For the first time in its history, the Roush Performance team is expanding to three cars. The team will field three Ford Mustangs for Fridays' Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season-opening BMW Performance 200 at Daytona International Speedway.
Billy Johnson (San Clemente, Calif.) and Jack Roush Jr. (Livonia, Mich.) return in the team's No. 61 Mustang Boss 302R that they drove to second in the 2011 Grand Sport championship.
The team's No. 51 Mustang will be driven by Shelby Blackstock (Nashville, Tenn.) and Jade Buford (Brentwood, Tenn.) while the No. 49 Mustang will be driven by Roly Falgueras (Fajardo, Puerto Rico) and Bryan Ortiz (San Juan, Puerto Rico).
The #61 Roush Mustang has had great in the series. In the last two years (since Miller Motorsports Park in 2009), Johnson and Roush have won six races while earning 14 podiums and 17 top-five finishes.
"I'm really looking forward to be back with Jack in the No. 61 Roush Performance Mustang this year sporting the brand new 2013 bodywork," Johnson said. "Jack and I have had two amazing seasons in 2010 and 2011 finishing third and second in the championship respectively and we look to continue the consistency and trend to win the Championship this year."
Roush looks forward to the larger effort this season
"In the past, I've always taken great pride in the effort put forth running as a single-car team," Roush said. "Bringing in such a quality collection of drivers to work alongside with takes the program up a notch even higher. I look forward to collaborating with them all on set-up, strategy and driving technique."
However, this is not the first time that the Roush Performance team has fielded a two-car effort. Last year, Blackstock and Falgueras competed against Roush and Johnson in the Continental Tire Series.
"We are very happy to again be part of the Roush family, continuing our more than 15-year relationship with them," said Falgueras. "It's also a real treat to once again work with Jeff Campey, who served as our crew chief in the 1995 Daytona 24 Hour race."
"I am very excited to be driving the No. 51 Roush Performance Boss 302R with Jade, it is a huge opportunity and we are looking forward to a great season," said Blackstock. "Last year was a great opportunity for me to be able to drive the Roush-prepared No. 51 Mustang with Roly Falgueras and we can't wait to build on that in 2012. I want to thank Jack Roush Jr., Roush Performance and Ford for giving me this opportunity to be able to drive this amazing race car with a top team."
Buford and Ortiz have yet to run in a race with Roush Performance, but they both have years of experience running in GRAND-AM, and both tested with the team at Daytona earlier this month.
"Shelby and I work very well together," said Buford. "This showed itself during the Daytona test earlier this month where our lap times were near the top of the charts. The new Boss 302R is an outstanding car to drive. We are looking forward to a great season."
"For me it's an honor being able to drive with the ROUSH Performance team," said Ortiz. "I've driven against them many times in the past as part of the NASCAR Diversity Program. Now, thanks to Roly Falgueras, I will finally have the chance to drive with him. I watched Roly race as I was growing up in Puerto Rico. He is a smart driver with a lot of experience, and I'm sure that he will make a great teammate. I can't wait for the race at Daytona!"
Buford and Blackstock will be driving the No. 51 Mustang for the entire 2012 season, while the list of races where the No. 49 Mustang will compete is still being determined.
The No. 61 Mustang is sponsored by Gary Yeomans Ford Lincoln, USANA Health Sciences, ROUSH Performance, Strategic Brand Solutions, Performance Friction, Mechanix Wear, OMP, Kooks Custom Headers, PWR, BMRS, and GoPro. The No. 51 Mustang is sponsored by Starstruck and ViON, and the No. 49 Mustang is sponsored by MicasaFord.com.
The Continental Tire Series race takes place at 1:30 pm (EST) on Friday, Jan. 27.