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CUP: New Ford Engine Ready To Race
Written by: Tom Jensen   
10/28/2009
Charlotte, NC
 
Matt Kenseth and David Ragan will race the new Ford FR9 engine this weekend at Talladega. (Photo: LAT Photographic) ยป More Photos

Ford will race its all-new, purpose-built FR9 NASCAR Sprint Cup motor for the first time in Sunday’s AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Matt Kenseth and David Ragan of Roush Fenway Racing will have FR9s this weekend, while the rest of the Ford contingent will continue to race the current-generation motor, which will be gradually phased out next season.

A few decades ago in NASCAR, the introduction of a new engine might give one automaker a significant horsepower boost over its rivals. But these days, the differences between new and old engines aren’t so much in terms of sheer horsepower as they are in far more subtle measures.

NASCAR tightly regulates myriad critical dimensions in all of the Sprint Cup engines, to keep horsepower and torque on a level playing field and to make sure no manufacturer has an advantage over another.

In the case of the FR9, Ford officials are hoping that its improved cooling system will allow the team to use more tape on the nose of their Fusions, which adds front downforce. And, the hope is that the FR9’s lower center of gravity will also improve cornering, which has been the weak point of the Fords this season.

“The horsepower is not a big difference,” said Ragan. “The horsepower of our current engine is very strong. It’s certainly not the engine that’s been beating us every week. I think we still have to work on getting through the corners, but I think this motor is gonna be easier to work on. I think some of the parts are better, some of the cooling system is better, some of the internal things that I frankly don’t know much about will separate this engine from the others. So, I don’t expect to see when we step on the throttle all kinds of new horsepower. I think it’s better, but the horsepower we have now is pretty good.”

Doug Yates, co-owner of Roush Yates engines and the point man for development of the new powerplant, concurred.

“What we did with the new engine – it’s about the same weight – but the cylinder heads are lighter and the front-end accessory drive is lower, so the CG (center of gravity) of the engine is lower and we do feel like that will be an advantage for us moving forward,” said Yates. “The mounting of the engine … is a little different so it’s gonna be a challenge for the teams to go back and forth between the
two engines, but we are optimistic that the center of gravity of the new engine is gonna be advantageous for our teams.”

As far as next season goes, that remains to be seen, according to Yates.

“We’d like to get it in some open competition before the end of the year, and then from there we’ll evaluate the engine parts and make some good decisions on moving into 2010,” said Yates. “But we probably won’t start out across the board next year. The beginning of the season is so critical to gain points and to secure your position, that we’ll gain some more experience with it and then try to introduce it across the board sometime around mid-season.”

For his part, Kenseth said he’s glad to give the new powerplant its first combat test.

“Whenever you’re one of the first guys to run something new to come out there’s always that risk of not finishing or something happening to it, but yet it’s something we need to get in the cars if we’re planning on implementing it for next year,” said Kenseth, the 2003 Sprint Cup series champion. “We need to run it this year, so if there are any problems, we can get them worked out during the off-season. They said the new plate engine is running better than our old plate stuff, so I wanted to run it at Talladega for sure.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED, and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to



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