June 29, 2010
By Allen Madding
Kasey Kahne contended for the lead early in the going of the in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, leading 110 of the 301 laps with the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 9 Budweiser Ford -- powered by the new Ford FR9 engine. Many thought this would be the day that Ford would capture its first win after a 16 race drought.
But with approximately 100 laps to go, Kahne’s Ford FR9 powerplant began to lose power notably down 1,000-1,500 rpms over what the engine had been producing earlier in the event. Kahne quickly was overtaken by the Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Lenox Industrial Tools Chevrolet driven by Jeff Burton.
Down on power, Kahne began to be overhauled by the lead lap cars until the Ford FR9 powerplant erupted in smoke oiling down the track and bringing out the caution on lap 238. With Kahne’s No. 9 Budweiser Ford sitting in the garage area followed by a long trail of oil, Ford had no other teams in contention for the win.
Jeff Burton led 89 laps with the Richard Childress No. 31 Lenox Industrial Tools Chevrolet until a restart with 13 laps left to go. Burton’s Richard Childress Racing team elected to stay out while the other lead lap cars took fresh tires. Jimmie Johnson quickly dispatched of Burton on the restart in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Lowe’s Home Improvement Chevrolet.
Jimmie Johnson had a short lived challenge from Kurt Busch in the Penske Racing No. 2 Miller Light Dodge with Busch getting the advantage for seven laps before Johnson made the final pass and grabbed with win, his fifth win of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Johnson led only nine laps in the event, but he led the most important one when the flagman waived the checkered flag.
Ford’s winless streak goes to 17 events with the best finishing Fords of the event being A.J. Allmendinger in the Petty Motorsports No. 43 Berlin City Auto Group Ford, Greg Biffle in the Roush Fenway Racing No. 16 American Red Cross/3M Ford, and Matt Kenseth in the Roush Fenway Racing No. 17 Crown Royal Black Ford finishing 10th, 16th, and 17th respectively.
One has to wonder if the Ford teams’ confidence in the Ford FR9 engine was shaken on Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Returning to the older Ford race engine would certainly be an option for durability but perhaps not one for performance.
Chevrolet teams certainly did not seem concerned with durability issues as Johnson logged his fifth win of the season and seven Chevrolets finishing in the top ten.
So far this season, while Ford has tried to sort out their program in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition, Chevrolet has garnered eight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race wins, Toyota has won seven, and Dodge two.
Johnson seems well on his way to a fifth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship title. Ford teams seem well on their way back to the drawing board.
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