KNOXVILLE, TN :: Ford Racing released a statement on Wednesday claiming responsibility for installing the wrong camshaft in an engine used by Chad Finchum at Kingsport Speedway. The discovery was made by Kingsport Speedway officials and NASCAR officials after the engine was torn down following a protest from Kingsport Speedway racer Zeke Shell.
Finchum was disqualified after the discovery of the improper camshaft and stripped of his points and the victory.
The statementm released by Mike Delahanty, Sportsman Circle Track Racing program manager, reads as follows:
Ford Racing M-6007-D347SR7 Engine Camshaft Misbuild
On April 15, 2013, Ford Racing engine manufacturer AER assembled a new M-6007-D347SR7 engine (serial number S00663491) with the incorrect camshaft. The engine was incorrectly assembled with camshaft PN449651 (as used in the M-6007-Z363FFT crate engine) instead of the correct M-6250-F303 camshaft prior to sealing. The engine misbuild was traced to a mixup of components at the AER build facility on that day when both the 347 and 363 engines were being built on the same assembly line.
Ford Racing assumes full responsibility for the incorrect camshaft in engine serial number S00663491.
Engine serial number S00663491 was purchased by the James Finchum racing team and raced at Kingsport Speedway. Ford Racing has sold a total of 4 of the M-6007-D347SR7 engines including the Finchum engine. Ford Racing will confirm that the correct M-6250-F303 camshaft is in the other 4 M-6007-D347SR7 engines that have been sold.
This is the first known incident of a parts misbuilt of a Ford Racing 347SR or 347JR Sealed Racing engine since production started in 2006. This is an isolated incident and measures will be put in place to insure against any future occurrences.
Ford Racing apologizes to the Finchum Racing Team and Kingsport Speedway for this error.
“This is just a bump in the road,” James Finchum, father of Chad Finchum and owner of Chad Finchum Racing, said. “We will be back at Kingsport Speedway Friday night and we plan to rally from this to win the championship.”
Finchum currently has an 11 point deficit in the point standings for the Late Model Stock Car division with the disqualification. He would have a 19 point surplus if the win stood.
