NASCAR has long considered the idea of offering specific engines for the Camping World Truck Series and a rollout finally appears to be on the horizon.
GMS Racing tested two trucks powered by the Ilmor engine at Darlington on Tuesday, according to a report published in Motorsport.com. The same story said the engine produced speeds two-tenths faster than the Chevrolet engine and that NASCAR planned to meet with truck teams Tuesday to decide on a direction.
Elton Sawyer, NASCAR vice president of officiating and technical inspection, discussed the topic on SiriusXM Radio Monday and confirmed a decision was imminent.
“We are always looking for ways to improve racing, but we have to do it in a way that is financially manageable,” Sawyer said. “Gene Stefanyshyn and his R&D group are looking at some ideas. The engines are a high priority item. We did a closed test about a week ago and we’re gathering all the information from that. We hope to have a major announcement in the next 10 days or so on where we want to go with this.”
The inclusion of specific engines is a polarizing, double-edged topic in NASCAR.
On the one hand, Ilmor-powered engines have saved ARCA Racing Series teams up to $250,000 in engine maintenance over the past three seasons. On the other hand, current Truck Series team owners have expressed concerns.
In an interview with Autoweek in 2015Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch believed that manufacturers would reject such a solution. Calling it “business talk 101,” Keselowski said much of the truck revenue comes from Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota.
As a result, the three OEMs would likely not see much benefit in their partners using a specific powertrain.
“If you take steps like that, you might reduce costs, but you certainly know for sure that you’re not going to reduce your revenue,” Keselowski said. “In the truck category, a lot of the revenue comes from the manufacturers, so if these programs don’t work for the manufacturer, they don’t work for us.
“It’s that simple. I haven’t seen the manufacturer jumping for joy on these programs. And that’s really what we need. I need to know if this is a solution for them or a step in the right direction for the truck series itself.”
Busch agreed at the time that the specific engine would reduce costs for his teams, but agreed with Keselowski that it probably didn’t make sense for the manufacturers.
“The specific engine issue is frustrating for them because they want to support the series with their engines and not a specific engine,” Busch said. “I mean, if it’s a specific engine with a Chevrolet block and something else on top, Toyota doesn’t want to see that under the hood of their vehicles, right?”
Busch cited employees and payroll as the biggest costs for KBM, followed by engines, travel and finally tires.
“If you try to eliminate any of those things, you’re just going to get fewer races,” Busch explained.
