Full Throttle

This past week saw Ford unveil and test their latest entry in the NASCAR wars. The Ford Fusion will enter competition next year. Dale Jarrett tested the car Tuesday at Atlanta Motor Speedway and came away pleased. “I think things went really well.I was pleased with the way the new Ford Fusion was as far as the balance entering and exiting the corner,” Jarrett said.

Chevy also rolled out their ‘06 version of the Monte Carlo this week and conducted a similar testing session at Atlanta. The results of that test have the Chevy officials scratching their heads.

Chevrolet officials were scrambling this week after the 2006 version of the Monte Carlo did not perform as expected in its first on-track test.

Joe Gibbs Racing took the car to Atlanta Motor Speedway this week and everyone was surprised when it struggled during the test. So GM Racing director Pat Suhy spent much of his time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend, meeting with NASCAR officials to discuss what they should do. Suhy said GM will test the car again. NASCAR officials have not yet approved the car for competition.

“I think everyone was a little overconfident and got a little complacent and didn’t pay attention to the details when building this car,” Suhy said.

Both tests must be taken with a large grain of salt. Both are run with a lone car on track which is far from ideal. And it’s not clear what “this car” means. Is it the testing mule taken to Atlanta or the Monte Carlo package?

But… for Suhy to make such a strong statement can’t be good. There is a long way and a lot of testing miles to be run before February ‘06 and a lot may change. If the Ford teams dominate next year, more so than Roush has, and win the Manufacturers Championship you may be witnessing the genisis right here.