BY TEAM FORD RACING CORRESPONDENT

Charlotte, N.C. — The car builders of the Winston Cup tour are finally starting to catch up after the introduction of the “aero-matched” formula, which was ushered into being at the start of the 2003 season.

Car builds, which now take a considerable amount of time to meet NASCAR’s stringent specification, had teams hustling to get inventory on the shop floor. Garth Finley, the new interim co-crew chief of Dale Jarrett’s No. 88, told teamfordracing.com during the weekend that the Robert Yates Racing shops finally have enough car inventory to get some breathing room. That number works out to 23 new Ford Tauruses.

Fabricators have been working seven days a week until recently to meet the demand that NASCAR created. This shortage of cars, some Joe Gibbs Racing staff theorize, might be what led to the confiscation of their car at Texas.

FUELISH PROBLEMS?
Sources at Talladega Superspeedway told teamfordracing.com that the fuel Unocal has provided since the announcement that they were leaving the sport might have some consistency problems. This, according to a leading engine builder in the sport, is leading to some interesting finds during post-race engine tear down.

“We’ve even questioned here lately with Unocal moving out how the fuel … We’ve seen some funny things on our parts after the race and for some of us fuel quality is changing on us,” said the engine builder. “So yeah, it’s a big issue and we’ve been talking about it quite a bit.”

Fuel is a vital part of the Winston Cup engine builder equation as the additive packages are what help hold a motor together during a race. Fuel chemistry changes can lead to premature part failure.

NASCAR hasn’t let the teams know what will be pumping in 2003, which is making the engine builders nervous. Variances with the chemistry and consistency of blend will be needed soon as it can take six to nine months to match the engine package to the fuel package.

One big question that’s not been answered is whether the fuel will be of a leaded blend, or no-lead. There is concern that if the sanctioning body goes the no-lead route that engine failure could rise dramatically due to leads lubricity qualities, or the capacity for reducing friction.

Unocal, along with NASCAR and the teams, tried a no-lead blend several years ago in the Busch Grand National Series. Those experiments ended after the exhaust valves beat the seats out of the head. Unocal, to help solve the problem, suggested that the teams move to titanium vales. That suggestion angered the involved engine builders as they’d been using titanium for several years, and were surprised that Unocal engineers seemingly didn’t know what was in a motor for which they were blending fuel.

GOODBYE
Two days after Jack Sprague said of the potent combination of Denis Conner and Tony Furr, "We went to Martinsville and tested with [Furr] and Dennis Connor and they compliment each other a lot. What one didn't think of, the other one would,” Conner got his walking papers as crew chief for the No. 0 Pontiac.

The No. 0 team, which is listed as the Gene Haas entry, is closely related to the Hendrick Motorsports organization. Furr, who was the crew chief of the No. 25 Hendrick several years ago, essentially is going home as he replaces Conner.

In other team news, A.J. Foyt announced that his No. 14 entry was going to take a week off to rest and regroup. Foyt’s withdrawal from the Martinsville event brings the field to an even 43, including Derrike Cope and Hermie Sadler’s part-time entries shoring up the cast of regular characters.

BIG LEAGUES
According to wire reports Congress is asking major league sport leagues for information regarding their knowledge and position regarding the over-the-counter drug, ephedra.

The now-legal substance is under review by Congress following Baltimore Orioles pitching prospect Steve Bechler’s death in February. According to a report there was a link between Bechler’s death from heat stroke and the dietary supplement.

The congressional letter, which was sent to Major League Baseball the prior week, was followed this week with similar letters to National Football League, National Hockey League, National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer and NASCAR.

The letter was penned by House Energy and Commerce chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.), along with Reps. Michael Bilirakis (R-Fla.), Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) and James Greenwood (R-Pa.).