Assembling an engine in a Las Vegas hotel conference room is surreal. Doing so while being timed is surprisingly nerve-wracking. I know this from recent experience.
Quaker State invited me to the engine build as part of the launch for its new Defy motor oil, a product formulated to include more zinc, which we’re told is favorable for engines with flat-tappet cams. It just so happens that the Chevy R07 NASCAR V-8 uses flat tappets, so that’s what they had us put together and fill with the stuff. Then we got a 30-second demo—more on that later.
Two eight-journalist teams were split into four pairs, each responsible for installing a set of parts and sub-assemblies once their turn came. My partner and I were in the second group, handling the flywheel, oil pump, pistons, and oil pan. With some assistance from two Hendrick Motorsports crew members, we did our job in about 10 minutes. Impressive, right? It would be more so if I omitted the fact that the other team needed just 8. And I’m confident that the Hendrick guys coaching us could have done it in half that time. Blindfolded.
Our competitors completed their engine in 33 minutes and 8 seconds, while my team finished about two minutes later. From a strictly time-keeping standpoint, I couldn’t help but feel partly responsible, but my teammates and I were still hopeful that the other team had made a mistake in their haste. The competition wasn’t over until we proved that the engines were functional—a 30-second trial was required before the in-hotel engine-building victors were declared.
With both test stands wheeled into the hotel’s courtyard—safety first!—the engines fired right up, barking from their shorty headers. So the other team got the W. But the real winners were the hotel guests who were able to add “NASCAR engines idling poolside” to their list of things seen and heard in Vegas.
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