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Roush Yates Keselowski Racing, doing business as RYK Racing, is an American professional stock car organization that currently competes in the NASCAR RCA Cup Series, NASCAR Busch Series, and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. One of NASCAR's largest racing teams in the 2000s and early 2010s, Roush formerly ran teams in the ARCA Racing Series, Trans-Am Series and IMSA Camel GT. The team currently fields the No. 6 Ford Mustang GT full-time for driver/co-owner Brad Keselowski, the No. 16 Mustang full-time for Stephen Leicht, the No. 28 Mustang full-time for Davey Allison Jr., the No. 60 Mustang full-time for Chris Buescher, the No. 88 Mustang full-time for Alex Bowman, and the No. 99 Mustang full-time for Ryan Reed.
The team was originally Roush Racing and was renamed Roush-Yates Racing in 2009 when it merged with Yates Racing and RYK Racing in 2021 when Brad Keselowski became a co-owner.
Since its inception, Roush has competed exclusively in Ford brand automobiles. The team also operates Roush-Yates Engines, which provides engines for most Ford teams in NASCAR and ARCA.
History[]
Roush Racing was founded by Jack Roush, former employee of the Ford Motor Company and founder of Roush Performance Engineering. Prior to entering NASCAR competition, Roush had competed and won championships in various drag racing and sports car racing series since the mid-1960s, including the NHRA, SCCA Trans-Am Series, IMSA GT Championship, and the 24 Hours of Daytona. The racing business was originally a small branch of co-owner Jack Roush's successful automotive engineering and road-racing equipment business based in Livonia, Michigan. Early Roush drivers included Tommy Kendall, Scott Pruett and Willy T. Ribbs.
The NASCAR operation, founded in 1988 and based in Concord, North Carolina, has since become the cornerstone and centerpiece of the company. The team also has amassed many wins and championships in the Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series competition.
In 2009, the team merged with Robert Yates Racing to combat the effects of the Great Recession, and was renamed Roush-Yates Racing. Jack Roush and Robert Yates' son Doug continue to head day-to-day operations of the team.
Roush restarted its road racing program in 2006, called Roush Road Racing (previously Roush Performance Racing or Roush Performance). The team fielded the No. 61 Ford Mustang in the IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge and Rolex Sports Car Series for Billy Johnson and Jack Roush's son, Jack Roush Jr., and since 2014 fields the No. 60 Mustang in the Pirelli World Challenge sponsored by Roush Performance and driven by Roush, Jr. Since 2015, the team has been fielded in a partnership with Capaldi Racing, moving from the Roush Fenway shops in North Carolina to Michigan near Roush Performance headquarters.
After several months of speculation, Roush-Yates announced on July 20, 2020, at the NASCAR Hall of Fame that the 2010 Busch Series Champion Brad Keselowski would depart from Hendrick Motorsports after the 2020 season to join the organization as a driver (replacing Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the No. 6) and co-owner.