Boston Red Sox owner in talks to buy part of Roush

By Mark Ashenfelter

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

DAVID GRIFFIN / NASCAR SCENE

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While Roush Racing president Geoff Smith isn't sure where discussions with Boston Red Sox owner John Henry and his Fenway Sports Group will lead, he doesn't envision a scenario in which Jack Roush would relinquish control of the operation.

Negotiations have been ongoing throughout the summer, Smith said late Tuesday afternoon. He's not sure what percentage of the team - which competes in all three of NASCAR's national series - could be sold, if any, but expects one thing to remain the same.

"I can't see Jack Roush giving up control of Roush Racing," Smith said. "I don't see that as an outcome."

Whether that means Roush could sell more than 50 percent of the operation while remaining in charge of the team wasn't clear. Fenway Sports Group is a division of New England Sports Ventures, which also owns the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park and New England Sports Network.

Roush and Henry, who heads the NESV partnership, have been friends for several years, sparking occasional rumors that Henry was looking to buy into Roush Racing. In the past, though, Smith said the two sides were just discussing marketing possibilities, not a sale.

The two were seen together on Sunday at New Hampshire International Speedway and Roush Racing released a statement Tuesday that confirmed discussions about selling an interest in the team were ongoing.

"They started getting a little more aggressive about a NASCAR positioning within the Fenway Sports Group, which is their marketing and business arm that's been making some investments in businesses," Smith said. "They let us know late spring or early summer that they were looking a little more seriously about making investments and would we be interested in having some discussions with them about selling an interest. So we've been having these discussions for most of the summer.

"I wouldn't say that [a decision is] close and I wouldn't say that it was far. I would just say we're all working through it. We all have lots of lists of questions that are on the table that we're working our way through. I really can't predict right now what the outcome's going to be."

Smith's goal, though, is for there to be an outcome, one way or another.

"We've had discussions in the past on marketing topics and other topics and they hadn't led to anything," Smith said. "Now that this is out in public, we prefer to work to an end to these discussions diligently. Either to end up having a deal or not having a deal, as opposed to breaking until next August."

Among the clients of Fenway Sports Group are Boston College and the PGA Tour's Deutsche Bank Championship. The company also helped secure the sponsorship of Lumber Liquidators for Germain Racing's Todd Bodine in the Craftsman Truck Series.