Some Hendrick-powered cars have engine problems
Those powerful, seemingly unbeatable Hendrick Motorsports cars had major engine problems Wednesday during practice for the Daytona 500.
Two-time defending NASCAR 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.
Scott Riggs, driving for Haas CNC Racing and using Hendrick power, also swapped engines. In all, five of the nine Hendrick-powered cars had problems.
“It’s a concern, naturally, because it’s a widespread problem,” said Jeff Andrews, head engine builder at Hendrick. “But it’s early enough that we can fix it.”
The engine swaps will send those five 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.
“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.
Four Toyotas had similar problems during Speedweeks, including two-time series champion Tony Stewart and three-time Daytona 500 winner Dale Jarrett.
AJ Allmendinger and J.J. Yeley were the others. Yeley changed engines twice, including once Wednesday.
All the trouble stemmed from lifters, which connect the cam shaft to the push rods. 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.
None of Gilmore’s engines had lifter problems, but the issue had him and other teams scrambling to check their equipment following practice.
“Everybody’s going to be pulling stuff apart and looking at it, and it might be a bigger issue,” Gilmore said.
Slap happy:Kevin Harvick has never been afraid to share his feelings, even if it meant getting fined.
So Kevin Harvick was as pleased as any driver to see NASCAR go easy on Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch after their clash at Daytona International Speedway last week.
“I think it should have been this way for a long time,” Harvick said. “Unfortunately, it cost me thousands of dollars to be true to myself. I’m not smart enough to ... make the politically correct answer, so I’ve always just said whatever I want.”
NASCAR placed Tony Stewart and Busch on probation for six races, beginning with Sunday’s season-opening Daytona 500, after they tangled on the track and allegedly had a heated, physical exchange in the NASCAR hauler.
It was a slap on the wrist and a significant change for the sanctioning body, which spent the last few years handing out penalties for cursing, fighting and other expressions of emotion.
Kevin Harvick and others welcomed the new, more lenient stance.
“That’s a good thing,” three-time Daytona 500 winner Dale Jarrett said. “We have to let the emotion go. If you get guys scared to say or do anything ... then the fans are getting cheated. I was glad to see they didn’t (do much). I was even wondering if they would do anything to the guys. I guess they have to do something or all hell would break loose at some point in time, and maybe it will still.
“I’m glad nobody got fined for the deal. ... If you want to go talk and have it out then, let’s let the guys do that.”
Harvick, Jarrett and others were still unsure about NASCAR’s new stance on “probation,” which officials said would mean more this season. They plan to punish a driver more harshly if he misbehaves while on probation.
“Hopefully they have a plan as to what progression that will go,” Harvick said. “The consistency part is what we’re all looking for. That’s the main thing.”
Evernham's new gig: Ray Evernham is taking all his NASCAR experience to the airwaves. Evernham, a three-time championship winning crew chief, signed on to be an analyst for ESPN’s NASCAR coverage.
“I’m really looking forward to my life going forward without having to be so intense every day,” Evernham said. “This is going to be a challenge. It’s going to be difficult to do a good job, but I’m going to work hard just like I did being a crew chief. Hopefully we can have some success at this, too.”
Evernham won three titles as crew chief for Jeff Gordon, then spearheaded Dodge’s return to NASCAR. But last season, he scaled back and became minority owner of Gillett Evernham Motorsports.
No longer wanting to handle the business side of ownership and not wanting to return to the daily grind of working on cars, Evernham joined the media.
“For a moment in time, you were probably the best of your sport,” he said. “Nobody gets to ride that wave forever. This is a perfect way for me to still be involved ... and to maybe make a difference.”
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