Roush Drag Team Wins Championship

Susan Roush-McClenaghan follows in her father’s footsteps 40 years later.

In 1971 Jack Roush entered the SS/HA class at the NHRA U.S. Nationals held in Indianapolis, Ind., and won. Fast-forward 40 years, Susan Roush-McClenaghan, daughter of Roush Fenway Racing co-owner Jack Roush, won the final National Muscle Car Association (NMCA) points meet of the 2011 season at Indianapolis on October 9 at O’Reilly Raceway Park. Roush-McClenaghan paired up with David Hearn for the final round of eliminations. Hearn left the start line with a -.001 reaction time handing the round and the class victory to McClenaghan, her fifth-career win with a propane-powered Ford Mustang. It was through this win that McClenaghan was able to secure the NMCA Championship title in the Open Comp class at the 10th Annual FuelLab NMCA World Street Finals.

“Indy is a very special place with a long and rich history in drag racing,” Roush-McClenaghan said.  “It was one of the largest fields the NMCA has seen in recent years, which makes this win even more of an
accomplishment. I am so proud of the whole team. What a fantastic way to end the 2011 season.  This was my first season with Heritage Propane as my sponsor and I can’t imagine a better ending. We have a longstanding relationship with 3M and we’re appreciative of their support and commitment to our team as well.”

Ed Varney, vice president of national account marketing of Heritage Propane, said, “We are extremely happy for Susan and her team! We are proud of their hard work on achieving the championship.”

McClenaghan competed in a total of six elimination rounds on Sunday to win the last NMCA points race of the year.  This is the second-consecutive year that Roush Drag Team has captured the NMCA title. McClenaghan’s teammate, Donnie Bowles won the title in 2010 making Roush Drag Team undefeated in the NMCA series since Bowles and McClenaghan converted their ROUSH Stage 3™ Mustangs to run on liquid propane for the start of the 2010 season.

In the NMCA series, McClenaghan’s car is an offshoot of the kits that ROUSH Performance uses to convert gasoline powered Ford pickups and vans to run on clean burning propane. The car uses an all-aluminum 5.4L V-8 Ford engine that was originally designed for the Ford GT Supercar.  This engine is naturally-aspirated with a 12.5:1 compression ratio.  Other changes were required to run on liquid propane including CNC ported cylinder heads, high performance camshaft and valvetrain and a wet sump lubrication system, all of which helps these liquid propane-power engines generate more than 700 horsepower.

Propane is a very safe to use as motor fuel and has significantly lower flammability than gasoline.  It is good in cool or hot weather which makes it ideal for motorsports applications.  Propane is the third most popular motor fuel behind gasoline and diesel and there are already more than 12 million propane-fueled vehicles on roads worldwide.  As a green fuel, propane fleet vehicles reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 19 percent and create 20 percent fewer nitrogen oxides, up to 60 percent
less carbon monoxide and fewer particulate emissions as compared to gasoline.

McClenaghan will next compete in the 3rd Annual Nitto Tire NMRA/NMCA Lone Star Shootout at Houston, Texas November 11-13.

Roush Racing PR