NASCAR introduces one engine rule

Robert Yates, owner of Ricky Rudd's and Dale Jarrett's Ford teams, said the rule will save him money because of all the experimentation his teams currently do, much of it yielding no information that could be deemed valuable.

"It's ineffective dollars spent,'' said Yates, whose team builds some of the best engines in the sport. "When it's all said and done, the rule won't change how good the show is. Nobody in the grandstand will know the difference. But we're getting way too crazy with that stuff. When I put my business hat on, (one engine) makes a lot of sense."

Three engines are usually used over the course of a race weekend: one for qualifying, one for practice and one for the race itself. The qualifying engine is usually built for speed with concessions made to reliability. The race engine, however, must last the entire distance of the race, sacrificing speed for endurance. From next season, all functions must be served by a single unit.

Rival team boss Jack Roush, however, doesn't believe the single engine rule will save most teams money.

"NASCAR, I think, in this case has just reacted to some of the smaller teams that think it will save them money,'' said Roush, who owns four teams. "If it's one, two or three, it doesn't matter to me."

Roush said teams with the resources will still spend the same amount of money and effort trying to develop the best engine in the garage, and teams without such funding will continue to be behind in their efforts.

If a team blows an engine in practice after qualifying, it will have to give up its qualified position and drop to the rear of the field.

"Right now, if there's a question, we just say, 'change it,'" Yates said. "With this new rule, we'll go to extreme means to make sure there's a good reason to change it."