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Old 08-21-2006, 02:21 PM   #1
gangajas
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: Spanish Castle Magic
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Default How everything changed in AOWR

I've found this interesting story in another forum:

From the late 70's to the end of the turbo formula ('96) USAC rules allowed the production-based, cast-iron block, two-valve per cylinder, pushrod, 209 c.i. turbo engine 10 in. more boost than the throroughbred, 161 c.i., DOHC, multi-valve per cylinder, alloy-block turbo engine that most teams used. Not sure if the stock-block had to be a V-6, but no turbo V-8 stockblock ever showed up. This advantage was exploited by Buick in the early 80's and when Buick withdrew their support the project was taken over by the Menard team. AJ Foyt also experimented with a Chevy V-6 in the mid -80's.

The turbo stock-block has one huge advantage at Indy under the USAC rules: HORSEPOWER. Usually a reported 150 hp over the Cosworth/Illmor-Chevy at any given time. If the DOHC engines were allowed 48 in. of boost, the turbo stock-blocks got 58. Later: DOHC:45 in.; stock-blocks, 55. The Buick-engined cars were rockets down Indy's straights. But the Buick was much heavier than the Cosworth, larger, and had a higher center of gravity. Dropping that engine into an Indycar totally ruined the handling. In later years, the undertray downforce tunnels had to be bulged out to make a Buick/Menard fit. Stock-block cars were unsually awful-handling pigs, at least compared to the Cosworth-Illmor cars. But, as said, wicked fast in a straight line. They also had a very poor reliability record. But many Indy fans (me included) rooted for the Buicks as they had an "underdog" image.

A new twist to the story came in the summer of '93. An engine-building factory called Greenfield Engineering (Indy Lights driver and occasional
Indycar driver Michael Greenfield's family business) came up with their own interpretation of the stock-block formula, only in V-8 form. It had one problem--it was not from a production-based block, just an in-house project. So they asked USAC to look at their effort and lift the "production-based" part of the formula. USAC looked at the engine and said what the heck, why not. So in the fall of '93 a technical bulletin was issued saying that the "stock-block" formula no longer had to be "stock".


Penske and his engineers saw this and knew instantly that if they could build an engine to these specs in time for the '94 500, they had a real ringer on their hands. Penske got Mercedes-Benz to work with Illmor on the concept, and in one of the most impressive feats in racing engineering history, the pushrod Mercedes "Indy" turbo engine went from the drawing board to the backs of the Penske-Lolas in time for the Month of May in about 8 months.

The Penske-Mercedes, under the USAC rules, had the best of most worlds: The stock-block's crazy horsepower advantage (they were rumoured to be making over 1000hp with 55 in. of boost), while, with Mercedes-Benz's engineering, was smaller and lighter than the standard-issue Buick. Yes, the handling wasn't as good, and reliability was a question mark going in, but most observers thought the Penske team never even showed their true hand all May. Little Al and Emmo breezed to the front row (the inexperienced Tracy struggled), and waltzed away from everyone in the race. If you have a tape of the race, watch about ten laps in when they show a shot of the start from the Goodyear Blimp: When everyone nails it at the green flag, Al and Emmo are GONE, checked out, see ya, thanks for playing! Front row starter Roul Boesel is said to have hit his mic button and stammered, "They...they...just drove away!" The infamous Penske "Unfair Advantage" lived again.

As a footnote: the Greenfield Engineering outfit arrived at rookie orientation in April and left shortly after when they blew up all their engines. They are a forgotten afterthought, but they may have changed history way more than we know. Who knows how the 1994 Month of May affected the attitudes of the people involved in the upcoming OW civil war. In all, a fascinating story.
Part 2: the political plot thickens....

Of course, after the butt-whipping Penske delivered to 500 field, it was assumed that the "non-production" turbo pushrod 209 would get its wings clipped. But how much? Don't know if it was an official ruling, but Penske forged ahead with assurance from somewhere that his pushrod Mercedes would get at least 52 in. of turbo boost (DOHC engines got 45 in., "pure" stock-blocks got 55in.) Of course, they planned to be back with it in '95. Supposedly they weren't using all of the 55 in. they were allowed in '94 because of reliability concerns. It would be a powerhouse again. Customers lined up at Illmor's door. Who wouldn't?

Then, in an astonishing turn, VERY late (March or early April) USAC announced that non-production pushrod engines would only be allowed 47 in. of boost, just 2 more than the DOHC! The Mercedes pushrod motor was done, just like that. The Captain was caught out. Indy preparations were thrown into disarray. They struggled all month long and then, amazingly, Emmo and Little Al failed to qualify! Just a week afterward, TG announced the 25/8 rule for next year's IRL-sanctioned 500; the CART teams, led by Penske, would have none of it, and the trenches were dug. There's no doubt the whole pseudo-stockblock saga was part of the OW split, politically and emotionally, but how much? Did Greenfield Engineering ruin all our lives? Wink Who knows?
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