Childress to build Fairgrounds Speedway engines UPDATE: Weekly racing at Fairgrounds Speedway [Nashville] next season will undergo the most radical change in the track’s 44-year history when standard engines are issued to all competitors in the top two divisions. Track President Dennis Grau yesterday said every team in the Late Model and Supertruck divisions will be required to use track-issued ”crate motors” which are intended to cut costs, balance the competition and reduce cheating. The engines will be built by Richard Childress Racing and sold through the track at a cost of $5,000. Grau said teams in the premier divisions this season have been spending $15,000-$25,000 per engine. He said the track will not earn a profit from the sale of the engines. The engines will be sealed, which will discourage illegal tampering.(Tennessean)(11-26-2002) UPDATE: been told by RCR that the team will NOT be building these engines.(11-27-2002) UPDATE 2: Fairgrounds Speedway President Dennis Grau said Richard Childress Racing will not build the standardized ”crate motors” for the track’s top divisions as he had originally been told. ”My original understanding was the motors would be built by RCR, but I have since learned that they will be manufactured and distributed by GM Performance out of Detroit,” Grau said. All drivers in the Late Model and SuperTruck divisions at the Fairgrounds will be required to use the motors by midseason. Grau said eight teams already have purchased the motors.(Tennessean)(12-5-2002)
