Unleaded fuel

[Juneau4]

Will the use of unleaded fuel have any effect in a 500 mile race?

[JohnMickish]

I do not believe that the use of unleaded race fuel will be an issue. These teams have been given plenty of lead time to figure out what they need. I think the media is making a mountain out of a mole hill.

[VMS]

I don't think the fuel will have an effect. The teams have had enough time to adjust the engines to match, but I do think we will see some engines fail (as usual) due to the constant high RPM's they run at the 2 mile tracks.

I'm getting ready to take a nap during the race. If it is anything like the busch race last night, it could be a real snoozer...

Steve

[RobertELee]

I heard they will get slightly less fuel mileage, due to them having to put bigger jets in the carb. They will probably have to pit a lap or two earlier.

[eyepatrol]

I was watching NASCAR Now on ESPN2 last night and it sounds like owners have put some time, effort and money into R&D for use of unleaded fuel. DEI might be behind on this though from the sounds of it by Marty Smith. However, another good point in the show was made that the Bush Series used unleaded fuel all last year, so it shouldn't have been too overwhelming to adapt.

[lawdog]

The teams had plenty of notice so no excuses should be made there.

The Busch and Trucks both ran unleaded all year last year, but the major difference there is the length of the race. Unleaded fuel over time is differant than leaded. The leaded fuel has some lubrication factor for valve seats and such and it burns at slightly different temps. That's why you started seeing hardened valve seats in passenger cars after the invent of unleaded fuels. The Busch races are about half as long, so the wear and tear might not show (although some of these engines blew long before that so who knows).

These engineers and engine builders are top shelf, they'll have the adjustment to unleaded down before long. Didn't look like it hurt the better teams that much anyway. Still Hendrick, Rousch and RCR engines all over the top of that leader board all day long...

[LMITOUT]

I was watching that fluff-filled ESPN show last night as well and that announcer kept harping and carrying on like DEI just showed up with the same engines they've always ran. Marty Smith, nor anyone else, said how much time DEI had invested in the R&D for the unleaded gas, yet that announcer wouldn't quit about it.

Why didn't Smith ask DEI how much time they spent on R&D just as he asked Hendrick and Yates? That would have brought the story together moreso than just speculation by the clueless announcer, but he wouldn't shut up long enough to let Marty finish either.

The other thing is that unleaded fuel may have had nothing to do with these engine failures. We've seen multiple Hendrick, Roush, and Yates cars blow up in a single day before. This time it was DEI. Most of the time it's due to bad tuning or possibly a bad batch of parts. Until they get the engines tore down and inspected it's all speculation at this point.