Roush admits to luck at Daytona

Despite having won at Daytona in other series and also in the Sprint Cup's summer event at the same track, Roush claimed his first win at the season-opener last Sunday following 22 previous attempts.

Roush admits to thinking that he would never win the biggest race of the year in NASCAR before he finally celebrated on Victory Lane last Sunday when the race was halted before the scheduled distance was completed.

He says the victory has been a big boost for his team's morale.

"I had pretty much put it out of my mind that I'd ever win a Daytona 500," said Roush. "Of course, it was Matt's 10th try with us. So Matt had not planned on being there for the Monday after the event and had to trek back to North Carolina to get fresh clothes and things for the week that followed, and I had to delay my trip home by half a day.

"It's really been worth it. I know the spirits have picked up in the shop. In fact, I was surprised it was rained out. I was checking weather when they finally called the race. It came hours earlier than I'd expected.

"As I walked through the garage area to the paddock area, I was met by a line of cars, cars that were coming off the racetrack, so I was late getting to the Victory Circle. Matt's victory was a very popular victory among the crew and other teams.

"To a man, everybody I passed congratulated Matt for what he'd been able to do. I've tried to pass that on to him."

Roush also highlighted the work of Kenseth's new crew chief Drew Blickensderfer, who got his maiden win on his debut race in the Sprint Cup Series. At the same time he admitted there was some luck on his team's side as Kenseth took the lead right before the last caution and the rain arrived within minutes.

"You normally don't have that kind of luck," said Roush. "Having the rain come just when he was able to pass, that was almost certainly not the last pass that would have been made if the race had run to its normal conclusion.

"So it kind of fell in his lap, and [Blickensderfer] knows that. But the fact is that he prepared a car that ran from 39th to 1st, and arguably, of the cars that survived, was one of the best cars out there.

"So he had better-than-average chance of finishing if it had gone to conclusion. When you see the snapshot that is imposed by the rain coming, you know you're out of time, then it's just a matter of happenstance that that occurs in your favor."

The man known as 'The Cat in the Hat' expects all of his team's cars - including Kenseth's - to benefit from the testing ban that has been in place since the end of last season. Three of Roush's cars made the Chase last year and he expects to be able carry the momentum in the first part of the season.

"As far as the lack of testing and the things we're going to see heading toward Fontana, the rest of the year, I think it's not a lack of testing, it's a restriction of testing to NASCAR tracks,"

"I think it plays to the strength of teams that have had success recently with this car, and the success the teams have had a good database.

"The partnership we have with Ford Motor Company technically gives us the ability to reduce a bunch of data, reach some conclusions that may not be obvious. The testing situation has played to our strength. The fact that we won at Daytona now certainly gives us encouragement going on to Talladega."

Matt Kenseth has given team owner Jack Roush not only his first Daytona 500 win, but he had also claimed Roush's first Sprint Cup title in 2003. Kurt Busch won the team's most recent championship a year later in 2004.