Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver Jeff Gordon recently talked about NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the new fuel injection system. As always, Gordon remained politically correct and really gave us no indication on whether the drivers liked the fuel injection or not.

We spotted a story in moderntiredealer.com, of all places, that dealt with NASCAR teams adjusting for the new fuel injection system. It was a well written article, which can be viewed in it’s entirety by clicking here. The author, who is unnamed, points out that many of the top NASCAR racing teams had already investigated what it was going to take to be competitive with fuel injection.

Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet.

Hendrick Motorsports, a longtime Chevrolet racing team with roots growing deep in the GM approved powerplants going back to the SB2 engine beginnings, has undoubtedly tried numerous different setups looking for that elusive “racer’s edge.”

The article explains that both Hendrick Motorsports and Penske Racing had sought out help from Bosch, a company that has legendary experience in fuel injection, to prepare V8 test engines with fuel injection.

The components that were selected mirror those that NASCAR has directed for it’s sprint cup series. “Bosch developed a Chevrolet NASCAR V-8 engine with complete electronic fuel injection for Hendrick, and a Dodge NASCAR V-8 EFI engine for Penske. Each engine featured all Bosch EFI components – including oxygen sensors, coils, ECU, fuel pump, injectors, and fuel management system, as well as Bosch racing spark plugs, alternator and starter,” claims the article’s author.

From the testing that was conducted, there were several benefits that the NASCAR teams have identified as being useful in their racing program. These insights were listed in the published article as:

• The ECU can make multiple changes to settings quickly, at the same time, while on the race track. This is typically not possible with carbureted systems.
• Hard to start after stalling on pit road virtually eliminated
• Reduced vapor lock
• Inertial shut-off switch for fuel pump
•  Fuel consumption can be precisely matched to power required versus fuel used. The oxygen sensor is integral in this

Many of these items have already been identified in grass roots racing where import four cylinder cars have been used on dirt and asphalt ovals for over 10 years now. Most tracks require cars with electronic fuel injection to run an oil pressure switch in the fuel pump circuit in case of a severe crash. The idea being that when oil pressure drops because the motor has stopped, the fuel will stop pumping to the engine. We see that as a major advantage to racer safety, especially if an engine has exploded and oil splashes on the hot exhaust headers, catching fire. With no fuel pumping toward the fire, it will extinguish easier, or even by itself. As we said, this is not really new information however.

The only times that Sprint Cup cars have been hard to start on pit road in the past has been when the drivers have tried to stretch the fuel window and ran the engine out of gas. With a mechanical pump, it will take several revolutions of the engine to get fuel delivered to the carburetor and the engine fired up. That is a true benefit of having an electric pump, but it may take away some of the penalties from the crew chiefs when they make a gas call late in the run. We liked the fact that some crew chiefs would try and push the boundaries. While this may be a benefit of the race teams, it may not be a benefit to race fans.

Many of the other benefits of fuel injection, like having an oxygen sensor working to calculate the best air to fuel mixture, take away the skills and experiences of engine builders and engine tuners on the team. This is another area where race teams could find that little extra “edge” that separated them from the other teams.

Before you get the idea that we don’t care for fuel injection or change in NASCAR’s premiere series, that’s not true. What we oppose is taking away skills that season veterans have learned that make some teams dominant and other teams struggle.

The article goes on to explain the difference in Bosch equipment and what makes them leaders in fuel injection, which we don’t mind, but the article states that Bosch motorsports is working with all motorsports, including World of Outlaws Late Models and Sprint cars, to become the wave of the future for these series.

In our experience, there is no group that is more brand loyal and clings to tradition more than circle track racers and their fans. It’s going to be interesting to see how successful fuel injection will become at the grass roots level of stock car racing. Those guys that take their late ’70 and 80’s Camaros to the local dirt or asphalt tracks around the country every Saturday night.

It’s going to be a tough sell to the Hobby Stock and Bomber stock series where the track rules defined a stock car as having OE type equipment.

As far as fuel injection in NASCAR’s upper division series goes, Daytona’s speedweek has shown that there has been little difference in the racing. The cars look, sound and race the same as they did with carburetors, with the one exception of flames shooting out of the exhaust on tight corners when the drivers get off the throttles. We miss those flames.