Any new developments or news on the LS1 engine?

Dave:

We had a very good shake down at Lakeland, found a few minor issues (oli breathers on the wrong side etc..) but felt it was a good test. We are preparing the to take the car to Tri-County Speedway on March 14, for more track testing. You can also see the car and engine on display at the Autorama show at Cobo Hall on March 7-9.

Thanks,

Ron

RON, good to hear things went well. You will have to come down and say Hi, terry and I will probably be at sitting at my car all weekend at autorama! Talk to you later

Kyle

Thanks for the info. A couple more questions. This engine is slated for the Challenge series in 09 . Will there be changes in the car as far has chassis for this series? And what is the reasoning for moving from the current SBC engine? I realize this engine is quite a step up in performance and a great piece. And last , do think it will effect the series by being one brand only since Dodge and Ford havent realy got anything to compete with this technology?

Dave:

There will be no changes to chassis, the new motor will drop right into the current setup, all you will need is new set of bolt on engine mounting brackets. The reason while maybe not popular is to seperate the Challenge Series from the North and South. We are moving the Challenge Series in the direction of being the pinnacle of short track late model racing. Racing at such places as Bristol, Milwaukee, Iowa Speedway, Mansfield, O'Reilly Raceway Park, Gateway International, and Memphis Motorsports Park. We are also looking at Rockingham, Martinsville and Richmond for 09. You might see a trend here, all Nascar tracks for Cup, Busch or trucks. (I know Iowa Speedway doesn't have a race YET! But they will, trust me). With the Busch Cars running the new spacer to cut about 200 hp out of the motors, the new engine will very close in hp (about 550hp) as the Busch Cars are, so the transition for an ASALMS driver to Busch will be even closer than it is now.

As for being one engine package, it shouldn't be that big of a deal, and also never say about Ford (hint, hint). We are also ending rebuilds on this new motor, so we won't have some of the issues we have with the current motor. I believe the car count may drop a little in 09 because of the new motor, but I believe overall it will be very strong.

Thanks,

Ron

Sounds pretty cool. And the reason I'm asking about the chassis is that i think it would be a good in the future for this series to go to a perimeter chassis and raise the weight. One would be to incorporate more safety features and be able to add more component coolers and an alternater and driver comfort features especially with the races being more laps. It would also aid in the transition to busch type cars . Even concider a big spring setup. I know this wouldnt be cost efficent in the beginning but could be transitioned in. I would hope that Ford would stepup too.

Im glad we are going to a new motor next year. All I know is my car looks like a nascar car. Blows, Alternater and Cooling system. All of the Challenge Series car have this stuff on them.. Yea it is a little hard to get weight but we do it