Burton, Jarrett: Our Fords can’t win the '500'

When Winston Cup returnee Dodge locked out the front row for the 'Great American Race' in last Saturday's qualifying session, GM and Ford drivers hunted in packs with claims that the marque had deliberately duped NASCAR by sand-bagging during winter testing.

But after Sunday's Budweiser Shootout, in which a Ford (Mark Martin's) led only two out of 70 laps, Jeff Burton and Dale Jarrett shifted the focus of their attack and now say it will be impossible for a Taurus to beat a Chevy Monte Carlo or Pontiac Grand Prix in Sunday's Daytona 500.

In 2000, Jarrett won the Daytona 500, with Burton winning July's Pepsi 400 on the 2.5-mile Florida superspeedway. But after NASCAR introduced a new, drag-inducing aero package late last year to spice up some increasingly moribund restrictor plate racing at Daytona and Talladega, the Ford pair say the Taurus is now too 'draggy' to mount a serious challenge.

"There wasn't a Ford in the [Shootout] field that had a chance to win, and that's the way it is," said Burton. "I'm not complaining or whining or anything else, that's just the facts.

"When they made the changes for the aero deal, they penalised the Fords. I don't think they did it intentionally, but there's more drag. We won't win the Daytona 500 unless it turns into something strange."

The new aero package consists of a roof-mounted drag-inducing strip and a larger rear spoiler. Both are designed to make the cars punch a larger hole in the air, making over-taking easier, but Ford says it has been overly-burdened and has extra drag over Chevy and Pontiac equal to a 10bhp power deficit.

"I think we can get the job done if all things are equal," said Jarrett, "but it's a little disheartening knowing you're at a 10 horsepower disadvantage to start with. It was known before we got here and nothing was done."

In fact, NASCAR had granted Ford a small concession when its roof strip was decreased in area to compensate for the more curved roofline on the Taurus. But Ford Winston Cup programme manager Jay Novak said: "Even Fords working together couldn't get to the front [of the Shootout], whereas the Chevrolets could go anywhere they wanted - high or low. I just wonder how much more we'll have to suffer before there is some sort of equality in this situation.

"Would anybody be happy with what they saw except for General Motors?" he added. "How much more obvious does it need to be?"

NASCAR impounded four cars for windtunnel testing after the Shootout, but says it was neither as a result of Dodge's qualifying form or for any imminent aero changes between the marques.

"I don't know if they [Ford] have an aero problem," said NASCAR president Mike Helton. "I don't know if they have a horsepower problem. It's way too early to start reacting just for the sake of reacting."

Ironically, Dodge has based its new Interpid R/T on a number of NASCAR-approved Taurus templates, but is yet to fully test the drafting effectiveness of its cars. Bill Elliott ran a single Intrepid in the Shootout, but all 10 Intrepids get their chance in Thursday's twin 125-mile qualifying races, which determine the final Daytona 500 grid.