CRAZY WOMAN DRIVER
By Kay Bell
New technology drives racing
A
dapting to new technology is seldom easy for me, and you'd know that if you'd seen me trying to get used to my new smartphone. So I can relate to the racers around the world as they struggle to adjust to the changes thrown their way each year. NASCAR introduced fuel injec- tion systems to the Sprint Cup this year and it took almost no time for them to bedevil some of the series' most prominent teams. At Phoenix in only the second race of the season, reigning champion Tony Stewart turned a potentially great day into a bad one when he made what we will generously call
34 CHANGING LANES // MAY '12
an unforced error. Stewart cut off his engine to save fuel during a caution, expecting to be able to crank it right back up and resume racing. Not so fast, Smoke! The new Electronic Con- trol Units that manage the fuel and ignition systems don't react the same way as the old carburetors did, and Stewart's car wouldn't pushed back to the pits, wound up In the wake of Stewart's gaffe, the Fox TV announce team got into a discussion over the ef- fect of fuel injectors on mileage that clearly indicated that not all
www.changinglanesdigital.com
