Supposed Closure of Roush Fenway Racing’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Program Leaked

All of RFR’s 2018 Xfinity drivers have already announced they won’t be with the team next year.

byAmanda Vincent|
NASCAR photo
Share

0

Ty Majeski, part-time driver for Roush Fenway Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this past season, claims RFR won’t compete there next year. The purported shutdown of Roush Fenway’s Xfinity Series program comes just three years after Chris Buescher won the series championship with the team in 2015.

Roush Fenway Racing has competed in the Xfinity Series on at least a part-time basis since 1992. The team is remaining tight-lipped on its plans for 2019, but while in Pensacola, Florida for the Snowball Derby late model race on Sunday, Majeski claimed he was told by team officials that there would be no more RFR Xfinity Series program.

Majeski drove Roush Fenway’s No. 60 Ford in 12 of the 33 Xfinity Series races last season, sharing the driver’s seat with Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe through a Ford NASCAR driver development program. In all, Majeski has competed in 15 series races, dating back to 2017.

Roush Fenway Racing expanded to two full-time cars in the Xfinity Series last year, also fielding a No. 16 Ford driven by Ryan Reed. Reed announced he wasn’t returning to RFR in 2019 after his longtime sponsor, Lilly Diabetes, decided to withdraw its sponsorship of the team.

Ryan Reed and Lilly Diabetes leave Roush Fenway Racing.

, Ryan Reed raced the No. 16 Ford for Roush Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with backing from Lilly Diabetes., Roush Fenway Racing

Both Briscoe and Cindric have found full-time Xfinity Series opportunities with other Ford teams for next season—Briscoe with Stewart-Haas Racing and Cindric with Team Penske. Reed has yet to announce plans for next season.

Combined, the No. 16 and 60 teams managed only two top-five finishes in 2018, both by Reed. He also scored 10 top-10 finishes, while the No. 60 trio of drivers notched five—two with Majeski and three with Briscoe.

A win by Reed at Daytona International Speedway last year is Roush Fenway Racing’s only Xfinity Series win since taking the championship with Buescher in 2015.

RFR has struggled across the NASCAR board in recent years. The organization had five full-time entries in NASCAR’s Cup Series until the stock car racing sanctioning body instituted a four-car cap. It then scaled back to two cars ahead of the 2017 season, upon the departure of driver Greg Biffle.

stripe
NASCARRacing