Wednesday afternoon, news started spilling out that was music to the ears of Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, and a vast number of fans as NASCAR took a step to decrease Toyota's horsepower by releasing a technical bulletin to all Nationwide Series teams saying:"At all Events, unless otherwise specified, all engines with a cylinder bore spacing less than 4.470 inches must compete using a tapered spacer with four (4) 1.125-inch diameter holes."Notice among all that technical jargon that there was never a mention of Toyota or the engines that Toyota Racing Development currently competes with. However, the only engine with "cylinder bore spacing of 4.470 inches or more" is the Toyota engine that so many people have cried foul about this season.
"At all Events, unless otherwise specified, all engines with a cylinder bore spacing of 4.470 inches or more must compete using a tapered spacer with four (4) 1.100-inch diameter holes. Unless otherwise authorized, the carburetor restrictor will be issued by NASCAR."
Of course, that engine has found victory lane 14 times in 21 races, and if you ask Bowyer, it's fast enough that a monkey could win with it.
NASCAR has said, though, that the rule change will apply to all future engines that Chevrolet, Dodge, and Ford present, as they are expected to unveil a new engine in a year or two with the same cylinder spacing.
As a race fan, I'm happy that Toyota has been reigned in somewhat in their horsepower advantage (about 15 horses thanks to the restricted spacer), but the move by NASCAR has a sense of "jumping the gun" because of wide-spread criticism the sanctioning body has received over the Toyota flap.
It's been a long, long time since NASCAR has made a rule change that affects a single manufacturer in the middle of the season, and I see potential problems there.
For one, the process to check horsepower on these engines appears to be somewhat flawed if you ask Yahoo!'s Bob Margolis, and its very apparent that there isn't a team that will be racing at O'Reilly Raceway Park on Saturday night that has gotten to test the new rule.
With that, the additional spacer that Toyota teams will have to run could have a far more reaching impact than NASCAR originally thought. Also, because this is an engine alteration and not an aerodynamic one, the effects of horsepower show up on any race track -- including the half-mile bull ring teams will race on Saturday night.
Undoubtedly, the engine change will be the hottest topic of conversation on the Nationwide Series side of things, but all in all, it should be a good move for the fans who have grown tired of seeing Toyota pull into victory lane nearly every week.
I'm unsure, though, that NASCAR is setting a good precedent with a quick rule change that can be seen as more than trying to take away a horsepower advantage.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
7-24-2008 @ 12:26PM
Robert Combs said...
If Toyoata is playing by the rules, force Ford, Chevy and Dodge to get off their laurels and catch up. Don't penalize Toyota for better engineering within the current rules. This ust reinforces my opinion that the Nazicar regulators want all cars and drivers dead equal. I think I'll watch curling. . .
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7-27-2008 @ 11:08AM
Lou said...
Right On
Why squelch one team so that the others DON"T have to catch up.
That's not competition racing,
that's no car left behind.
7-24-2008 @ 12:38PM
heather said...
I'm lovin' it!!!
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7-24-2008 @ 12:49PM
Bernie said...
None of the above was properly handled by Nascar. First it was 25 HP advantage, now that engines have been tested it's a 112 to 15 HP advantage. Chevy, Dodge, and Ford should put their big boy panties on and quit complaining if Toyota has done more with the specification given to all teams. The Toyotas have been running the same engine for two years last year no wins by Toyota produced no complaints.
This year many wins by Toyota with the same engine, difference JGR that's it, result major complaining by all that can't keep up. Where was all the complaining when the Chevy's were winning it all last year? Toyota had the opportunity to build these engines because they had their first chance to do so and they put forth the effort to make it better. So the way I see this is they did a great job so good that it brought tears to the eyes of the competition so Nascar is punishing Toyota to set the standard for the rest to follow.
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7-25-2008 @ 8:57PM
Jonathan Roach said...
hmm the remarks made of the uninformed the engines there running this year is NOT the same one or designation nor dimensions that is being run this year......
The engine was being tested last year and not in any races and furthermore the engines were made for and tested for the Nascar Sprint series but is also being ran in the nationwide series. clearly giving toyota an advantage that is not being shown to the gm nor ford enginemakers their test engines are not allowed in nationwide series at ALL... Please read and learn the whole story before commenting Thank you
7-24-2008 @ 12:54PM
Bernie said...
Love it while you can! Kyle Busch is going to persuade you to love it even more when he starts whipping people after the mods are made to Toyotas
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8-01-2008 @ 10:50AM
ROBERT WOLF said...
I am sick and tired of nascar changing rules every day on some body so their good freinds driving chevrolets do all the winnining you all are all sick that is why i quit going to your fixed races
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7-24-2008 @ 1:44PM
Brad said...
HHHMMMMMMM,,,,,,,,,well now it's the toyota fans that get to do all the whining...LMAO
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7-24-2008 @ 3:26PM
Bernie said...
Brad,
it doesn't matter much anyway 25K of an inch on the carb plate or 12 to 15 HP isn't going to make a difference on the track if that were the case Micheal Waltrip's team would have a win by now, all Toyotas would stay out of the bottom 18 spots. It's the principle of the matter. I have a feeling that even after the R-07 engine is introduced there won't be anymore Chevy dominance.
7-27-2008 @ 10:25AM
Bernie said...
Brad,
Kyle Busch is no reason to whine niether is 197 of 200 laps led.
7-24-2008 @ 2:10PM
Frank said...
Nascar has tried to keep brands equal for almost 50 years now. They have banned Dodge, Ford , and Chevy engines in past years. They have also outlawed cylinder heads, intake manifolds and other parts, some before they were allowed to race. Toyota is certainly displeased to lose their advantage but when 7 of the first nine trucks in the last race were Toyotas that was the finale straw. Only a few years ago Nascar changed the rules before Ford could run a small cubic inch engine at Daytona. Chevy has been trying to get a new engine approved for months now without sucess. Nascar seems to have been very generous to Toyota since they entered racing but all brands should be treated the same now that they are well established.
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7-24-2008 @ 2:40PM
wd4anl said...
where was your concern on engine size /horsepower last year when toyota couldnt even hake the races and notting but chevrolets was winnig all the races
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7-24-2008 @ 3:25PM
Trevor Sager said...
awww man toyota is haunting my dreams with all these dang ol wins man. kyle busch is bringing in more goods than a witch on holloween. dang man!
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7-24-2008 @ 3:48PM
Bernie said...
Toyota is lucky that Kyle Busch is driving a Toyota. If he were driving a Chevy there would be no Toyota dominance and no Toyota scrutiny as long as Chevy was winning races.
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7-24-2008 @ 5:53PM
kevin said...
this is an absolute joke. keep flying your chevy flags at the race track, and it might just show people just how fixed it really is. good luck in beating more then just the drivers kyle. if you only stayed at hendricks, mr. france might be a little more reasonable. he is nascar afterall.
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7-24-2008 @ 6:32PM
Brad said...
Rousch was the one doing the most bitchin and backs ford, so all the accusations of a conspiracy being thrown at Chevy is joke, and those that are throwin the accusations are the same ones that were crying foul when the accusations of a HP advantage were THOUGHT to be a conspiracy.....LMAO
Which color is the pot now? ? ? ?
Aloha, Brad
P.S. Bernie, where was Kyle's dominance last year when he was driving a Chevy,,,,,,,,,remember the year in which no-one was complaining of A CHEVY HP dominance! ! !... I guess it just all 'DEPENDS' on which panties Toyota is wearing. LOL
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7-24-2008 @ 7:06PM
Mike said...
People need to keep one thing in mind here. This has no effect on Sprint Cup cars. Stop dragging Michael Waltrip into it. Michael Waltrip has run exactly ZERO races this season in Nationwide with the more powerful Toyota engine.
I do wonder though. Why was Toyota allowed to run a more powerful engine and Chevy is not? For all the people that think Nascar is just trying to rig it so Chevy wins you will have to answer that question before anyone will take you seriously. Chevy has a more powerful engine, Nascar will not allow the teams to use it. It seems as if Nascar allowed Toyota to use a superior engine without thinking that they may actually win races and now have to correct the issue.
MBL
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7-25-2008 @ 3:24PM
art said...
its about time nascar did something about toyota. now they need to address them in the cup series .
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7-27-2008 @ 10:46AM
Bernie said...
What do you think now ART? You've been on the "it's about time mode for what seems like a week. Look at what the results are minus 15 HP, Kyle Busch leads 197 of 200 laps to win, are you sure you want to take this beef to the cup series? If I were all of you Toyota haters I wouldn't piss them off all it does is make Kyle Busch push even harder. Your giving him all the fuel he needs to do some serious ass whipping on the track. The proof is in the results of yesterdays race!
7-24-2008 @ 10:40PM
Bernie said...
What happened here is Toyota was punished because they created the best results with the specs given to them so instead of evening the playing field by rewarding them for a job well done Nascar made them retard their engines to match the big threes horse power. If Nascar had an interest in evening the play field and Chevy, Ford, and Dodge have an interest in improving their engine packages why didn't Nascar have the rest of the field improve their HP to match the Toyota HP? Why Punish a good effort. Reward them for setting a higher standard of racing! That's where the Panty theory really shines!
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