Roush Fenway Racing Has Recovered In Several Ways

The 2013 NASCAR season will be a comeback year for Roush Fenway Racing.

As the official start of the season is just less than days and hours away, Roush Fenway Racing is getting ready to see if all of their latest changes and accomplishments will be successful in 2013. Heading into the new year RFR also managed to make a few recoveries along the way.

During the offseason following the closure of the 2012 season, RFR began to make preparations. In the Cup Series RFR lost one of its long time drivers when Matt Kesneth departed to join Joe Gibbs Racing, as he left it left a seat open that didn’t take long to fill. Kenseth’s departure opened up many more opportunities for other drivers.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made his way up to the No.17 car after back-to-back Nationwide Series championships and will contend for the cup championship along with teammates Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle.

As RFR is making a recovery in all of its teams, RFR along with Edwards look to turn things around by making 2013 a comeback year after his slump in 2012.

Meanwhile RFR’s biggest recovery will be within their Nationwide Series program as not only will the team feature a car in the championship hunt but also this year it will have twice the chance to win and even field up to three entries.

Making his comeback to full time competition will be Trevor Bayne after missing out on full time status after his team was shut down in 2012 due to sponsorship issues. Not with his return does he get the opportunity to race for a championship but it also shows that Bayne and RFR were able to overcome any trouble and successfully work on a return that would pay off for both.

Also making a return in 2013 will be the No.60 car, which happens to be one of the most iconic and victorious car within the Nationwide Series. The No.60 car has not been seen around the track as it had once been before. The last time the car was on the track was during Bayne’s last Nationwide appearance at Bristol in 2012. The No.60 won RFR several championships and with its return to full time racing is a big recovery for the time.

Joining RFR in the return of the iconic No.60 car will be Travis Pastrana, the action sports star will be making his full-time start with RFR at Daytona after making his debut in 2012. Pastrana may not be able to race for rookie honors but along with Bayne they will attempt to keep RFR on top of the Nationwide Series with hopes of keeping the championship within RFR.

Also in 2013 the No.16 car will also return in the Nationwide Series but in a partial schedule. Throughout the season Ryan Reed will go behind the wheel of the No.16 car for select races, with the April race at Richmond as his first. The partial schedule for Reed and the No. 16 team comes after an association with RFR and the American Diabetes Association as part of the Drive to Stop Diabetes SM awareness campaign.

Going into 2013 RFR seems to have picked up on business and will be as competitive as it has been over the last few seasons.

Christy Valdez is a member of the NASCAR Media. Follow her on Twitter @Knowursports and on Facebook at On The Sidelines With Christy