Pandora's Box

Although its issues at Daytona were over-shadowed by 90 some cars, one jet-dryer crashing and, Danica-mania, EFI was lying like a coiled snake under NASCAR's table of serenity. Railroaded into this morass by the 'it's more relevant to the fans in the stands........' prophets, NASCAR will (and already has) its hands full policing this black box....a point that was repeatedly ignored during EFI's incubation period.

Now, we are beginning to hear defensive phrases like: "the McLaren engineers are smart, but they've never done a NASCAR stocker before......(duh).......with their excessive bumping and grinding and the temperatures at which the system is subjected....(duh)....or.......the test we performed last year, could not simulatethe weather,as there is as there is no weather in the laboratory....(duh)..........we think we can have problems like Tony Stewart's Phoenix issue solved by April, or May.......... however, EFI-issues may cost someone a pay-off berth, or determine the championship.............(duh).

The engines were still warm when every team at Las Veags,except Ryan Newman, began demanding to view Tony Stewart's 'mapping profile'. Can you say 'preview of coming attractions?' If traction control was the evil empire, just wait 'til the nerds reallyinvestigate the possibilities of NASCAR-EFI; the latest example of the tail-wagging-the dog.

hmmmmmmmmmm....

can we just put a penny behind the fuse?!

buttered, please

"EFI was lying like a coiled snake under NASCAR's table of serenity." - Now THAT's a way to turn a phrase. I like it.

This EFI aint yer grandaddy's NASCAR fuel injection!

So.....

Wonder how long it will be before somebody figures out Bad Brad has an app on that smart phone in his car to control and override his EFI?

Yeah...

Here's what Brad said on Saturday before the race when he gazed into his crystal ball:

I dont know if weve seen all the issues that theres going to be, Brad Keselowski said. I think that when the races get hotter, theres a lot of potential for failure, but I dont think anyone can really quantify what those potentials are or put any odds on it because we are seeing things that I dont think we even predicted we would see.

Come to find out........ NASCAR has an obscure rule (there's a surprise) requiring all cars racing in a given race to participate in the event's pre-race practice. Well, long story short, Robby Gordon missed practice at the recent Bristol race because........... his race car would not start! His race car would not start in spite of the McLaren engineers "working" on it for several hours! NASCAR wanted to be 'just like cars on the street' which are all electronically controlled, well WELCOME to the real world NASCAR! This sort of thing happens every day in the real world, I've seen it plenty of times in my 32 years of manning an auto parts counter, and you know what else?.......Lots of times because of the vehicle's total integration, everything being connected to everything...the problem can NOT be easily (if ever) detected or isolated or solved.....no matter who's working on it. It is what it is.....and it comes with the territory.

PKL, a "fuel pick-up' issue can be determined in 2 low-tech seconds.............starting fluid....

I understand, it's just how far off the mark the talking heads are. I'm sure those trying to solve the problem went through all the easy stuff first.....and obviously, none of it worked.