2019 Team Preview: Roush Fenway Racing - Monster Energy Cup Series

Fresh off team owner Jack Roush being inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Roush Fenway Racing heads into its 32nd season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

The organization will have a new driver for its flagship No. 6 Ford as Ryan Newman joins RFR. He replaces Trevor Bayne and Matt Kenseth, who split the driving duties last season. Newman will team with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver of the No. 17 Ford.

For Newman, an 18-time race winner and 51-time pole winner, it will be the fourth organization that he’s driven for in what will be his 18th full season in the Cup Series.

“My crew chief Scott Graves is new for me, everybody on the team,” Newman said. “There’s nobody at all either randomly or accidently from where I have been in the past to Roush Fenway Racing. It’s all new, which is good. I look forward to that and building that team and that chemistry where we stand proud when the green flag drops and we stand just as proud when the checkered flag drops.”

6 Car Oscar Meyer — Click to View 2019 Paint Schemes

Graves rejoins RFR to be Newman’s crew chief after spending the past three seasons at Joe Gibbs Racing. Graves helped lead JGR’s Daniel Suarez to the 2016 Xfinity Series title after capturing the Xfinity championship the year prior with Chris Buescher at RFR.

Newman is also looking forward to working with Stenhouse Jr., who returns for his seventh full-time season in the Cup Series with RFR.

“We have raced a lot around each other and never had any issues,” Newman said. “We have a lot of respect for each other on and off the racetrack. We both grew up doing the same thing in midgets, sprints, Silver Crown racing and dirt racing as well.”

With a new car – the Ford Mustang – a new teammate and a new rules package, Stenhouse Jr. says this is the perfect time for a change as the organization looks to return to Victory Lane and the playoffs in 2019.

Stenhouse Mustang “Right now is good time for change, especially for us at Roush Fenway and our organization,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “Having Ryan come in I feel like is going to be really beneficial. We raced around Ryan a whole lot when he was at RCR. There was times that they would get some speed out of their cars and we kind of questioned, ‘hey how did they get that much faster?’ I think he’s in-tune with all of that and can obliviously help us out with all of that and just get his feedback on the way our cars drive. It’s great having him come over.”

See Also: Mustang, Roush Have Rich History

Newman, who participated in the the two-day test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last week, will kick off the season at Daytona International Speedway by racing in the Advance Auto Parts Clash with Wyndham Rewards returning to sponsor the No. 6. Oscar Mayer will sponsor Newman in the Daytona 500 and will be a primary in a number of races in 2019, including the March race at ISM Raceway. Performance Plus will continue to be the official lubricant and motor oil of Roush Fenway and will be on the No. 6 Ford for multiple events.

A number of sponsors – Fastenal, SunnyD and Fifth Third Bank, will return to sponsor Stenhouse Jr. as part of an extension through 2021 that was announced last April.

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