After a very successful 2010 season wrapped up by one of biggest late model races, the Ford Racing Short Track Program has reason to celebrate. Ford’s 350 horsepower D347S Blue Oval engine dominate the Snowflake 100 at the 5 Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida. In qualifying, six of the top eleven places we taken by vehicles powered by the new D347S.
The race simulated the results of the qualifying round — with a 1-2 Ford finish, while seven of the top twelve vehicles were powered by a Ford engine. This finish adds to the already-long list of achievements by Ford Racing, including five first place finishes in the American Canadian Tour series, a 1-2 finish in the World Crown Pro Late Model 125 race, and a Pro-Lite Championship in the TORC Off-Road Truck Racing series.
“There are a number of reasons and a number of people who contributed to this dramatic improvement. On the track, the performance of Chase Elliott, Joey Polewarczyk, Wayne Helliwell Jr., Coleman Pressley and Augie Grill made it clear that the 347 Series is the engine to have to run up front,” said Ford Racing Short Track Program Manager Mike Delahanty. Behind the scenes, a collective effort from just about everyone in Ford Racing led to quality and build improvements of the engines, and improved awareness of the product and its superior product attributes. Careful attention to customer service clearly demonstrates Ford Racing stands behind its products.”
From the entire Motrolix Team – congratulations to Ford Racing and the Short Track Team!
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FR SEALED RACING ENGINE PROGRAM SHINES
12/8/2010
SNOWFLAKE 100 WIN CAPS STRONG SEASON
Dearborn, Mich. — Ford Racing finished the 2010 Short Track racing season by dominating the Snowflake 100 at 5 Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla., one of the biggest Late Model crate engine races in the country. Chase Elliott edged Bubba Pollard for the win to give Ford Racing a 1-2 finish and help Ford racers claim seven of the top 12 positions.
Ford’s domination of the event began with qualifying. The Ford Racing D347SR Blue Oval engines were strong in qualifying, taking P1, P2, P3, P5, P7 and P11—six of the top 11 positions. Elliott qualified off pole, but his time was thrown out in tech and forced to start in the 31st position due to a front spoiler issue. His drive to the front was impressive, finally holding-off the hard-charging Pollard.
Pollard, a long-time GM crate motor racer, only recently switched to the Ford Racing D347SR package. To show the dramatic shift of power in Late Model racing, consider last year just two D347SR engines competed in the Snowflake 100 with a best finish of 19th.
This Snowflake performance follows other impressive wins for Ford Sealed Racing Engines at some of the biggest Asphalt Late Model Crate Engine races, including the ACT Invitational at Loudon and the World 100 at Gresham.
Ford Racing successfully tested and developed the 350-horsepower S347JR sealed racing engine with the American Canadian Tour in 2009. The 2010 race season saw the first use of this engine in the full ACT Tour where it scored five wins, including wins at the prestigious ACT Invitational at New Hampshire International Speedway, and the Milk Bowl at the historic Thunder Road Speed Bowl. The performance at the ACT Invitational was impressive as the Fords of Joey Polewarczyk and Wayne Helliwell finished 1-2 in the 43-car field.
Ford D347SR engines made another strong showing at the season-ending race at Gresham Motorsports Park by finishing 1-2 again in the World Crown Pro Late Model 125 race. Prior to this race, t had become clear that the D347SR engine was the engine to run.
Augie Grill, one of the best racers in the southeast, made the switch to Blue Oval power just for the World Crown 125. In fact, Grill took the D347SR out of the Ford Racing crate on Monday, had it running on Wednesday, and ran away from the field on Saturday to take a convincing win. Elliott finished second to Grill, with the Blue Ovals of Daniel Hemric and Hunter Robbins finishing fifth and sixth. Augie’s performance proved that Ford Sealed Racing Engines have the power to win right out of the crate.
Ford Racing Short Track Program Manager Mike Delahanty summed up the season.
“There are a number of reasons and a number of people who contributed to this dramatic improvement,” said Delahanty. “On the track, the performance of Chase Elliott, Joey Polewarczyk, Wayne Helliwell Jr., Coleman Pressley and Augie Grill made it clear that the 347 Series is the engine to have to run up front.
“Behind the scenes, a collective effort from just about everyone in Ford Racing led to quality and build improvements of the engines, and improved awareness of the product and its superior product attributes,” said Delahanty. “Careful attention to customer service clearly demonstrates Ford Racing stands behind its products. And from a brand perspective, we have switched top teams from GM power to Ford—and in doing so given Ford Fans something to cheer about.”
Although originally designed for Circle Track racing, Ford D347SR Sealed Racing Engines made the move to TORC Off-Road Truck Racing in 2010 and won the Pro-Lite Championship. Casey Currie replaced his high-revving and expensive 4-cylinder engine with a Blue Oval right out of the crate and raced it all season long. Expensive regular rebuilds were eliminated leaving his team with time and money to dedicate to improving other parts of the race truck.
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