Immediately following Sundays race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which saw four of the six teams using Roush Racing engines fall from the race, Jack Roush summoned his team of top level engineers in Livonia, Mich. and set out for Concord, N.C. on a mission search out, identify and remedy the causes that forced the cars from the race. Roush was relieved when the engine teardown revealed that only overly aggressive engine tuning and oil starvation triggered the engine failures. “The good news is that none of the very substantial horsepower gains that we have been making caused any of our problems. The bad news is that the tuning mistake was my own. Now I know how Rick Hendrick’s engine guy felt after Talladega last fall,” said Roush. “I hurt pistons on the No. 6, No. 21,and No. 97 by tuning for fuel economy that just wasn’t attainable for Atlanta and the No. 99’s problem derived from a new oil pan that resulted in oil starvation,” continued Roush. Roush says he is very pleased with the progress made by his engine department during the past year. “Our 10 wins in 2002, including wins at horsepower tracks like Atlanta, Homestead, Charlotte and Texas, and our strong start in 2003 demonstrates the strength in our engine program.” (more at Ford Racing )(3-12-2003)
