Speakers

Jack Roush

Chairman, Roush Enterprises Inc.

Jack Roush is the Chairman of Roush Enterprises, Inc. He attended Berea College and received a mathematics degree with a minor in physics in 1964. He was recruited by Ford Motor Company that year and moved to Detroit to work on the processing of car assembling and tooling. Mr. Roush had always been fascinated with engines and was determined to work in that area. He then went on to obtain a Master’s Degree in Scientific Mathematics from Eastern Michigan University in 1970.

While working for Ford, Mr. Roush was drawn to the company’s extensive motorsports activities. Always the organizer, he soon surrounded himself with others who shared his enthusiasm for going fast in a drag racer. He joined a group called "The Fastbacks" in 1966.

Mr. Roush worked at Chrysler as an engineer for one year before leaving in 1970 to start his own engineering business. As "The Fastbacks" disbanded that year, Mr. Roush began his next venture into racing by forming a partnership with Wayne Gapp. For the next five years, the duo attracted national attention by winning events and one championship each in NHRA, IHRA and AHRA with their Pro Stock racer.

In 1976, Mr. Roush ended his partnership with Gapp and formed Jack Roush Performance Engineering. Mr. Roush’s success at the track and his reputation as a performance engineer helped deliver project after project to his doorstep. He stopped operating the drag racing team, but kept doing race business for other teams. Mr. Roush primarily built engines for other teams throughout the early 1980s.

In 1982 Mr. Roush formed a partnership with Zakspeed Racing to run GTX and GTP cars for Ford in the United States.

In 1984, he returned to competition in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) road racing series and a legend was born. In the first year, he won the manufacturer's title for Lincoln-Mercury. Since then, Roush Racing has claimed 24 national championships and titles in the two series, including 12 manufacturer’s championships.

In 1988, Mr. Roush moved south and expanded his racing business to include a NASCAR Winston Cup team with driver Mark Martin.

Today, Jack Roush has expanded his racing operations to include five Nextel Cup teams as well as full- and part-time Busch Series and two Craftsman Truck Series teams. In October of 2004, Roush earned his 300th career win in the post-drag racing era as a team owner with Kenseth’s Busch victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway. His engine facilities in Livonia, Mich., and Mooresville, N.C., also supply the horsepower for several other teams in Nextel Cup and Busch Series racing, including Wood Brothers Racing.

Beau Boeckmann

Vice President, Galpin Ford