Chevy engineers are happy with the way the new R07 engines looked after racing last weekend at Texas. Five cars had the new engine, with #11-Denny Hamlin’s ninth-place finish the best among them. One Hendrick Motorsports engine and four Joe Gibbs Racing engines were in cars for the event. None of them had a failure nor the fuel pump issues that had stymied some teams working with the new pump configuration. “Everything looked really good,” said GM Racing’s Jim Covey, who oversees the Chevy NASCAR engine development and has been in contact with the teams this week after they have examined the engines. Covey expects some teams to compete with the new engine at Richmond in a couple of weeks and expects several more to use it in the Nextel All-Star Challenge later in May. There is no specific date for all of the teams to use the new engine, which is expected to have more durability and slightly more horsepower.(SceneDaily.com)(4-22-2007)
