Scott's Pit Box: My Take On Roush Fenway Reformat

I've been a long-time fan of Roush Fenway Racing, I can remember the first time that Mark Martin got behind the wheel of one of Jack Roush's Ford Thunderbirds in 1988 at Daytona.  There first race was a very rough one, and for the first 1 and 3/4 seasons at Roush, it was a struggle for the organization to find its way until they did in 1989 at Rockingham's North Carolina Speedway.

Jack Roush's teams still looking for right handle in 2015

There is a glare of those struggles going on again, Roush Fenway Racing has been struggling since 2012 and finally in the off-season there was some changes made to the organizations leadership roles in Sprint Cup and overall engineering.  Mark McArdle took on the position as the head engineer of the organization while Kevin Kidd took on the role of Sprint Cup Series director among the team.

Here's the variable in all this, changes made to an organization don't always mean an instant success.  It takes time to put all the pieces in place to become successful.  Roush will have a new car on the track from what I have been told around Texas, I don't expect them to be running with Hendrick Motorsports or Stewart Haas Racing anytime soon, but I do expect to see changes in the way the car is handling.

Roush is in a rebuilding stage.  I have some what compared it to coach Butch Jones at the University of Tennessee when he first took on the job with the Volunteers.  Tennessee was in a struggle with 3 head coaches in the matter of 5 years.  He has had the motto "Brick By Brick" since he came to being the head coach there.  At Roush I feel it's going to be very similar.  And there are going to be some fans that aren't happy with the slow process but this team will get back to where they want to be at, and it might take another year. 

The schematics of the organization have changed and it will take putting all the right formula's in to make sure the team gets back to where they want to be at.  Jack Roush isn't getting any younger and I've noticed more and more than he has realized a lot more of the leadership roles to Robbie Reiser, Steve Newmark and his two newest guys McArdle and Kidd.   Ricky Stenhouse showed some promise last weekend at Phoenix that things were beginning to turn around with a 13th place finish.  This weekend teams will go to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana and it has in the past been one of the organizations strongest venues.  Each week will be a learning curve for the organization.

This is Bob Osborne's first season back since 2012

In amongst all the changes, veteran crew chief Bob Osborne has been working with Trevor Bayne in his first season full-time in the Sprint Cup Series.  Osborne apologized last weekend for the ill-handling car he brought Bayne to the track at Phoenix, and I have to put that into the equation as well.

Osborne has been out of the series as a crew chief since 2012, and the cars have had made changes to them that might be playing a big role in how he works the races.  So I believe with Osborne and his engineer team it will take a bit for the team to make a strong showing.  Those that keep doubting Bayne need to realize, he's not in top notch equipment just yet.  If you provide the Tennessee native with the right equipment, he can perform.  He showed that last season when he gave Kyle Busch a run for his money in several Xfinity Series races.