Although Roush Fenway Racing has brought in Brad Keselowski as a co-owner, it won’t mean Jack Roush retiring.
While Roush may be 79 and not as active as he used to be in the Cup Series, he is not looking to step down and rather play a key role in the organization’s long-term goal starting with the addition of Keselowski in the team and management.
“I welcome (Brad) as a partner and look forward to what we can do together. I’ve been asked to say that I’m passing my baton to him, which I am, but I still have one hand on the thing, so I’m not going to give up completely for a while,” Roush said.
“There are no retirement plans for me in my immediate future. I intend to keep going to the race tracks the way I have and to be as much of a nuisance and distraction as I have been to my drivers and crew chiefs in the past.”
NASCAR penalizes Hendrick Motorsports executives
Roush has been a part of motorsports for a long time now and his team has won the championship in all three NASCAR national series. The team’s first Cup entry came in 1988 with driver Mark Martin. The Cup Series championship winner with the team includes Matt Kenseth (2003) and Kurt Busch (2004).
However, the team has only won two Cup races since 2014. With the addition of Keselowski, the team intends to return to the top level again.
“He’s one of the top drivers in the sport. He’s an inspiration to me for what he’s done with his truck team,” Roush said of Keselowski. “He has been to the highest levels of the sport, and in the meantime initiated the start of an aerospace manufacturing service company that has got a great future, so he’s ready for the next challenge, which is participating in the ownership of a team.
“Over a period of time Brad will earn his independence and he will gain a significant position of ownership in the team. One of the things that’s been a challenge for me is to answer the questions I’ve gotten over a period of time – ‘When are you going to retire? What is your succession plan?’
“Well, Brad Keselowski and the Next Gen car and the things that we can do together in the near term and the future that we see long-term is my retirement plan and I just hope I can take lots of green flags and lots of checkered flags before we get there.”