Doug Yates has made some very large strides since he took over the reins of Roush/Yates Engines from his legendary father Robert. The first leap was the development of the FR9 engine, Ford’s first ever purpose-built race engine. It has proven to be a mighty bullet in the NASCAR wars. (Now if we could only get one to “fall off the truck,” so we could put it in a “stealth” Mustang…)

There was no rest for the winners at the Yates shop in Mooresville, N.C. as development began on the fuel injection engine. “This was a big job,” Yates says. “It’s the biggest change in engine technology in NASCAR in 63 years. It was even bigger than building the FR9 engines because the technology was so new. Getting the fueling right and getting the sensors right was a big challenge.” Now, with half a season in the record books Yates says, “I would give this engine an A.”

Although NASCAR had a few limited tests and the team logged thousands of hours in the dyno rooms, nothing compares to the “trial by fire” of a real race, both literally and figuratively, done at this year’s Noah’s Ark, err Daytona 500. Doug Yates and everyone in the shop were standing proud when Matt Kenseth’s Valvoline NextGen Ford flashed across the finish line at the checkers.

Since then, Yates has spent a lot of time with the engineers at Freescale/McLaren Electronic Systems (go to www.freescale.com, and read “The Power inside NASCAR Fuel Injection”). The company has a long and successful history in other forms of motorsports, most notably in Formula 1. More...

Ask any number of car fans about which engine oil is best and you might get the same number of different answers––but everyone will agree that the most important thing about engine oil is to have enough of it in your engine all the time. The same goes for coolant, and other engine fluids and lubricants too.

Engine Oil

In the old days, gas-station attendants (remember them?) would check your engine oil for free. These days it’s up to you. While your gas is pumping is a good time to do it. Checking engine oil levels frequently––especially if your car or truck is older with higher mileage––will give you a better idea of whether your engine is using oil, and how fast. No one wants to get the stink-eye from the check-engine light late some night when you’re miles from home or help, but tracking and diagnosing engine oil loss can help identify a more serious problem under the hood. More...