donny schatz motors...

[racincowboy02]

Ok so what fuel does the sprints run now and what did they use to run seems like i remember them running alcohol base fuel at one time or am i wrong

[Mod Runner]

Sprint engines still run alcohol. So TSR racing chose Durham to develop a Ford engine for their Sprint cars. Most likely TSR wants a durable and powerful engine. Ford has been trying for years to get engine builders to build Ford 410 engines for Sprint cars, but no one appeared to have the financial resources to complete the task. TSR appears to have the desire to make a competitive 410 Ford Sprint car engine a reality.

[MI Dirt Fan]

Why wouldn't Ford develop one themselves? Or what about guys like Roush or Roush/Yates group

[racincowboy02]

Wow thats very interesting Mod Runner thanks for the info

[racincowboy02]

Good Question MI Dirt Fan Maybe they didn't see a need to do it or didn't feel like it would be competitive. Roush Yate would have been a pretty decent option but maybe they are more focused on the late model and nascar stuff right now

[CageFaraday]

Why wouldn't Ford develop one themselves? Or what about guys like Roush or Roush/Yates group

Andy Durham is the backdoor to Rousch/Yates, he use to work there and took over the dirt end of things when they dropped it.

[Krooser]

Its amazing to me that Ford doesn't get directly involved in DLM racing. They are missing the boat on a lot of good PRand sales. Same for Mopar... they spent millions in NHRA but zero on dirt the last 15 years.

If the promoters and sanctioning bodies got off their collective @sses and did their job we'd all be better off.

[Rollover]

whats the reason sprint cars run fuel injection instead of carbs?

[mcarter815]

I think all racing will eventually move to fuel injection.

[CageFaraday]

whats the reason sprint cars run fuel injection instead of carbs?

Tradition. USAC is 100% mandatory to run Mechanical constant flow fuel injection, but some other newer organiztions like WAR, ELITE, BOSS they have opened up the engine rules to any cubic inch any non forced induction. Some on the west coast and up north run 2 bbl's & 360's with tires being the equalizing factor. I don't think fuel injection will ever be in DLM, there isn't a need or reason for it and too many companies exist to supply carbs at a reasonable cost. The sprint car type isn't great for part throttle, its mainly a WOT performer. They have a race every year at Lucas Oil Speedway called the Jesse Hockett/MacMillan memorial race that is co-sanctioned by WAR & Elite under the POWRi banner. Last year the top 5 went something like this:
1) Fuel inject/360
2) 4 bbl 360
3) 4 bbl 360
4) 4 bbl 410
5) 2 bbl 360

There were also several fuel injected 305's and at least 1 4 bbl CT525. (I've recently developed an interest in non-wing sprints. Heck on the west coast they some use starters and batteries and the new 602 crates have starters and a transmission... Right now I like them better than a DLM for a blue collar class, less upkeep, less equipment needed(scales aren't a necessity), you don't even have to have a shop, of course its nice to have one though. LOL

[Stefan2k4]

Speaking of carbs, are variable venturi carbs, like the predators, legal in SLMs nowadays? Seems I remember some of those being ran back in the 80s.

As for Sprint car engines, remember weight is a big issue there as well. Your talking about cars that almost weigh half what a late model does. So, weight becomes more important. Don't they use mostly titanium bolts, instead of steel in sprint cars? They go to all this trouble and cost because when you add up all the bolts on a sprint car, the small amount saved on each becomes significant. Anyway, weight is a bigger issue in sprint cars than it is in late models. That's probably part of the reason for sticking with the 410 limit. When you go larger, eventually your going to either have to increase the bore spacing and/or the deck height of the block. A bigger block is gonna weight more, and a longer block, with a wider bore spacing will require a longer crank, which is also going to add weight. What's the weight difference between a wide bore engine and the current 410s they run? I'm not saying it wouldn't be worth it to trade a few extra pounds for the additional horsepower, but it wouldn't provide as much benefit as it probably does for a late model, because LMs are required to weigh enough that they probably have to add weight to the car anyway. In the little 500, they even run v6 engines, and they've won on more than a few occasions. Granted, those are non-winged cars running on a 1/3 mile track but the weight savings is probably at least partially a benefit that helps offset the reduced power.

[smith19]

the little 500 in Anderson, ind. is a 1/4 mile. crazy race...

[Stefan2k4]

Yes, I stand corrected, it is indeed 1/4 mile and not 1/3 as I said. However, weight is still a significant factor in a sprint car engine and is more significant than it is in a LM because of the huge weigh difference between them.

[Krooser]

The small block Ford is actually lighter than a Chevy in stock form but its a bit longer. The Cleveland based blocks are heavier but there are aluminum versions available today. Lots of Clevos run down under in all forms of racing.

Cost is on reason not to have FI. That little computer box you see on drag cars with FI is a solid $5,000 right there not to mention all the hardware cost. Even a $1,000.00 carb is a bargain in comparison and generally they will make more HP, too.

[CageFaraday]

The small block Ford is actually lighter than a Chevy in stock form but its a bit longer. The Cleveland based blocks are heavier but there are aluminum versions available today. Lots of Clevos run down under in all forms of racing.

Cost is on reason not to have FI. That little computer box you see on drag cars with FI is a solid $5,000 right there not to mention all the hardware cost. Even a $1,000.00 carb is a bargain in comparison and generally they will make more HP, too.

Your right, but sprint car FI is mechanical, no computer at all. How goes the Mastersbilt resurrection?