[mccastle]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

he got drunk and mouthed off to a deputy sheriff in (I think) Las Vegas - it lead to him being let go at Roush.

Now I remember. Thanks.

[onearmsteve]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

he got drunk and mouthed off to a deputy sheriff in (I think) Las Vegas - it lead to him being let go at Roush.

he was already gone anyway. it happened at Phoenix, second to last race of the year before he was to leave for Penske South. he was out of the Chase anyway so Jack just told him his service with the team was no longer needed.

and he wasn't drunk. he was given a sobriety test and passed.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by onearmsteve

he was already gone anyway. it happened at Phoenix, second to last race of the year before he was to leave for Penske South. he was out of the Chase anyway so Jack just told him his service with the team was no longer needed.

and he wasn't drunk. he was given a sobriety test and passed.

guess the old brain cell missed it completely this time .. I'll have to have a talk with it

thanks for setting the record straight.

[mccastle]

After watching qualifying Saturday for Dega please explain something to me. Regarding the go or go homers the teams do everything they can to make the car faster since they have to get in on speed. Then they have to put everything back when it is time to race. Now I remember in Coke Zero 400 in July the go or go homers that qualified started the race, dropped to the rear during the warm up laps and then pitted to put things back to what it should be so they can continue the race. Jon Woods was one of the guys. So once everything was straight he got back into the race many laps down. What is the point of going through this??? Is it just a big deal if it is a impound race. It really seems like a waste of time if you know you are going to be laps down from the get go.

Carrie

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by mccastle

After watching qualifying Saturday for Dega please explain something to me. Regarding the go or go homers the teams do everything they can to make the car faster since they have to get in on speed. Then they have to put everything back when it is time to race. Now I remember in Coke Zero 400 in July the go or go homers that qualified started the race, dropped to the rear during the warm up laps and then pitted to put things back to what it should be so they can continue the race. Jon Woods was one of the guys. So once everything was straight he got back into the race many laps down. What is the point of going through this??? Is it just a big deal if it is a impound race. It really seems like a waste of time if you know you are going to be laps down from the get go.

Carrie

the primary reason(s) is/are

1. you don't get paid any prize money if you don't make the race
2. your sponsors don't get any exposure (this is the primary reason - ya gotta keep your sponsors happy 'cause they're paying the bills!)

this last weekend at Talladega, Sterling Marlin, who finished 42nd, received the least amount of prize money: $70,705. (Ryan Newman, who finished 43rd, actually received more money than about half the field: $112,653 - because he gets a certain amount of "appearance" money being the defending Daytona 500 winner, among other things...)

it's been a long time since the primary purpose for racing was the sheer fun and exhilaration of racing. and, though there is some satisfaction in doing well, when it's your livelihood, fun and satisfaction take a back seat to getting paid. so teams who aren't among the "Chosen" have but one purpose: make the race .. after that they can worry about how well they will do...

[Bryan Blanton]

Hi i have a question does anyone who post here know about this? I read over on the speed message board that perhaps for for this year or 2009 that both ford and dodge were going to get new more powerful engines to help them keep up with toyota and chevy i think chevy got a new engine in 06 or 07?

Anyways i was just curious if anyone knew whether or not ford and dodge had gotten the new engines or if they won't get them until next year?

[Loki309]

Originally Posted by Bryan Blanton

Hi i have a question does anyone who post here know about this? I read over on the speed message board that perhaps for for this year or 2009 that both ford and dodge were going to get new more powerful engines to help them keep up with toyota and chevy i think chevy got a new engine in 06 or 07?

Anyways i was just curious if anyone knew whether or not ford and dodge had gotten the new engines or if they won't get them until next year?

Hmm. I thought they all basically had the same engine size. Just that they weren't all cranking out as much power as Toyota or Chevy...I could be wrong though, it wouldn't be a first time for that.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by Loki309

Hmm. I thought they all basically had the same engine size. Just that they weren't all cranking out as much power as Toyota or Chevy...I could be wrong though, it wouldn't be a first time for that.

They all run a specific engine size .. the size is set by NASCAR and is determined by the "standard" V8 size common for the brand (about 5.7 liters) Though all are different, they are within a few cu. in. of each other (it has to do with bore and stroke of the engine.) The new Chevy engine has been around for a while, it's just slow in getting NASCAR's approval.

However, the most of the work on the engine to produce power has to do with the heads, how well they "flow" and the combustion chamber (how it's shaped, how the fuel swirls into the cylinder, etc.) The R07 (Chevy) is said to have "better numbers" than the current (old) design. And the 'Yota is basically a new engine.

If you remember, last year Toyota was producing more HP than the others, but their cars couldn't keep up early in the season. Then NASCAR released the engine power curves for all the makes and Toyota was quick to spot the Chevies actually had a better hp/torque reading at the normal rpm where the cars exited the corner. The 'Yota boys went back and re-worked their hp/torque curve to be similar to Chev's and have been kicking butt ever since.

Both Ford and Dodge have had an engine "in the works" for a few years, so that's not actually "new" news

[Bryan Blanton]

Hi i have 1 more question about something i read over on the speed message board i'm not sure if it's true or not someone on there posted he said that ford sometime in the 1980's or 90's had a car that was way ahead of their competition but nascar would not allow them to race the car.I was just curious if this was true?

And than they went onto say nascar allowed gm to have new cars.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Bryan Blanton

Hi i have 1 more question about something i read over on the speed message board i'm not sure if it's true or not someone on there posted he said that ford sometime in the 1980's or 90's had a car that was way ahead of their competition but nascar would not allow them to race the car.I was just curious if this was true?

And than they went onto say nascar allowed gm to have new cars.

You stirred the memory chips, Bryan. This is what I remember:
Ford got really serious about racing in 1964 (I think) when they manufactured the Ford Thunderbolt, a specially made-for-racing car which was not sold street legal but Ford supplied option which would make it so.

That cost Ford too much and they dropped the car in 1965 (again, I think) and developed a made-for-racing only Twin Overhead Cam 327 c.i. V8 engine. The necessary 500 of these were sold (500 had to be sold in order for NHRA, USAC and NASCAR to allow the engines to be used) almost entirely to professional racers. NASCAR re-wrote its [alleged] Rule Book in 1965 and decreed that only single cam, in-block engines would be allowed henceforth. The rule stands to this day.

There was also one year (in the late 60's or early 70's... memory fails me) where Ford came out in mid-year with a super streamlined Galaxie fastback. It had a rear deck on it similar to the AMC Marlin or the original Dodge Charger. The model, for some reason never caught on and sales flopped. NASCAR never approved the body for competition.

This same question came up again in... 1993? Ford tried to get NASCAR to OK the Lincoln MKVIII for competition because wind tunnel test had shown the car superior to the T-Bird. At least two teams (Penske and Kranefoos) actually built Lincolns and tested them. NASCAR nixed the plan and it went nowhere. Somewhere in the archives of this forum there is a picture of John Andretti testing a purple Lincoln for Kranefoos.

Do any of these shed any light on your question? I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than I will come up with an answer.

[Motorsports One]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

You stirred the memory chips, Bryan... This same question came up again in... 1993? Ford tried to get NASCAR to OK the Lincoln MKVIII for competition because wind tunnel test had shown the car superior to the T-Bird. At least two teams (Penske and Kranefoos) actually built Lincolns and tested them. NASCAR nixed the plan and it went nowhere...

That was 1996, Bob. I'm sure you'll remember this after reading my message... In April 1996, I happened to be traveling south to meet, among other people, you and when I stopped at the Kranefuss-Haas Racing shop, they couldn't let me into the work area of the shop because they were working on "something they weren't supposed to show me". The following weekend, I was at your place and we were discussing that very topic, as well as this newcomer who had just qualified 9th for the Martinsville race. Everybody was going "Stacy who?"... Stacy Compton had just made his first Winston Cup race that weekend.

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by Motorsports One

That was 1996, Bob. I'm sure you'll remember this after reading my message... In April 1996, I happened to be traveling south to meet, among other people, you and when I stopped at the Kranefuss-Haas Racing shop, they couldn't let me into the work area of the shop because they were working on "something they weren't supposed to show me". The following weekend, I was at your place and we were discussing that very topic, as well as this newcomer who had just qualified 9th for the Martinsville race. Everybody was going "Stacy who?"... Stacy Compton had just made his first Winston Cup race that weekend.

Stacy Compton.... He drove for Melling before they dropped their race team and just went sponsorship. He had a terrible time.

[Motorsports One]

Originally Posted by Quality88

Stacy Compton.... He drove for Melling before they dropped their race team and just went sponsorship. He had a terrible time.

That weekend in Martinsville, he was driving for an independent team and came out of nowhere with a 9th place qualifying run.

[Bryan Blanton]

I have a question for bob tanner was the ford galaxie you mentioned the car junior johnson entered at atlanta 1 year in the 60's with fred lorenzen as the driver was that the car that they call the yellow banana.

I think the car was a ford but i'm not sure what type of ford it was.

I think because of the car's shape they actually had to pick lorenzen up and put him in the car.

[Racer Duck]

We're moving into the realm of trivia here, folks. There's a forum for that.

I'll allow the answer to this question, but any further discussion on this sort of topic needs to be in the NASCAR Trivia Forum.

Topics that go in the Trivia forum include past drivers, races, tracks, cars, owners, records and celebrities.

This thread is to answer technical questions about the parts of a car (engine, tires, wing, etc.), how they work, the technologies involved with racing, rules, techniques employed by drivers and crews in making the car go fast and innovations and developments both on track and off which affect the safety of the drivers, crews and fans.

So, let's keep in mind what each is for and try to put our posts in the proper place. It'll keep me from having to move it (and I'm all for anything that makes the Mod's job easier .)

Thanks!