Engine Questions??

[JungHo]

While at last years Indy 500, I had the opportunity to be in the garage area prior to the race. Foyt's crew was putting in race day spark plugs. A Target car was being prepared to go through tech inspection.I asked a guy on the Target team if he was a mechanic for the team and he replied that he was. I asked if he was allowed to change plugs in the C**T series. He sais no, that, they have a Toyota technician to do that function. I then asked him if he was allowed to check the oil. Again it also was the duty of a Toyota technician. Pressed further and asked if he could check any fluids in the engine. He became quite annoyed at this an asked " What's your point". I assume in the Troy based series its a hands off for the teams mechanics. This leads me to the following questions for an IRL mechanic.

1. Do the mechanics in the IRL have a rather free rein with a manufacturers engine?

2. Are ihe IRL mechanics restricted to what they can do if the engine is purchased through a builder? Can they open the engine up or is this done by the builders representative?

3. Do the Troy bases entrants in the Indy 500 have experienced personnel or do they hire out employees of the engine builders to get them by for the Indy 500??

Sorry for the lenght of this thread.

[trevor83]

They can pretty much do what they want. Some just pull them off and send them back when they're tired(the motors, not the mechanics). But yes, they can change plugs, fluids, etc. Some of the builders like Speedway come around and plug up their laptops to get data but you don't ever see them doing much work on the engine outside of electronics while at the track. I hear AJ can even use a sledgehammer on them when he feels like.

[ January 13, 2002: Message edited by: trevor83 ]

[eyer]

"1. Do the mechanics in the IRL have a rather free rein with a manufacturers engine?"

IRL teams, for the most part, own the engines. In all cases, there does not exist "a manufacturers engine".

"2. Are ihe IRL mechanics restricted to what they can do if the engine is purchased through a builder? Can they open the engine up or is this done by the builders representative?"

"Restrictions" are natural; meaning that almost all "IRL mechanics" today have little, if any, formal engine building experience (especially at the 3.5L NA V8 Indy car level). Specialization has removed the long-honored "mechanic" label as it once applied. There is virtually no reason - whatsoever - to "open the engine up" at the track; either by the team or a builder's rep.

"3. Do the Troy bases entrants in the Indy 500 have experienced personnel or do they hire out employees of the engine builders to get them by for the Indy 500??"

CART teams have long, now, been banned from any engine-specific responsibilities. Since the late '80s, a CART team has had no need for an engineman since the manufacturers own the engines, maintain them and expressly prohibit anyone else from basically touching them. One of the most acute results from this policy so long now in effect is the virtual dearth of engine-knowledgable "mechanics" in the sport today - both in CART and the IRL.

Speedway Engine Development, from its inception, has led the IRL-way in customer service to its teams. They assign a specific person to liason with each one of their teams - that person attends all tests of the team's and, of course, all races. He is that team's de facto engineman. After the race, he goes back to the shop and melds right back into the concerns of all SEDI teams.

[DanH]

That question would have to be asked of all builders in reference to each team/each contract. There are all different sorts of contracts from the builder from selling individual parts to leasing a top-secret engine. The league rules allow any trick as long as the engine passes an inspection and conforms to the rules.

Let’s say you have a sudden epiphany where you know you would be able to add 50 horsepower to an engine. You could start a team, build your own engines using your trick and win all the races. Or, you could start a company to build engines and lease your engine to the highest bidder with the stipulation that they never tear it down.

The beauty of the IRL rules is that you have many options. You are not limited to just hoping you can lease a Honda. If the IRL rules applied to CART then you would be able to buy a basic Honda, trick it up as you wish and do what you want with it within league rules. Menard built his own engines and nobody else could get them until he decided to let them.

Of course I could be wrong.