2017 RACE SEASON IN REVIEW
MOORESVILLE, NC, December 6, 2017 – The 2017 race season was full of excitement and accomplishments for Roush Yates Engines and Ford Performance, powering 30 NASCAR and Road Race teams across 128 events in 41 weeks across six diverse race series spanning nine countries and three continents.
1 CHAMPIONSHIP – 29 WINS – 31 POLES
“2017 was an exciting year for us,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “To be a part of the successful transition of Stewart-Haas Racing and to see so many young drivers winning races was exciting for us and Ford Performance. We had many great moments in 2017, including winning all four MENCS restrictor plate races at Daytona and Talladega. We would like to thank the world-class leadership team of Ford Performance, our valued partners and dedicated staff for a successful 2017 season. We’re focused on 2018 and look forward to the start of a new season.”
During the course of the 2017 season, the signature Ford FR9 EFI and FR9 Carb race engines powered Ford Performance teams to one championship, 22 overall wins and 22 pole positions across the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series.
The first of these wins came at Daytona International Speedway. Kurt Busch recorded his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 win and first win for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in partnership with Ford Performance.
Kevin Harvick, No. 4 driver for SHR captured their first pole of the season in Atlanta, while the No. 2, Brad Keselowski from Team Penske won the race.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made history at Talladega Superspeedway winning his first MENCS career race while starting from the pole position for Roush Fenway Racing.
No manufacturer has dominated the restrictor-plate tracks of Daytona and Talladega in recent years more than Ford. Stenhouse Jr. and Keselowski made history, with Stenhouse Jr. winning the Daytona Coke Zero 400 and Keselowski going to victory lane in the Alabama 500, marking the first time for Ford and Roush Yates Engines to sweep the restrictor plate races in a signal NASCAR season.
Ryan Blaney delivered the best season for Wood Brother’s Racing since 1995 by winning his first career Cup race at Pocono and tallying two poles for the season.
Harvick also recorded his first win under the Ford brand at Sonoma and went onto record a total four poles and two wins, including the AAA Texas 500 in the 2017 season.
Kurt Busch in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Fusion captured the 280th overall pole for Roush Yates Engines at Texas Motor Speedway. Busch recorded the fastest lap in MENCS history on a 1.5-mile track at 26.877 seconds, running 200.915 mph.
The NASCAR Xfinity season started with Ryan Reed from Roush Fenway Racing winning the PowerShares QQQ 300 at Daytona International Speedway.
Cole Custer with SHR captured their first career Xfinity race win under the Ford Performance banner at Homestead-Miami.
The Xfinity season was capped off with Roger Penske and Team Penske No. 22 Ford Mustang being awarded the Owner’s Championship. The No. 22 recorded four wins and two poles on the season with five different drivers; Ryan Blaney, Sam Hornish Jr., Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Austin Cindric.
In the final season for Brad Keselowski Racing both the No. 19 driver, Austin Cindric and No. 29 driver, Chase Briscoe showcased their aspiring talent. Both drivers won their first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races and recorded a total of five poles. Both of these drivers will be seen in the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series, competing for Roush Fenway Racing.
In road racing, the twin-turbo Ford EcoBoost, which powered the Ford GT achieved four wins and six pole positions across the IMSA and FIA Series.
The first of these wins came in IMSA and FIA season openers; the Rolex 24 At Daytona for the Ford Chip Ganassi Racing – US team and Six Hours of Silverstone for the Ford Chip Ganassi Racing – UK team respectively.
2017 also marked the inaugural race year for the Ford Mustang GT4 powered by the Mustang 5.2L V8 race engine in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Series. The teams accumulated a total of three poles and three wins on the season and marked the 300th overall win for Roush Yates Engines.
14 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 312 WINS – 282 POLES!
Thanks to our premier partners; Ford Performance, Mitsubishi Materials U.S.A., Safety-Kleen, Universal Technical Institute, Cometic Gasket, Clevite, Mitee-Bite Products, Rottler, Mastercam, Converge CFD Software, L.S. Starrett, RKL eSolutions, and TYKMA Electrox.
And a special Thank you to our Fans! Thank you for the support and we look forward to seeing you back at the track in 2018.
About Roush Yates Engines
Roush Yates Engines is a leading edge engine development company, with three state-of-the-art facilities based in Mooresville, NC; which include Roush Yates Engines, Roush Yates Performance Engines Group, focused on road racing and Roush Yates Manufacturing Solutions, a world class manufacturing center and ISO 9001 / AS9100 certified. The company’s core business includes designing, building and testing race engines.
Roush Yates Engines in partnership with Ford Performance is the exclusive engine builder of the NASCAR Ford FR9 V8 engine and twin-turbo Ford EcoBoost V6 race engine that powers the Ford GT supercar.
With the unparalleled culture of winning and steeped in rich racing history, Roush Yates Engines continues to follow the company’s vision to lead performance engine innovation and staying true to the company’s mission, provide winning engines through demonstrated power and performance.