Full Throttle

Lost in all the hype and bluster of the soon to be NASCAR Car of the Future/Tomorrow is the future of (insert title name here ____) Cup power plants. HWSBO had a plan, the Engine of the Future, that was running concurrent for the CoT program and originally scheduled to debut at California in February 2007.

Best guess now is the program has been pushed back to 2009 or 2010 but even those dates are in jeopardy, if not dead, due to backbiting and squables by engine builders, car owners and manufacturers.

Very quietly and mostly under the radar of the racing press is another possible option for packin ponies into NASCAR’s top Series. For well over a year NASCAR has been developing a “spec” crate engine to be used in the NASCAR Grand National Division. (Busch East and AutoZone West Series’)

The engine is lower in cubic inches and runs at lower RPM yet in it’s first on track test produced laps times that were consistent to the current Grand National engines. The torgue curve was slightly different with the car being slower off the corners but having a stronger top end.

Initial testing is over and the new “spec” engine will make it’s first competitive appearence Saturday night in the Big Y World Class Market 150 at Waterford Speedbowl. It will make its race debut under the hood of the #44 Casella Waste Systems Chevrolet driven by Sean Caisse. Caisse trails Series point leader by 34 markers in the season championship.

“It just arrived and we