Gordon Tests New Chevy Engine
A new Chevrolet R07 engine completed 500 miles the last week. But it wasn't at Atlanta Motor Speedway. While Scott Wimmer failed to qualify for the Kobalt Tools 500 Nextel Cup race - meaning that Richard Childress Racing couldn't do a race weekend test - Jeff Gordon completed 500 miles in one of the new engines earlier in the week in a tire test at Darlington Raceway.
"The thing looked real nice, very good," Hendrick engine assembly director Jeff Andrews said Sunday. "We were real pleased with the performance of the engine. Jeff said the engine felt real good. It wasn't a marketable difference in power. It was really just a reliability test of parts and castings. The encouraging thing is we've taken something that is virtually brand new and we've come out of the box with it very equal and close to that power-wise."
Chevrolet officials had hoped that teams would see RCR use the engine for a full race weekend and put it in their main cars in the next few weeks. That probably won't happen. Wimmer likely will attempt the April 15 race at Texas with the new engine for another race simulation try.
"Scott felt that the motor really pulled strong, and we're going to go back and keep working on it and go again," RCR engine builder Danny Lawrence said Saturday. "We feel real comfortable about it, but until you run a full race and be able to tear it apart and see what everything looks like, you're not going to be real comfortable."
Lawrence speculated that RCR's three fulltime teams could use the engine for the Nextel All-Star Challenge, a non-points event, before using the engine for a points-paying race weekend.
The new engine has modernized oil and cooling systems and takes advantage of new NASCAR rules as far as dimensions of pieces in the engine. It should produce the same horsepower and be more reliable when it rolls out.(scenedaily.com)
A new Chevrolet R07 engine completed 500 miles the last week. But it wasn't at Atlanta Motor Speedway. While Scott Wimmer failed to qualify for the Kobalt Tools 500 Nextel Cup race - meaning that Richard Childress Racing couldn't do a race weekend test - Jeff Gordon completed 500 miles in one of the new engines earlier in the week in a tire test at Darlington Raceway.
"The thing looked real nice, very good," Hendrick engine assembly director Jeff Andrews said Sunday. "We were real pleased with the performance of the engine. Jeff said the engine felt real good. It wasn't a marketable difference in power. It was really just a reliability test of parts and castings. The encouraging thing is we've taken something that is virtually brand new and we've come out of the box with it very equal and close to that power-wise."
Chevrolet officials had hoped that teams would see RCR use the engine for a full race weekend and put it in their main cars in the next few weeks. That probably won't happen. Wimmer likely will attempt the April 15 race at Texas with the new engine for another race simulation try.
"Scott felt that the motor really pulled strong, and we're going to go back and keep working on it and go again," RCR engine builder Danny Lawrence said Saturday. "We feel real comfortable about it, but until you run a full race and be able to tear it apart and see what everything looks like, you're not going to be real comfortable."
Lawrence speculated that RCR's three fulltime teams could use the engine for the Nextel All-Star Challenge, a non-points event, before using the engine for a points-paying race weekend.
The new engine has modernized oil and cooling systems and takes advantage of new NASCAR rules as far as dimensions of pieces in the engine. It should produce the same horsepower and be more reliable when it rolls out.(scenedaily.com)