Look for the Yates cars to begin shaking down the new Ford Cup engine in the coming weeks (Getty Images)
It is not news that the Ford’s in NASCAR have so far underperformed not only in the Sprint Cup series, but arguably in the Nationwide series as well. While Ford went out and won the first two races of the 2009 season they have, as of yet, failed to return to victory lane. That should be a large concern but rolling out a new engine program during the race to the chase and the chase itself doesn’t seem to be that great of an idea.
The team owners that run Ford’s are now up against getting teams into the chase, and running well in the chase all the while the ban on testing limits the testing options available to these teams.
A new engine changes almost everything about the car, from the way it moves through the air, to how the engine is cooled, and how much tape is needed on the front nose to affect down force. These are not tissues teams want to be managing through while trying to win a championship.
Roush Fenway racing will have the biggest advantage here, since neither Yates racing cars are going to make the chase these two teams can essentially become R & D teams. Don’t be surprised if we see these teams have a few engine failures in the weeks to come a Ford begins to role out this new engine. These two teams will be in experiment mode both for the future in 2010 and to help the other Roush cars in 2009.
Roush also has at least two teams, and possibly three that will not qualify for the chase. In fact Carl Edwards could be the only Roush team that makes the chase. If that is the case the other Roush teams will be able to go out and shake down the new engine. By getting a head start on the new engine in 2009 probably means the Ford teams will come out in 2010 running very strong.
Since it seems very likely that the 2009 championship is a three man fight between Tony Stewart, Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson it is a good move on Ford’s part to get this engine to the track, but don’t expect to see it in the cars of #99 Carl Edwards, #17 Matt Kenseth, or #16 Greg Biffle. These teams are either to close to a chase birth or nearly locked into it to begin a new engine regime in the 2009 season.
Comments