So what member of a race team is the most anxious during a rain delay?
It’s not the drivers. It’s not the crew chiefs nor the team owners. It’s the engine tuners.
Not only does humidity affect the guts of an engine, but if moisture seeps into the race fuel, that, too, can damage the engine. Also, a fluctuation in temperatures can be challenging. Sunday’s temperatures were in the low 60s; on Monday, the high is expected to be 75.
The Daytona 500 was originally scheduled to be run Sunday afternoon, but rain fell off and on and late in the day NASCAR was forced to postpone the race to Monday. It will now be run at 7:02 p.m. ET Monday, airing on FOX.
“Right now, we’re geared up for 60- to 70-degree temperatures and we’re in really good shape," Earnhardt Childress Racing engine builder Richie Gilmore said Sunday, when he still anticipated a daytime start. "The only thing we talked about this morning is if we go halfway or not quite halfway, and then we stop for a long period of time and race tomorrow.
“With (the new electronic fuel injection) and all the wiring harness stuff, we feel real good about our connectors. . . . What will the weather look like tomorrow? How much different will that be — without (us) being able to make any changes? That would be the only concern, is a huge change in temperatures. But the EFI allows itself to calibrate — up to almost a whole (restrictor) plate size. So as far as the weather swing, we feel good where we’re at.”
Gilmore said that ECR’s engineers have expressed to the drivers to be cautious of rising water and oil temperatures once the race is under way. He doesn’t anticipate much tandem drafting due to the demands the practice has on the engine.
“Right now, we have to worry about getting the engines back up to temperature,” Gilmore added. “Another concern is how everything reacts and that we don’t have any issues with condensation. This has a tendency with the ethanol as it picks up and grabs the moisture. That’s more problematic if the cars sit overnight then it would be for just a couple of hours.”
