
, an automotive aftermarket development company; and ROUSH CleanTech, a manufacturer of propane
autogas Autogas or LPG is liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) used as a fuel in internal combustion engines in vehicles as well as in stationary applications such as generators. It is a mixture of propane and butane. Autogas is widely used as a "green" ...
fuel systems, all headquartered in Livonia, Michigan. His companies employ more than 2,000 people throughout North America and Europe. Rarely seen without his trademark
Panama hat A Panama hat, also known as an Ecuadorian hat, a jipijapa hat, or a toquilla straw hat, is a traditional brimmed straw hat of Ecuadorian origin. Traditionally, hats were made from the plaited leaves of the '' Carludovica palmata'' plant, know ...
, Roush is known on the NASCAR circuit as " The Cat in the Hat". Roush was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame on April 27, 2006. In 2008, Roush was elected to the
Michigan Sports Hall of Fame The Michigan Sports Hall of Fame is a Hall of Fame to honor Michigan sports athletes, coaches and contributors. It was organized in 1954 by Michigan Lieutenant Governor Philip Hart, Michigan State University athletic director Biggie Munn, presid ...
and was inducted on September 13, 2010, in Novi. On May 23, 2018, Roush was selected as one of the five inductees for the 2019 NASCAR Hall of Fame class. Roush was also inducted into the EAA Warbirds of America Hall of Fame on November 8, 2018, for his contributions to
warbird A warbird is any vintage military aircraft now operated by civilian organizations and individuals, or in some instances, by historic arms of military forces, such as the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, the RAAF Museum Historic Flight, or the ...
s and the warbird community. On November 3, 2022, he was inducted into the SEMA (Specialty Aftermarket Market Association) Hall of Fame.


Early years

Roush was born in
Covington, Kentucky Covington is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States, located at the confluence of the Ohio and Licking Rivers. Cincinnati, Ohio, lies to its immediate north across the Ohio and Newport, to its east across the Licking ...
and grew up in
Manchester, Ohio Manchester is a village in Manchester Township, Adams County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 2,023 at the 2010 census. History The community was originally founded in 1790 as Massie's Station for Nathaniel Mas ...
. He earned a mathematics degree with a minor in physics from
Berea College Berea College is a private liberal arts work college in Berea, Kentucky. Founded in 1855, Berea College was the first college in the Southern United States to be coeducational and racially integrated. Berea College charges no tuition; every a ...
, and a master's in scientific mathematics from Eastern Michigan University. Roush worked at Ford after graduating in 1966, and left in 1970 to pursue his own company. He worked for a year at
Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...
before leaving to open his own engineering business. Roush then went on to partner with Wayne Gapp to race in NHRA, IHRA, and AHRA
drag racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most ...
events. Throughout much of his career Roush offered for sale the parts that he developed for his own team. In 1982, he partnered with German firm Zakspeed to develop road racing vehicles for
Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...
. This led to a very successful run in the
Trans-Am series The Trans-Am Series is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of track types includi ...
and
IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive dire ...
Camel GT in the 1980s and early 90s. In 1988, Roush moved south and founded a NASCAR
Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...
team with driver Mark Martin.


NASCAR

RFK Racing currently fields two cars in the
NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971 ...
(driven by
Chris Buescher Christopher William Buescher (born October 29, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 17 Ford Mustang for RFK Racing. He is the 2012 ARCA Racing Series and 2015 ...
, and
Brad Keselowski Bradley Aaron Keselowski (; born February 12, 1984) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and entrepreneur. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 6 Ford Mustang for RFK Racing, a team he also ...
). The Xfinity team was shut down at the end of the 2018 season. Roush has won eight championships as a car owner in NASCAR's top three series: two Cup titles (2003 with
Matt Kenseth Matthew Roy Kenseth (born March 10, 1972) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He drives the No. 8 car in the Superstar Racing Experience. (SRX) Kenseth started racing on several short tracks in Wisconsin and won track cha ...
and 2004 with
Kurt Busch Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American professional auto racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. He is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the ...
), five Xfinity Series titles (2002 with Greg Biffle, 2007 with
Carl Edwards Carl Michael Edwards II (born August 15, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Prior to that, he drove the No. 99 ...
, 2011–2012 with Stenhouse Jr., and 2015 with Chris Buescher and a
Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of ...
title in 2000 with Biffle. Roush has two
Daytona 500 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of thr ...
victories as a car owner, both with driver Kenseth in 2009 and 2012. Since Roush entered NASCAR competition his team has 283 wins and 212 poles.


Opposition of Toyota

Throughout his NASCAR career Roush has been an outspoken opponent of Toyota's NASCAR operations. Roush is vocally loyal to
Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...
and throughout his career has made cracks against Toyota being in NASCAR. In 2007 Roush entered a verbal feud with Toyota team leader Lee White during the Toyota controversy following the rocket fuel incident.


Roush Performance

Roush Performance sells a variety of vehicles, parts, and high-performance crate engines. Perhaps best known for the line of upfitted Ford Mustangs, they have more than 16,000 vehicles on the roads today. Typical improvements on the base chassis include appearance packages (body kit, wheels, etc.), suspension and handling upgrades, and horsepower boosts through the use of a ROUSHcharger supercharger system. ROUSH Performance sells versions of their Mustang with as much as 775 horsepower and 610 lb-ft of torque.


ROUSH CleanTech

By 2008, Roush expanded into offering propane-autogas-fueled vehicles designed for fleet usage and in 2010, formed ROUSH CleanTech. The company designs, engineers, manufactures and installs
clean technology Clean technology, in short cleantech, is any process, product, or service that reduces negative environmental impacts through significant energy efficiency improvements, the sustainable use of resources, or environmental protection activities. Cle ...
fuel systems, including propane autogas and electric propulsion technology for medium-duty Ford commercial vehicles and Type A and Type C Blue Bird Corporation school buses


Plane crashes

On April 19, 2002 (his 60th birthday), Roush almost lost his life when his private plane, an Aircam, went down in a lake in
Troy, Alabama Troy is a city in and the county seat of Pike County, Alabama, United States. It was formally incorporated on February 4, 1843. Between 1763 and 1783, the area where Troy sits was part of the colony of British West Florida.The Economy of Bri ...
. Roush was underwater and unconscious, suffering from a concussion, when Larry Hicks, a retired Marine in a nearby boat, rescued Roush from under water, pulled him to safety, and administered CPR. Shortly afterwards, Roush was flown to
UAB Hospital UAB Hospital (also known as University Hospital) is a 1,157 bed tertiary hospital and academic health science center located in Birmingham, Alabama. It serves as the only ACS verified Level I Trauma Center in Alabama, and is the flagship proper ...
in
Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fro ...
, where he was treated for a head injury, broken ribs, and a shattered left leg. Hicks was injured as a result of the rescue, suffering cramps in both his arms and first degree chemical burns on his body from the fuel. On July 27, 2010, Roush crashed his Hawker Beechcraft Premier 390 jet (registration N6JR) during an approach to the
EAA AirVenture Oshkosh EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (formerly the EAA Annual Convention and Fly-In), or just Oshkosh, is an annual air show and gathering of aviation enthusiasts held each summer at Wittman Regional Airport and adjacent Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, ...
airshow in
Oshkosh, Wisconsin Oshkosh is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat. The city had a population of 66,816 in 2020, making it the ninth-largest city in Wisconsin. It is also adjacent to the Town of Oshkosh. History Oshkosh was ...
, in the late afternoon. He walked out of the plane and was taken to a nearby hospital. His condition was listed at serious but stable that evening. On August 3, Roush was upgraded to fair condition. On August 13, Roush made his first at track appearance since the incident at the Michigan International Speedway. During that time he confirmed that he fractured his back, broke his jaw, and lost vision in his left eye as a result. The National Transportation Safety Board attributed the cause of the crash to pilot error, specifically, "pilot's decision not to advance the engines to takeoff power during the go-around, as stipulated by the airplane flight manual, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall at a low altitude."


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roush, Jack Living people 1942 births Sportspeople from Covington, Kentucky NASCAR team owners Corporate executives in the automobile industry Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents Berea College alumni International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from the Cincinnati metropolitan area People from Manchester, Ohio NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees