FR9 engine news and discussion

Andrew ,what do you think about this? Anyone out there who can tell us if this is a big job to fix

The FR9 engine is probably on hold because I read on the Rowdy site there’s something wrong with the crank that Doug shaved to much weight off the main journals to save weight and the crank is gailing up and it’s screwing up the oil pressure.

I agree with you both that it does look bad when they keep changing the dates. But I can somewhat understand why that might happen.
I'm sure the TOP Ford management are pressing for a date. Sometimes you gotta make them happy even if the date(s) aren't realistic. Then problems come up and that sets things back ..... but they always want a date. God forbid if they ever told them that it would be ready when it's done. When all problems are solved and ALL the bugs are tweeked out of it. That would go over real big.

LOTS AND LOTS of PRESSURE feeling felt by ALL (including me LOL)

Quote :

Yates confirmed that the new FR9 Ford engine will debut at Talladega in two weeks.

"We had our sights on Charlotte, to run it here," Yates said. "We just wanted to take our time and make sure everything was right. We're fortunate to have the luxury to do that. We're looking forward to Talladega — but you know how much I love restrictor plate racing anyway."

~FOXSports

Quote :

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) - Ford Racing says its first motor built specifically for NASCAR will make its debut next weekend in the Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Ford says Matt Kenseth and David Ragan will both use the "FR9."

The motor is the first new model produced by the company since the 351 Windsor in 1991, and the first engine the company has ever produced specifically for use in NASCAR.

The motor has been in design and production for three years. Engine designer Doug Yates says the company believes it will level the playing field for Ford in stock car racing.

Neither Kenseth nor Ragan qualified for the Chase for the championship. Ford Chase competitors Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle will continue to use their old engines.

~FOX Sports


We get to see the new engine this weekend!!

TeamBlueOval wrote:

Quote :

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) - Ford Racing says its first motor built specifically for NASCAR will make its debut next weekend in the Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Ford says Matt Kenseth and David Ragan will both use the "FR9."

The motor is the first new model produced by the company since the 351 Windsor in 1991, and the first engine the company has ever produced specifically for use in NASCAR.

The motor has been in design and production for three years. Engine designer Doug Yates says the company believes it will level the playing field for Ford in stock car racing.

Neither Kenseth nor Ragan qualified for the Chase for the championship. Ford Chase competitors Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle will continue to use their old engines.

~FOX Sports


We get to see the new engine this weekend!!

SportsYour right and I'm feeling very nervous

This answers some questions that I had...

Quote :

Although Ford is getting its new FR9 engine ready for Sprint Cup competition this weekend, it’s unlikely all Ford teams will be using the new engine full time until the middle of the 2010 season, engine builder Doug Yates says.

The engine will make its debut this weekend in the restrictor-plate race at Talladega Superspeedway in the Roush Fenway cars of David Ragan and Matt Kenseth. It likely will also be used at a race track where the air running through the engine is unrestricted by the end of the season.

But if Roush Yates Engines has the eight full-time teams it expects to have, it won’t even be in position for a full rollout at the start of the 2010 season.

“We’d like to get it in some open competition before the end of the year, and then from there we’ll evaluate the engine parts and make some good decisions on moving into 2010,” said Yates, who is chief executive officer of Roush Yates Engines. “But we probably won’t start out across the board next year. The beginning of the season is so critical to gain points and to secure your position that we’ll gain some more experience with it and then try to introduce it across the board sometime around midseason.”

One of the reasons the engine is being introduced at Talladega is so that it could be used with confidence next year at the Daytona 500. Yates said their unrestricted engines can generate 900 horsepower; a restricted engine generates about 450 horsepower.

“The engine really looks great in both open and plate format, but for the start of the season we’re looking at starting at Daytona racing the FR9 – or at least qualifying with the FR9 – and for that reason we felt like Talladega was an important date for us, so that drove some of the decisions,” Yates said.

Ford officials had predicted earlier this year that the new engine would roll out sometime in the second half of the season, although Talladega is a little later than anticipated.

“We were ready to go to Daytona in July, and we actually had some parts that came in that were wrong, so that got pushed back,” Yates said. “But when we did further testing, we found that we were not as ready as we thought we were, so that was a bit of a blessing. Then we were set to go to an open race, and we found some things that were just a little bit concerning on the valve train. … We’ve gained a lot of knowledge, and now we’re ready and ready to move forward with this piece.”

The FR9 engine is the first purpose-built NASCAR racing engine ever built by Ford and the first new piece for the manufacturer since 1991. It has been in development for three years. All of the other manufacturers competing in the sport have gone to motors that have met NASCAR’s revised requirements for new engines.

The new engine could impact the handling of the car as it should give it a slightly lower center of gravity.

“The big key is through the years and years of racing experience that Doug and his team have built up, they do build confidence from laboratory tests of non-firing portions of the engine to durability runs to simulate on-track performance to actual on-track test sessions,” said Brian Wolfe, director of Ford Racing North America Motorsports. “Every one of those steps has been followed coming out with this, so there isn’t anything else I know we would do to get more ready at this point than we already are.”

While the new engine was tested on a restrictor-plate track at a Goodyear tire test at Daytona, it hasn’t been at an on-track test with the restrictor plates with holes 59/64ths of an inch in diameter. NASCAR recently changed the Talladega rule to go from restrictor plates with holes of 60/64ths of an inch in diameter to 59/64ths of an inch.

“What we were trying to find there [at Daytona] was an RPM range, and the RPM range we ran at the test is going to be similar to what we’ll see this weekend at Talladega, so I feel like the testing was valid,” Yates said. “Getting on the race track and checking all the car systems was important as well.”

Yates said all the teams that participate in the Goodyear tire test Monday and Tuesday at Daytona will have the current engine and not the new engine.

Ford hopes to have eight full-time teams next year – four from Roush Fenway Racing and four from Richard Petty Motorsports as a result of RPM’s planned merger with Yates Racing.

“We do know that the negotiations are going very well with Yates Racing and RPM,” Wolfe said. “Both sides are very excited about the opportunities, but the final I’s dotted and T’s crossed has not been completed yet. All parties are working together – assuming that there are no real hard rocks in the road yet, so we’re just really excited about the opportunities going forward.”

~Scene Daily~

Most all of the questions. I read it this morning and I feel nervous about the outcome. Gosh, if they are worried , can you imagine how some of the FORD FANS are feeling. .

Quote :

New Ford engine to run at Homestead: Ford will run its new FR9 engine next week at Homestead, said Doug Hervey, who oversees Ford's North American racing operations. The plan is for #6-David Ragan to run the car at Homestead, Hervey said. It will be the second race for the engine. The restrictor-plate version was run at Talladega with Ragan and #17-Matt Kenseth. This will be the first time the unrestricted version has run in competition.(Roanoke Times)(11-17-2009)

TeamBlueOval wrote:

Quote :

New Ford engine to run at Homestead: Ford will run its new FR9 engine next week at Homestead, said Doug Hervey, who oversees Ford's North American racing operations. The plan is for #6-David Ragan to run the car at Homestead, Hervey said. It will be the second race for the engine. The restrictor-plate version was run at Talladega with Ragan and #17-Matt Kenseth. This will be the first time the unrestricted version has run in competition.(Roanoke Times)(11-17-2009)

aNDREW Andrew i read this earlier but I wasn't happy about the driver they choose to run it. My choice would have been Edwards. What has he got to lose, 10th place, I don't think so. He would have done one heck of a job.

I'm glad to hear David will have the new motor this weekend. Hopefully, he can end this year with a great finish in it.