NASCAR seeking to find if Nationwide Toyotas have horsepower advantage
MADISON, Ill. – Nationwide Series director Joe Balash said at Gateway International Raceway that NASCAR is still poring over data culled from dynomometer tests on 10 engines pulled from cars after last week’s race at Chicagoland Speedway.
NASCAR took engines from three Toyotas, three Chevrolets, two Dodges and two Fords to compare horsepower numbers. Some competitors have complained that Toyotas enjoy as much as a 25-horsepower advantage this season as Camrys have won 14 of the 20 races and nine of the 16 poles contested this year.
“That’s a lot of data to go through,” Balash said. “We’re disseminating the data to the teams right now, but as much information as we’ve gathered over 10 engines, it’s going to take us awhile to have our engineers go through and look at all the data before any decisions are made.”
Balash wouldn’t say if NASCAR had found any patterns in the data and said the sanctioning body also needs to compare the latest data with dyno runs earlier this year after the Atlanta and Milwaukee races.
As to what changes are made, Balash said he wouldn’t talk about what NASCAR might do.
Also, Balash said brake calipers taken from Carl Edwards’ No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford last weekend were unapproved parts, but because the violation was a first offense, no penalties were handed down.
“The two front calipers we took from the car were not on our approved brake list,” Balash said. “As we have done on some other parts, the first offense is we just take the components from the team.”
