Donald McIntosh

**Mams** · 02-08-2018, 09:09 AM

He said after losing a motor last night that he didn't know if they'd put their other motor in or just head home. May be the first to drop off Lucas tour. Too bad as he's a good driver but really surprised at his choice of equipment.

**Pennsboro23** · 02-08-2018, 09:25 AM

I think he would do a lot better running regionally.

**Turtle12** · 02-08-2018, 09:38 AM

I can't figure out, for the life of me, why he's chosen to experiment with a new chassis and a weird motor to try and run a national series.

**Highside Hustler25** · 02-08-2018, 09:42 AM

Originally Posted by Turtle12

I can't figure out, for the life of me, why he's chosen to experiment with a new chassis and a weird motor to try and run a national series.

Yes, but you have to give them credit for trying. Could have been a feel good story had he had success.

**zach51** · 02-08-2018, 10:18 AM

The fact that it couldn't make it through 1 race night has to be a little demoralizing.

**ThebigE** · 02-08-2018, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by zach51

The fact that it couldn't make it through 1 race night has to be a little demoralizing.

My thoughts exactly.... Sounds like they need to go back to the drawing board real quick. At this point he couldn't even run regionally.

**willardboy** · 02-08-2018, 10:43 AM

Always seems like hes a good guy in interviews and at the track. Hate the trouble and misfortune has started early. Hope they get it dialed in and headed in the right direction. Good luck to him and his team!

**GEAR_HEAD** · 02-08-2018, 11:47 AM

He should have never left Blount. Pretty soon he'll be out of motors and out of racing. I don't get the whole Buick motor thing, especially on a national series against motors built by the best builders in the country.

**CageFaraday** · 02-08-2018, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by Turtle12

I can't figure out, for the life of me, why he's chosen to experiment with a new chassis and a weird motor to try and run a national series.

I'm not sure his chassis choice is as surprising as the engine is. If I'm not mistaken that 007 is just a copy of an older Rocket, which he has a lot of experience with and at least at GIS he ran he ran pretty good for his first dive into the deep end of the pool. The engine choice to me is the "Outlier", I mean I'm pretty sure Buick hasn't had any sort of Motorsports involvement since the early 90's maybe earlier.

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick#Motorsport

Motorsport

For many years, Buick was a substitute for Chevrolet in automobile racing. No earlier than the 1960s, Buick was a competitor in the Indianapolis 500, and (like almost every other American manufacturer) also participated in the Grand National stock car racing series using its Regal and later the Gran Sport.
The golden age of Buick in motorsport, however, was the late 1980s. General Motors entered the Regal, particularly the Grand National model, in the NASCAR Cup Series alongside the Oldsmobile Cutlass. Buick was also a major powerplant in the IndyCar Series and IMSA GT Series (particularly in the IMSA GTP class) for several years. The 1990s, however, proved to be the end of Buick's reign in motorsports, as GM replaced it for many years with Oldsmobile before phasing out that marque in 2004. Oldsmobile would be replaced by Pontiac until its demise in 2009, being replaced by Chevrolet.

I don't know him personally, but my guess is he knows somebody who builds engines or use to have a Cup team back in the day or picked up a bunch of leftover Buick Nascar stuff at auction and put his program together on the cheap. Its only Florida, which usually isn't a money maker even for the most well funded of teams, so dropping back to punt may be wise this early. He can go home, regroup, put his Big Bad Buick back together and then return to the fight after speedweeks. Logically speaking it makes sense to me and I doubt he was intending to run for the championship, but mainly focused on ROY and gaining national experience and exposure.

3 Years ago Jd/Rumley surprised the powers that be with a more or less unproven car and a homebuilt engine and spanked their collective tails, so its doable, just not probable. I mean even though EPJ had been running a version of the Longhorn for a few seasons, he hadn't set the world on fire with it. Its early and i think wise on Macintosh's part to regroup after his first skirmish with the big boys, he's had speed, so we shall see.

**Pennsboro23** · 02-08-2018, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by GEAR_HEAD

He should have never left Blount. Pretty soon he'll be out of motors and out of racing. I don't get the whole Buick motor thing, especially on a national series against motors built by the best builders in the country.

Agreed, I understand wanting to run nationally like he did but he was in a great position/great car with the Blount ride. A lot of drivers would love to be able to sit in that car.

**jensenracing18** · 02-08-2018, 01:39 PM

just posted on Facebook they are heading home to lick their wounds looks like he will be the first casualty of speedweeks to drop off a tour

**UMPDream** · 02-08-2018, 03:24 PM

Originally Posted by CageFaraday

I'm not sure his chassis choice is as surprising as the engine is. If I'm not mistaken that 007 is just a copy of an older Rocket, which he has a lot of experience with and at least at GIS he ran he ran pretty good for his first dive into the deep end of the pool. The engine choice to me is the "Outlier", I mean I'm pretty sure Buick hasn't had any sort of Motorsports involvement since the early 90's maybe earlier.

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick#Motorsport

Motorsport

For many years, Buick was a substitute for Chevrolet in automobile racing. No earlier than the 1960s, Buick was a competitor in the Indianapolis 500, and (like almost every other American manufacturer) also participated in the Grand National stock car racing series using its Regal and later the Gran Sport.
The golden age of Buick in motorsport, however, was the late 1980s. General Motors entered the Regal, particularly the Grand National model, in the NASCAR Cup Series alongside the Oldsmobile Cutlass. Buick was also a major powerplant in the IndyCar Series and IMSA GT Series (particularly in the IMSA GTP class) for several years. The 1990s, however, proved to be the end of Buick's reign in motorsports, as GM replaced it for many years with Oldsmobile before phasing out that marque in 2004. Oldsmobile would be replaced by Pontiac until its demise in 2009, being replaced by Chevrolet.

I don't know him personally, but my guess is he knows somebody who builds engines or use to have a Cup team back in the day or picked up a bunch of leftover Buick Nascar stuff at auction and put his program together on the cheap. Its only Florida, which usually isn't a money maker even for the most well funded of teams, so dropping back to punt may be wise this early. He can go home, regroup, put his Big Bad Buick back together and then return to the fight after speedweeks. Logically speaking it makes sense to me and I doubt he was intending to run for the championship, but mainly focused on ROY and gaining national experience and exposure.

3 Years ago Jd/Rumley surprised the powers that be with a more or less unproven car and a homebuilt engine and spanked their collective tails, so its doable, just not probable. I mean even though EPJ had been running a version of the Longhorn for a few seasons, he hadn't set the world on fire with it. Its early and i think wise on Macintosh's part to regroup after his first skirmish with the big boys, he's had speed, so we shall see.

You mean, 3 years ago assembling an engine using Clements top end? Is that the home built your speaking of?

I give the guy an enormous amount of respect for going outside of the box. For example, sure you can buy the "production" motor that many sell to the "local" guys but guess what, you aren't getting the good stuff unless you have the connections and I don't care what they tell you about your $42+ bill. If you want an edge today, you better have what they Dont Have! Care to guess what a 1/2 point of compression will do? And that's just one small variable. Another example, let the entire field go buy XR1's and then go cry to the shock guy or dig and dig for info from everyone. If you want to win, you have to do it yourself and find your own speed.

**wfofan** · 02-08-2018, 04:10 PM

He has won "worse move" of the off-season award...
It's so bad, can't help from feeling sorry for him...

**warriorracerg9** · 02-08-2018, 05:07 PM

the reason they chose to run a Buick engine is because that's what his families shop Mcintosh performance specializes in. the Doug Stephens 007 car is not a copy of an "older rocket" its a blend of an xr1 and a longhorn.

**Josh Bayko** · 02-08-2018, 05:18 PM

Back in the 90�s, when big small blocks were still legal, I crewed for a big block modified team that had a 414 Buick that made huge power. Based on that, I can understand trying a Buick motor.

**blncfn57** · 02-08-2018, 05:54 PM

If my memory is correct, the buick engines were just a SBC with a cylinder head that carried a buick part number. Same as the more popular pontiac stuff.

**MI Dirt Fan** · 02-08-2018, 05:59 PM

Was thier backup another Buick? Even though they were run before the way it sounds. Seems like some extensive practice should've been done to try it if they didn't. Definitely not when you plan to run for Lucas oil ROY.