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HMS faces engine woes at Daytona
All four drivers forced to change motors for 150s
By The Associated Press
February 13, 2008
09:09 PM EST
type size: + -DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Those powerful, seemingly unbeatable Hendrick Motorsports cars had major engine problems Wednesday during practice for the Daytona 500.
Two-time defending champion and pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson, four-time series champ Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Casey Mears all were forced to change engines because of a lifter problem likely caused by a bad batch of coating. (watch video)
"No, we did not have any of them that truly broke," Hendrick head engine builder Jeff Andrews said. "Right now we are looking at the lifters. We don't have anything apart yet. We just have assumptions based on some early signs we saw in some checkovers following that early practice.
The problem wasn't confined to the Hendrick roster. Haas CNC Racing, Furniture Row Racing and James Finch all buy engines from Hendrick. As of Wednesday evening, the No. 66 Haas CNC Chevrolet of Scott Riggs had undergone an engine change, as had the No. 07 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Clint Bowyer, whose engines come from an Earnhardt-Childress alliance.
"It's a concern, naturally, because it's a widespread problem," Andrews said. "But it's early enough that we can fix it.
"We have a group of guys back in Charlotte -- the best group of guys -- [and they] have already started on a fix for the program. We will get this stuff back, get it rebuilt and get it brought back down here. What we had to put in the cars, we have a lot of confidence in for [Thursday]."
The engine swaps will send those Chevrolets to the back of the field in their 150-mile qualifying races Thursday, which will help set the starting lineup for the Daytona 500. The engine change does not affect Jimmie Johnson's pole position for Sunday's Daytona 500, in that teams are allowed an engine change between the 150s and the Daytona 500.
In addition, four Toyotas changed engines or engine parts because of similar problems with the lifters (cylindrical parts that rest against the lobes of a camshaft and cause valves to open and close as the camshaft rotates). The drivers affected are Denny Hamlin, A.J. Allmendinger, J.J. Yeley and Tony Stewart, all of whom must start from the rear Thursday.
"It wouldn't have lasted the 150s, and you don't want to risk it blowing up and starting an accident that would have taken other cars out," Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, said.
Andrews believes the lifters came from a bad batch received from the company's supplier. Lifters from the same source had not caused problems in preseason testing at Daytona or during the Budweiser Shootout, which Earnhardt won.
Lifters used to be cast iron, but teams now use steel ones that need coating to slide. Since so many teams use the same coating company, one bad batch could lead to an engine epidemic.
"If the coating wears off just a little bit, it's like glass and then you have steel on steel and you have that coating going through your engine," said Richie Gilmore, who runs the joint engine program between Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Richard Childress Racing.
"Everybody's going to be pulling stuff apart and looking at it, and it might be a bigger issue."
Andy Graves, vice president of chassis development for Toyota Racing Development USA, said he had spoken with Andrews and did not believe the lifters in the Toyota engines came from the same source of those used by Hendrick.
"That's what makes it so weird," Graves said.
There was speculation, however, that the same company may have applied coatings to the lifters used by the Chevrolet and Toyota teams.
"As of right now, we haven't been able to determine that," Graves said.
The Sporting News Wire Service contributed to this report.
Not a good way to start the 150s off.Man I hope they can get it fixed because now it will be in the back of my mind the whole race.Remember last Talledega race when the DEI/RCR cars started dropping engines late in the race.
All four drivers forced to change motors for 150s
By The Associated Press
February 13, 2008
09:09 PM EST
type size: + -DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Those powerful, seemingly unbeatable Hendrick Motorsports cars had major engine problems Wednesday during practice for the Daytona 500.
Two-time defending champion and pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson, four-time series champ Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Casey Mears all were forced to change engines because of a lifter problem likely caused by a bad batch of coating. (watch video)
"No, we did not have any of them that truly broke," Hendrick head engine builder Jeff Andrews said. "Right now we are looking at the lifters. We don't have anything apart yet. We just have assumptions based on some early signs we saw in some checkovers following that early practice.
The problem wasn't confined to the Hendrick roster. Haas CNC Racing, Furniture Row Racing and James Finch all buy engines from Hendrick. As of Wednesday evening, the No. 66 Haas CNC Chevrolet of Scott Riggs had undergone an engine change, as had the No. 07 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Clint Bowyer, whose engines come from an Earnhardt-Childress alliance.
"It's a concern, naturally, because it's a widespread problem," Andrews said. "But it's early enough that we can fix it.
"We have a group of guys back in Charlotte -- the best group of guys -- [and they] have already started on a fix for the program. We will get this stuff back, get it rebuilt and get it brought back down here. What we had to put in the cars, we have a lot of confidence in for [Thursday]."
The engine swaps will send those Chevrolets to the back of the field in their 150-mile qualifying races Thursday, which will help set the starting lineup for the Daytona 500. The engine change does not affect Jimmie Johnson's pole position for Sunday's Daytona 500, in that teams are allowed an engine change between the 150s and the Daytona 500.
In addition, four Toyotas changed engines or engine parts because of similar problems with the lifters (cylindrical parts that rest against the lobes of a camshaft and cause valves to open and close as the camshaft rotates). The drivers affected are Denny Hamlin, A.J. Allmendinger, J.J. Yeley and Tony Stewart, all of whom must start from the rear Thursday.
"It wouldn't have lasted the 150s, and you don't want to risk it blowing up and starting an accident that would have taken other cars out," Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, said.
Andrews believes the lifters came from a bad batch received from the company's supplier. Lifters from the same source had not caused problems in preseason testing at Daytona or during the Budweiser Shootout, which Earnhardt won.
Lifters used to be cast iron, but teams now use steel ones that need coating to slide. Since so many teams use the same coating company, one bad batch could lead to an engine epidemic.
"If the coating wears off just a little bit, it's like glass and then you have steel on steel and you have that coating going through your engine," said Richie Gilmore, who runs the joint engine program between Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Richard Childress Racing.
"Everybody's going to be pulling stuff apart and looking at it, and it might be a bigger issue."
Andy Graves, vice president of chassis development for Toyota Racing Development USA, said he had spoken with Andrews and did not believe the lifters in the Toyota engines came from the same source of those used by Hendrick.
"That's what makes it so weird," Graves said.
There was speculation, however, that the same company may have applied coatings to the lifters used by the Chevrolet and Toyota teams.
"As of right now, we haven't been able to determine that," Graves said.
The Sporting News Wire Service contributed to this report.
Not a good way to start the 150s off.Man I hope they can get it fixed because now it will be in the back of my mind the whole race.Remember last Talledega race when the DEI/RCR cars started dropping engines late in the race.
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