Legends: Jack Roush

One of NASCAR’s best-known race-team owners, Jack Roush built his life one mid-term paper, one race engine and one victory at a time. Born in Manchester, Ohio, he studied math and physics and was quickly recruited as a Ford engineer in charge of car assembly and tooling. But, five years later, the rush of racing took him to a group of local drag racers for whom he built engines and related equipment. Soon, he was in hot demand and began his own engine-development company . . . then bought his way into racing cars, first in the Sports Car Club of America in the early 1980s and NASCAR by 1988. Winning — a lot — means that Roush Industries now employs about 2,000 people. “He had to work pretty hard to become successful,” said driver Mark Martin, who during his career had more than 30 victories in more than 15 seasons driving one of Roush’s Fords. “He loves underdogs.” Roush got his start working and earning everything from the ground up. He has built a fortune of about $1 billion and, believe it or not, owns several Second World War fighter planes (P51 Mustang pictured above). In fact, it was a crash a few years ago during a solo flight in an aerial photographing plane that nearly ended it all for the man affectionately known as the “Cat in the Hat.” Luck was with him that day, his 60th birthday, as he was rescued, but not without a lengthy hospital stay and rehabilitation. “Not a great way to spend your birthday,” Roush said later. “But we all have our moments.” And, accidents aside, he still loves to fly. How he lived past that day is how he has survived two decades of racing. “You just have to be surrounded by the right people and have the right circumstances for surviving.”