Nixtrix Or Whoever Knows

[BAJACATDIESEL]

1. When is Ford gonna submit new heads or a new engine for the Cup series to Nascar?
2. When is Ford gonna find the next batch of stars and where ?
3. Does Ford need more teams ? Do they need to make teams work together ?
4. Should Ford also have a unified car building program for teams
5. Does having only one engine build for all Ford teams help or hurt ?
6. How does Ford get better ?

[NicksTrix]

those are all good questions.
obviously i can only answers on them based on what i see & hear.

so let me answer what i can with the best of what i can say on my .02

1. there is a new engine planned for 08 right now. they are still doing development on it and want to be sure it's exactly what they want and in the right direction before they submit it and get stuck with it. you are talking about a decision that will be something that around for a number of years. ( or until the "engine of tomarrow" comes about, that's another story..)

2. i think ford have a few in their development program. too bad their history isn't too good of keeping them around. they are lacking in that and i think are leaving it up to the teams more so right now. some of the biggest stars where funded by the blue oval.

3. yes & no. they need their current teams to figure things out and run better. they've got a group of drivers that are willing to get up on the wheel now at least. you don't need wheel holders, you need wheel men.

4.mixed thoughts. unless you can get your engineers to all think the same way, you'd never satisfy everyone. does toyota really gain anything doing so? the COT really closes the door on many things there.

5. helps. gives lots more results of testing/racing. you have more money coming in for development. you don't get the manufacturer stuck in the middle trying to make parts to satisfy multiple trains of thought with only one part. you get much more buying power with your vendors since you become their biggest account at times.

6. the manufacturer needs to be in a better financial position themselfs to start with. everyone knows the american manufactures are all in a world of hurt right now. ford is in hock up to their ears. their support needs to step up on say the quality of parts (from their sub vendors: ex: castings...), their development timelines/support...

the teams need to get their end together and run better. it still comes down to 4 shocks/springs, 4 tires on the pavement and someone to get up on the wheel. our teams all handle down the straight away, but they need to do their part and get the corners figured out. the drivers need to make good decisions on the track and drive smart.
if i had a magic answer that would be a cure all i wouldn't be working for them, my name would be on the smoke stack ;)
the blue oval doesn't have the strength in numbers that's for sure. we need our 9 teams to just run better on a consistant basis and let the cards take care of them selfs. sure the bow tie boys have more numbers, but they really only have about 10-12teams that are the front runners. the rest fill the field.

hth
nick

www.NicksTrix.classicbroncos.com

[BAJACATDIESEL]

Hey Nick ,
are the team using the Roush Yates engines required to run a certain brand of oil , oil filter and spark plugs ? Or is its up to each individual team?

[RGFan]

Great questions!

[NicksTrix]

they run our specially blended oil that Penzoil makes for us. there are a few differnt blends depending on the application (qualifying, short race, long race...). champion makes all the plugs we use and the tuner makes the call on the heat range. oil filters are a micro screen, so they get cleaned, they don't use a canister style. the teams have a bunch of filters on hand and they'll bring them back and we can sonic clean them if they need (say you have a enigne let go big time and you end up changing all the lines, flushing the tank...)


new heads planned for 08, new engine for 09. just welded up another test set of headers for a potential new head last week. either way it means a ton of work for us coming down the road.

[BAJACATDIESEL]

They run straight water in the engines for cooling right ? So when Robby runs the Quaker State decal with the menards sponsor ship that not whats in the tank ??? And Roushs recent valvoline associate sponsorship deal is a hoax too ?

[NicksTrix]

yes straight water. as for the deal with valvoline. they could have worked a new deal out with them to supply everyone. to be honest i don't pay too much attention that that side of thing. i just see tractor trailers unloading with 55 gallong drums and then they go out to storage. not my deal you know..

[movindirt]

( or until the "engine of tomarrow" comes about, that's another story..)

I have some time to listen... Sounds interesting.

[NicksTrix]

next generation of small block is about all i can say right now.