NASCARs John Darby told Team Ford racing that the new 2004 Taurus has met the requirements set forth in the rulebook as they pertain to new car submissions. The NASCAR rulebook clearly states that all cars that are to be considered for competition in the following calendar year must be submitted to NASCAR no later than July 1 of the current event season. The submittal process is well underway, said the director of NASCAR. Weve seen the first iterations of nose and tail and things like that and have worked through that process. From there theyre going back to clean some real small minor issues up. Estimating when hed get the car Darby said, I think probably mid-August well have the car where well be able to track and tunnel test it. The track and tunnel test are a sure sign that the 2004 Taurus is well on its way to NASCARs final scrutiny, including a visit to Atlanta Motor Speedway for on-track runs. Once those laps are completed the car will be loaded onto a hauler and transported to the Lockheed wind tunnel for aero testing.( Ford Racing )(7-4-2003)
