Evernham's engine woes keep Sadler conservative
Evernham's engine woes keep Sadler conservative
Recent rash of blown motors have 9, 19 teams scrambling
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
November 10, 2006
03:45 PM EST (20:45 GMT)
AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Elliott Sadler has been the victim of a blown motor in two of the past four races. His teammate, Kasey Kahne, had an engine expire last week at Texas.
It all amounts to a potentially dangerous situation for Sadler, who can't afford another DNF. Another one would probably cause the hair to fall out of his new beard.
Only the top 35 in owner standings earn a guaranteed starting spot in the first five Nextel Cup races in 2007, and the last thing Sadler wants is the pressure of qualifying for the Daytona 500 on speed.
His No. 19 Dodge is only 69 points ahead of MB2 Motorsports' No. 14 Chevrolet for 36th in the owner standings. With two races and 612 laps to go in the season, it is not a big cushion.
Evernham Motorsports isn't willing to play Russian Roulette. The organization is intent on protecting its top-35 spot, so it made the costly and labor-intensive move to fly a new motor to Phoenix.
The team placed the different motor in the No. 19 Dodge in its hotel parking lot. The crew also adjusted their gear ratio to reduce engine strain.
"[We have to] make sure we have a good, safe motor in for Sunday that is going to run all day," Sadler said. "I've got to do my job as a driver to take care of it, protect it in practice and make sure we run all 312 laps on Sunday."
Sadler didn't have to worry about his standing in the top 35, but the engine failures -- coupled with a startling resurgence from Kyle Petty -- has him thinking defensively.
Petty has scored three consecutive finishes of 17th or better to move into the top 35, 50 points behind Sadler. Sterling Marlin is 36th, but his team -- MB2 Motorsports -- has also shown improvement.
"It is not going to be a fun last two races," Sadler said. "Kyle Petty, you have got to tip your hat to those guys. They have done an unbelievable job. It is going to be a hair-raising experience."
The team theorizes that a bad set of valve springs has been the key cause of the recent rash of engine failures. The motors that Evernham brings to the track have arguably been the best in the garage on the high-speed, high-banked tracks.
Kahne has won a career-high six races this season, three of which came in dominating fashion. Kahne also has five poles, and Sadler has qualified well since joining Evernham in August.
"Our engine department gives us more power than most teams out here," Kahne said.
But that tremendous power sometimes comes with a price, as Kahne saw last week, when he qualified fourth only to fall out with engine failure just 11 laps from the finish.
Kahne said the motor problems are not an internal problem, instead resulting from materials not originating in Evernham's engine shop.
"It is not a part that Evernham has built," Kahne said. "It is one of the parts that we haven't built that has broke all year long. They have tried different things, different parts, we just haven't started building those yet.
"It is disappointing that we have had some of those problems, but it is just racing. Next year we will probably have a lot less of them, and it will be better."
Sadler admitted that concern over avoiding the dreaded DNF will force him to change the way he approaches the next two races.
"We could go for it a couple of weeks ago, but we have had so many problems that we are not able to go for wins as much as get a good top-10, top-15," Sadler said. "That will keep us in the top 35."
