Roush Open House


A few times a year the Roush Automotive Collection opens the doors for a free event called the Roush Open House. On the outside it looks like a typical car show, DJ, and cars parked on the lawn. On the inside is a gem of priceless automobiles, prototype cars and retired NASCAR vehicles. The Roush staff also had a live engine breakdown, raffles and other entertainment.

Randy Kohler and Patrick Krupa from the Michigan Gumball Rally were at the event to document the Roush Open House and share photos with coolfords.com. Patrick took pictures and Randy had the opportunity to interview “Trak Pak” Scot Chapman. Below are the Q&A.

Randy Kohler – What is your job title and daily duties at Roush?

Scot Chapman – My title is Development Engineer. My main duties are chassis and brake system development and testing. Over the years my specialty has grown into damper testing and tuning, vehicle evaluation and on track testing.

R.K. – Is there any upcoming Roush projects that you are allowed to talk about?

S.C. – As of right now I’m not in the loop of any future vehicle programs.

R.K. – What is your daily driver vehicle?

S.C. – My daily driver in the winter is an old ’91 F-150. My daily nice day vehicle in the summer is my Trak Pak.

R.K. – What is your favorite Roush vehicle of all time and why?

S.C. – Well in reality I love them all. I’ve been doing the chassis development on these cars and trucks since 1999. So I sort of have a soft spot in my heart for them all. But if I have to pick just one I’d have to pick the 2008 Trak Pak. Anyone I know who reads this will be surprised… The reason is it was the first time we had free reign to make what we’d want to take to the track on the weekends and be able to drive it to work on Monday. Sort of the best of both worlds. I like them so much I bought the test car I used during development. You may have seen it before, it’s been used in all the Trak Pak ads and in the video that was filmed at Gingerman Raceway in Michigan.

R.K. – If you had won a free entry in the Michigan Gumball rally what vehicle would you drive?

S.C. – Well I guess if RPP would let me use one of their new cars I’d do that. The new cars rock. If not, see the answer to question 4.

 

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