Dearborn, Mich. — And, just like that, it’s the middle of July—which, of course, means it’s the middle of summer. Technically, goin’ by the summer solstice and all of that, it’s not, but this is summer, time for hot dogs and cold drinks and swimmin’ holes and such, and not time to over-engineer the exact midway point of the best stretch of weather on the calendar. Nope, much like a driver tryin’ to coax one more lap—maybe two!—of fuel out of a tank that the engineers were thinkin’ should’ve been dry a lap ago, determinin’ the middle of summer is more by feel. And it just feels like the middle of summer.

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	• Send Sparky e-mail • Exclusive TFR blogs This week's NASCAR podcast This week's special podcast with Andreas Eriksson, Marcus Grönholm and Jamie Allison, Ford Racing Performance Group manager, who talk about this weekend’s Pikes Peak record attempt in the Ford Fiesta.

What better time to take off a week?

That’s exactly what the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will do this weekend, burnin’ off one more precious idle Saturday-and-Sunday combination on the 2009 schedule. That would usually mean that the Sparkster, too, would shut it down for 48 hours, but not this week; nope, the Sparkster is headin’ to Kentucky Speedway for the Built Ford Tough 225. It’ll be an excellent chance to get caught up with Rick Crawford and Colin Braun, and it’ll be a good opportunity to see how those F-150s are doin’ this year.

Off the track, of course, those Ford F-Series pick-up trucks are doin’ just fine, thank you—as is Ford Motor Company. Despite all the money problems everybody’s experiencin’, Ford has gone about its business, buildin’ quality vehicles and sellin’ qualify vehicles. Ford sold more vehicles in the United States in the first half of the year than any other manufacturer, and gained market share in seven of the last eight months. And, Ford did it the way it has always done it: with no help. That’s more impressive than any on-track championship.

The Cup series returns to action next weekend, at Indianapolis. This year will mark the 16th Cup race at the Brickyard. Sixteen. Remember what it was such a big deal that stock cars were actually runnin’ on the historic track? Now, those cars with fenders are certainly an annual welcome there.

It was good to see the Wood Brothers back on track last weekend at Chicago. Bill Elliott had a pretty good Thursday, qualifyin’ eighth, which was best among Ford drivers, but couldn’t back that up Saturday night. No Ford, really, could; it must be somethin’ about that track. Nine times they’ve dropped the checkered flag at that track and nine times Ford drivers have been left wonderin’ the exact location of victory lane. It’s a 1½-mile track, somethin’ that the Ford drivers usually handle pretty well. But not there, for some reason. Not yet, anyway.

Paul Menard almost did, though. Did you see him runnin’ up in the top 10 there toward the end? Then some unfortunate contact, and, well, an unfortunate finish.

Getttin’ back to the Wood Brothers for a moment: They’ll be at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, too. They were part of a tire test there a few weeks ago and should be more ’n ready. Awesome Bill, by the way, won there in 2002. And, for the record, Bobby Labonte, now Menard’s Yates Racing teammate, won there in 2000, en route to his championship. In fact, winnin’ at Indy and then winnin’ the championship the same year is a pretty common occurrence. Seven times the winner at Indy went on to win the title, includin’ Ford’s Dale Jarrett in 1999.

Hmmm. Carl Edwards or Greg Biffle or Matt Kenseth sure would look good in victory lane at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in ’09. Just sayin’.

IF IT’S THE WEEKEND, NHRA IS RACIN’ AGAIN
The NHRA completes a three-events-in-three-weeks string with the Northwest Nationals in Seattle. Ashley Force Hood is tied for first place in the Funny Car standings after yet another final-round appearance last weekend. And, did you see the way she handled that sideways Mustang? Just like her dad would’ve.

And, speakin’ of John Force, winner of 126 races and 14 championships, he’s won seven times at Pacific Raceways, more than any other driver. A win in ’09 would stretch is consecutive-seasons-with-at-least-one-victory streak to 23. That is amazin’. Shoot, 22 is amazin’. John is amazin’.

THE FINISH LINE IS WHERE?
Also this weekend, finally, Andreas Ericksson and Marcus Grönholm, drivin’ Olsberg Motor Sport Evolution Ford Fiestas, are competin’ in the Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb. Now, racin’ up a mountain just seems all counter-intuitive to the Sparkster; but, then again, the Sparkster once almost fell off a mountain in Colorado. The operative word there, of course, is once. That was never goin’ to happen again. Plus the Sparkster, for some reason, had waxed boards strapped to his feet, which certainly was not as desirable as bein’ behind the wheel of a 2010 Ford Fiesta.

The course is 12.4 miles and is both paved and gravel. The goal for Ericksson and Grönholm, the Sparkster has heard, is to complete the course in less than 10 minutes. For the record, that’s never been done before. But, then again, Ericksson is a four-time Swedish rally champ and Grönholm is a two-time World Rally champ.

PAINT SCHEMES FOR A GREAT CAUSE
Online voting continues for Ford Customer Service Division’s second annual Funny Car Design Contest, which supports the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Visit www.jdrf.org/ford to find more than 200 paint scheme designs by children. Fans can make a donation for their favorite car design, and then the top five donation-earnin’ designs will be judged and narrowed to one. And that design will be Bob Tasca’s paint scheme for the NHRA event in Concord, N.C., in September. Votin’ ends Aug. 14.

While checkin’ the calendar for a free weekend, the Sparkster went through this week’s mailbag.

Sparky:

Since Ford Motor Company has had only one engine upgrade since 1992, what in the world could be taking so long to get this "NEW ENGINE-FR9" under the hood? Ford has been under-horsepowered for years now! Especially at the "plate tracks." Please don't tell us that "we are trying to work out all the details" stuff. I mean, there are several drivers who are not possible for “The Chase,” so why have they not test[ed] this "purpose built race engine"?

Very Confused
T. Wayne Poole

Well, T. Wayne, there’s really nothing to be confused about. Ford Racing’s new engine, the FR9, is pretty much ready to go. The engineers, of course, want to make sure that it is 100 percent ready to go before lettin’ anybody put it in one of their cars. And, while Ol’ Steady Matty Kenseth and Carl Edwards and The Biff all are racin’ for a spot in the Chase, really all of the Ford drivers are racin’ for somethin’. But, to directly answer your question: It’s goin’ to be very soon, before the summer is out. The engine continues to be tested on and off the track. The only thing is, right now, nobody, and the Sparkster means nobody, knows who will be the first to run it.