Chevy to submit new Nationwide engine for approval in August
INDIANAPOLIS – Shane Martin, Chevrolet’s program manager for the NASCAR Nationwide Series, said at O’Reilly Raceway Park that Chevy plans to submit its next-generation R07 engine next month for approval to run in the Nationwide Series in 2009.
Martin said Chevrolet will submit the engine the second week in August, two weeks before the deadline to have it approved for next season. The R07, which is currently used in the Sprint Cup Series, would have similar internal design as the Toyota engine, which last week was hit with a ruling designed to limit horsepower.
“What we’ve been lobbying for all along was to get our R07, so we’d be on the same architecture of the engine components as what our competition is,” Martin said. “All of our current architecture is based on a 1955 Chevrolet. We’re inside of a box that we really cannot get out of to be on the same level as some of other competitors.”
Martin said engine builders can only do so much with the current SB2 engine used in the series without the risk of breaking parts.
“Hopefully the R07 will bring a new breath of horsepower and a new range and ability to go to work like Toyota can,” Martin said. “They’re working with new architecture, so they can make gains that we can’t make.
“If we’re in the same architecture, same plate and they become 10, 15, 20 more horsepower than us, then that’s our problem.”
Nationwide Series Director Joe Balash said the series rulebook dictates the submittal process of any part, and NASCAR will have to inspect the engine and do research on it before it is approved.
