Daytona was picture of futility for Roush team and drivers

Better days are ahead.
By MARK LONG
ASSOCIATED PRESS
No one could have been as eager to leave Daytona as team owner Jack Roush.
All of his drivers finished outside the top 10 in the season-opening Daytona 500, the first time that has happened in any race since July 2004.
Mark Martin had a late pit problem, worked his way back through the field and wound up a team-high 12th. Matt Kenseth got into two altercations with defending series champion Tony Stewart that ended his shot at victory. He managed 15th despite the troubles.
Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray and Carl Edwards weren't as fortunate. They all wrecked and were 31st, 37th and last, respectively, in the 43-car field.
"We got ourselves into a little bit of a hole in Daytona, but I have no doubt that this team will turn it around this weekend," Biffle said.
History agrees.
Westward bound
Biffle had a win and a second-place finish at California Speedway last year. Edwards picked up two top fives there. Martin and Kenseth each had a top-10 showing. And McMurray -- driving his first season for Roush Racing -- has four top 10s in five career starts in Fontana.
So there's no better place for the Roush teammates to rebound from their Daytona disaster.
"After two weeks at Daytona, I can't wait to get on the track at California," Martin said. "I'm ready to get to a track where things are a little more in control of the driver, and Fontana is really my kind of track. It suits my driving style and we've been pretty good there in the last couple of years."
Kenseth was equally candid about moving on from NASCAR's most famous track.
"The frustrating part of Daytona is that there's so much that happens there that is out of your control," said Kenseth, who gave Roush the first of consecutive series titles in 2003. "But Fontana is more like the racing we'll be doing for most of the season, so it's nice to get out there and have more control of your destiny than at Daytona or any restrictor-plate track."
Roush cars have historically struggled at Daytona.
Martin and Kenseth are winless in Nextel Cup points races at the 21/2-mile oval, while former Roush driver Jeff Burton and Biffle have the owner's only Cup victories there since he started fielding teams in 1988. Burton won the Pepsi 400 in 2000, and Biffle accomplished the same feat three years later.
Driver angered
But Roush's woes at Daytona last Sunday may have been nearly as frustrating as all the years of futility.
Kenseth led 28 laps and had one of the fastest cars in the field before getting sideswiped by Stewart midway through the race. Kenseth slid through the infield grass and back up the banking, seriously damaging the front end of his Ford.
Kenseth was so furious with Stewart after the accident that the normally mild-mannered driver picked up a penalty of his own.
NASCAR officials warned both drivers to calm down, but Kenseth ignored them, zoomed around Stewart and swerved toward him after a pit stop. NASCAR penalized Kenseth for the aggressive move, and he went down two laps.
Edwards didn't even cross the finish line. He sped into the side of Kyle Petty's car during a caution on lap 79, totaling his car and ending his day way earlier than he expected.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.