For those of you familiar with the way that the superior engineering of
Dodge/Chrysler has been handled by sanctioning bodies such as NASCAR and
NHRA in the past, the following article won't surprise you. For those of
you new to this arena, take a gander at the following article and know
what we're up against..
The Intrepid has not yet even been in ONE race and already the
competitors (Wannabes) are complaining! THe Dodge engine has more HP! NOT
FAIR, sniff, cry, blubber. Help us NASCAR. We can't match tem. Outlaw
them.
Here's the link; I didn't make this s&$# up. IN case it doesn't work,
I've copied the post also.
http://speedwayscene.rivals.com/default.asp?sId=791&StId=229639&p=2
Richard in San Antonio
Mon. June 12, 2000
commentary by Snow
By: Mike Snow
Date: 06/10/2000
Commentary
The Dodge Boys
Could the free run that Dodge was trying to make on
NASCAR come to a
screeching halt? It just might have now that NASCAR has
taken a look at just
some of the implications that the heretofore-open Dodge
checkbook
represented to-date.
Gary Nelson, after looking at the proposed Cup version
of the Dodge motor
and the wide-open testing that was planned is starting
to openly share a few of
his concerns for the program.
First, and looking at the Cup version of the Dodge
motor, Nelson wonders why
they need a new engine for the Intrepid. After all they
have a stout, strong
running, and durable motor that they use in the
Craftsman Truck series.
"I saw an engine together this week that's been run on
the dyno and they've
got a truck engine that they've been running a lot,
Which is really a good
engine," observed Nelson from Dover's spacious infield
media center. "All I'm
saying is there is a truck engine that's competing in a
NASCAR series today
that is running well and we've been watching that. Each
of our manufacturers is
always working on heads and blocks and other items.
Dodge is no different.
They're looking at it, 'OK, this is what we've got. Can
we make it any better?'"
The new Dodge engine is better --- way better than
anything on the track now.
And Nelson knows that if he lets the piece in Ford and
GM will be after him
with their much improved pieces in waiting as the game
of leap frog starts
under the hoods of Winston Cup racers.
The Dodge motor, or so we've been told, has short
pushrods and a spread bore
that would help increase the RPM band well beyond
levels that the Ford and
GM motors are capable of. One source in the garage
tells Speedway Scene that
the new Dodge motor could make in the neighborhood of
825 horsepower - or
close to 75 more than what is on the track now.
The other area that has caught Nelson's eye with the
Dodge program is the
testing programs that were on Dodge's wish list. These
tests, which would
have covered most of the summer and late fall, look to
be in jeopardy, with a
planned Las Vegas test being canceled all together last
week.
"No, we haven't told them to cut back (on testing)"
says Nelson on Dodge's
test plans. "But we have taken a close look at the
testing which may have been
a difference in interpretation of what the present
policy is for a team without
really competing yet.
"NASCAR feels like we should keep the field level by
monitoring the testing of
cars that are running on the track today and cars that
are going to be running
on the track in the future. A big part of that has to
do with cars running today -
drivers and teams that are competing in the garage area
on a weekly basis in
the year 2000 should not be allowed to go testing if
they're driving a Dodge
outside of our testing policy.
"When they started announcing the drivers that's when
we started looking at it
like the testing policy is in place so the driver and
the team can't go to the track
and get a leg up on the rest of them by having more
time on the track. Before
they announced drivers we were thinking a non-NASCAR
Winston cup driver
driving a Dodge at say, Michigan on June 5 - Monday -
there's not really much
anybody's going to gain in the competition arena. But
when they started
bringing in Winston Cup competitors like Bill Elliott
and their teams are getting
involved then we had to say we've got to make sure that
those individuals
don't get a leg up on the other guys that don't test."
The testing gets even weirder when you consider that
the Intrepid is just a
Taurus with different nose and tail sections on it. We
can easily understand
how NASCAR might be looking to address the testing
issue.
Write To Mike Snow
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