By Fred Young, Photos by Gretus Hoogstraat

Saturday, March 10th, proved to be a great day for Porsche club members. Over 50 guests toured the Roush Racing Museum in Livonia. If you were into NASCAR stock cars or Mustangs this was the place to be. Of course there was a Ford GT, a Cunningham, pickups and other specialty cars that rounded out the field, but the numbers seemed to be split among the main two groups. Corporate Archivist and Historian, Tyler Wolfe, greeted us at the entrance and explained a little about Jack Roush, the founder, and his history with his company and Ford cars, in particular, Mustangs. After the brief explanation, members were left to wander about and look at the collection of over 115 cars. Of course, Tyler was on hand to answer any and all questions that arose and regale us with his comprehensive knowledge of the collection.

Judging from conversations overheard many of those present had a font of knowledge that they shared with other enthusiasts. Lucas Phan held court explaining the aerodynamics of the Ford GT to everyone’s amazement.

In 1976 Jack Roush founded Jack Roush Performance Engineering. He had a passion for hot rods, racing and Mustangs. His success on the track, combined with his reputation as a performance engineer helped his young business thrive. On the road today are more than 16,000 up-fitted Mustangs. Roush Racing is the winningest Ford racing team in history. Overall Jack has won 32 championships and earned over 500 event wins in drag racing, sports cars and stock car racing. Many of those were on display at the museum. A great deal of performance parts are available for Mustangs and F-150 pickups along with Roush superchargers that are authorized by Ford Motor Co. He also owns a controlling interest in Roush Fenway Racing, a NASCAR team fielding 4 teams across NASCAR’S top two divisions and Roush Yates Engines located, a joint venture that produces engines for all of Ford’s NASCAR teams, as well as teams competing in a variety of IMSA series and assorted other forms of motorsport. Both of these companies are based out of North Carolina. Overall, his enterprises employ over 4,500 people.

In the museum hanging high on a wall were several aircraft parts comprising of a fuselage, wings and two propellers. This was the remains of an experimental aircraft that Mr. Roush crashed in Troy, Alabama in 2002. He was rescued from a watery death by a nearby Marine veteran who saved his life. He suffered extensive injuries but made a full recovery. He went on to survive another plane crash in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 2010. We are glad he was able to overcome his tragic accidents and share his museum and racing history with us. It certainly was an enjoyable adventure viewing the museum.

Visitors were also given the opportunity to visit the museum gift shop. Retail manager, Lynn McClenaghan graciously opened the store for the purchase of NASCAR and Mustang related caps, shirts, car and the like. There was quite a vast selection of great items for purchase. In case you missed the tour, the museum is open during the week for perusal. You can go to www.roushcollection.com for further information.