NASCAR investigates two more fires
The two Winston Cup Dodge racecars which caught fire during Sunday's Marketplace 400 at Michigan International Speedway were taken yesterday for examination at the new NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, NC. The engine bay of Kenny Wallace's car burst into flames after a collision, and the underside of Rusty Wallace's Intrepid was engulfed after the engine blew
In the wake of fires earlier in the season in cars driven by Ryan Newman, Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte and Ken Schrader, NASCAR recently mandated a fire extinguisher in the boot [trunk] of all the cars, complementing the extinguishers installed in the cockpits.
NASCAR spokesman Mike Zizzo said that the fires had not activated the on-board extinguishers because the flames were outside the cars. He said: "The extinguishers have a heat sensor, and the heat was outside the trunk area. It never reached the proper temperature to turn them on. An inspection showed there was no discoloration inside either car, but we will continue to look and see whatever else might have occurred."
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