Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin posted the best finish of the five Chevrolet drivers who debuted the manufacturer's new R07 engine in Sunday's Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway as he came home ninth.
None of the five drivers encountered problems with the engine.
All three Gibbs drivers used the engine, as did Tony Raines, whose Hall of Fame Racing team leases engines from JGR. Raines finished 13th.
"It seemed pretty good there through three-quarters of the race," Raines said of the R07. "At the end, it felt like it got kind of flat, but that could have been a bad set of tires. The good news is it ran all 500 miles like they thought it would. I think it's got a little better power."
J.J. Yeley, who was eliminated in a first-lap crash, said the R07 has more horsepower than the SB2, calling 15 more horsepower a "good estimate."
"But in another month it might be 25," Yeley said. "... We've already seen a pretty huge increase in horsepower and torque with this engine."
Casey Mears (Hendrick Motorsports) finished 23rd and Gibbs' Tony Stewart finished 25th with the new engine.
Hendrick's Kyle Busch was scheduled to use the R07 but was forced to a backup car after a crash in practice. The backup was not equipped to handle the new engine.
None of the five drivers encountered problems with the engine.
All three Gibbs drivers used the engine, as did Tony Raines, whose Hall of Fame Racing team leases engines from JGR. Raines finished 13th.
"It seemed pretty good there through three-quarters of the race," Raines said of the R07. "At the end, it felt like it got kind of flat, but that could have been a bad set of tires. The good news is it ran all 500 miles like they thought it would. I think it's got a little better power."
J.J. Yeley, who was eliminated in a first-lap crash, said the R07 has more horsepower than the SB2, calling 15 more horsepower a "good estimate."
"But in another month it might be 25," Yeley said. "... We've already seen a pretty huge increase in horsepower and torque with this engine."
Casey Mears (Hendrick Motorsports) finished 23rd and Gibbs' Tony Stewart finished 25th with the new engine.
Hendrick's Kyle Busch was scheduled to use the R07 but was forced to a backup car after a crash in practice. The backup was not equipped to handle the new engine.
