Drive shaft failures are rare. In fact, prior to Brian Vickers’ broken drive shaft at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series had gone more than a year since the last drive shaft failure, which seemingly victimizing the #10 Pontiac during practice at the 2003 Daytona 500. Whether or not the 10 car was a victim was answered in rather concrete terms when NASCAR levied a penalty against the team’s crew chief for the use of an illegal, and excessively lightweight, part in the drive train. Vickers’#25 GMAC Chevrolet has now lost two drive shafts in the last three races, first during Happy Hour at Atlanta and next during the race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Answering the obvious questions, NASCAR sources say that the two failures were caused by different problems. The first one was the result of improper installation while the second one was attributed a weak part that failed in battle. There is no evidence indicating that the team is doing anything irregular.(Ford Racing)(4-5-2004)
