NASCAR’s sealed engine rule forces Carl Long Motorsports to end 2018 season

NASCAR pulled Carl Long Motorsports into the NASCAR hauler and told him that he couldn’t qualify at Texas Motor Speedway due to a sealed engine rule violation

Carl Long: “I pleaded my case. I have destroyed all my sealed engines. My backup is not sealed, and the one in my Phoenix car is not sealed.”

Carl Long Motorsports was set to attempt a run at his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. However, ahead of qualifying he was informed that the team could not race.

Timmy Hill has been the driver for the team. He was 39th on the board following the opening round of practice on Friday.

The team has 18 starts in 2018. Chad Finchum, Timmy Hill and Mark Thompson have all shared the seat so far. They have a best finish of 22nd which came in the Daytona 500 with the single start made by Mark Thompson.

However, they have only been a full-time team since July. According to the NASCAR rulebook, this classifies the team as a part-time team. This puts them under a different obligations in regards to the sealed engine rule.

Due to several engine issues and the overall lack of a sealed engine, the team is unable to compete this weekend.

Mark Thompson - 2018 paint scheme photo
DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 10: Mark Thompson, driver of the #66 Phoenix Air Racing Ford, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 10, 2018 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Carl Long Announcement

“I haven’t been able to quite put into words the outcome of our Cup car today,” Carl Long stated in a facebook post.

“Nascar has an engine seal rule. This is to cut down on engine costs. This means you have to run engines for more than 1 race on a particular engine. A full time team has a total number of races it must use a sealed engine. This helps the teams save $. This is the same rule in the Xfinity garage.”

I am a full time team in Xfinity, where we comply with the rule. I went full time Cup back in July. We have been to the track each week with Rewards.com or Ternio as the primary sponsor.”

“However, Nascar told me I am still classified as a part time team since we did not go to all the races during the season. This means the rule changes where every 3rd race must be a sealed engine. My last sealed engine was ran at Dover. The oil pump broke… killing engine.”

“Next was our 1st race, Kansas, with our new engine program. Engine 1 broke a valve at beginning of Saturday practice. Then we had a huge amount of issues getting backup engine to fit. Neither of these engines were sealed at that time and both were destroyed. So we rented one from PME at Martinsville, a piece we ran earlier, but it did not have seals as the heads were removed for maintenance. So it was sealed at Martinsville, however, it saw fire damage and could not be used at Texas.”

“I went to Texas with a fresh engine, knowing we had plenty of sealed engine starts on the #66. Not knowing we were classified as a part time team. The official told a person on the crew I had to be sealed in Texas at the Martinsville race. I had no sealed engines and I knew we had plenty of sealed starts. Not realizing we are part time classified by NASCAR. During Xfinity practice I was called to the Cup hauler. My engine is not sealed and therefore not eligible to qualify.”

“I pleaded my case. I have destroyed all my sealed engines. My backup is not sealed, and the one in my Phoenix car is not sealed.”

“At this time we will be out of Cup racing. I can’t run at Phoenix without a sealed engine. So I will not be able to go to Homestead as I don’t have one ran at Phoenix. I could run a sealed engine from another team, but unfortunately their prices are usually more than we can afford.”

“The sponsors have been great in supporting us. I don’t see them remaining with us. What we do receive is just not enough $ to rent another engine and pay the race cost..”

“Unless something happens unexpectedly.. We are done in Cup for 2018. I hope to build on 2019 with 2 cars at Daytona in Cup (yes, I’m still stupid) and 2 Xfinity cars… Thanks to Brian Keselowski and his crew for getting more speed out of the car. And Chris Sumner for all the countless hours and devotion he has put into these engines. Rocky at Powersource Engines for investing in this dream of our own engine program..”

“Please no comments until after 8 am Saturday. I am going to sleep and need to leave phone on for alarm and do not want to listen to notifications of comments and likes while trying to sleep, thanks.”

More

Texas Motor Speedway: Starting Lineup (NASCAR Cup Series)

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Carl Long Motorsports | Timmy Hill | Texas Motor Speedway | NASCAR

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