From the headlines a while back I went to the Grand Am site and read about the rules of the cup that the Mustangs won in.

My question is this: If the engine has to be (mostly) stock and those Mustang are running Ford's racing engines then why did the Grand Am give them the exception for them?

I don't know for a fact that the Mustangs were running Ford's racing engine but I thought I saw something from Ford that they were using them.

What is the difference between the Ford racing engine and the stock engine in the Mustang?

 

I think they are using the 5.0L Cammer but not for sure.

 

yeah, they have "5.0 Cammer" on the sides.

Not sure what the rules mean, but they are the 5.0 Cammer engines from the Ford Racing Catalog (yes the 15 thousand dollar ones)

 

actually, just read an article in 5.0 mustangs and super fords, the race cars use a evolution of that, called the R50 and that is NOT available to the public in the Catalog, that is pretty lame. So they are using a modified version of a 15k engine, lame.

 

The rules are that the engine has to be available to the public, and it is. You can buy a complete 2005 Mustang FR500C with the R50 Cammer engine.

 

Moving to Mustang & Ford Motorsports . . .

 

Brad, you reply too fast for me...

http://www.fordracingparts.com/musta...ifications.asp

 

When I read the rules it seemed pretty strict about how much you could modify the original engine that came with the car from the factory. I assumed that the engine they bought from Ford was a version of the stock engine that had all the mods allowed already done (so that the team didn't have to do the mods themselves). However, it sounds like the engine they used had more mods than allowed.

However, the other way to get a different engine is to get an exception from the "powers-that-be". So...if this engine got an exception why? For what reasons does Grand Am typically give exceptions?


EDIT: Ok..I get it now...since you can buy the whole car direct from ford then the engine qualifies.

 

Is this what you read?

Section 7.8 Engine . .

http://www.grandamerican.com/CONTENT/Docs/...0GAC%203-28.pdf

 

That is EXACTLY what I read.

 

I read in the new Motor Trend (I think) that Grand Am just added 100lbs to the Mustangs to help competition.

 

Is that a joke? That seems rather arbitrary.....what was the motivation?

 

After Daytona they added weight to the '05, not sure if any more has been added. Just trying to keep the field tight.

 

They are just trying to keep the competition up in the series, don't want the best car to run away with the championship.

I personally think nascar should runs sports cars and not the crap cars they do right now. It would make the muscle cars seem that much cooler. Instead of a stupid Monte Carlo, Taurus, or Stratus, ie Momma's Cars

IMO