D&N Motorsports Gears Up For The Start of 2006

Dumfries, VA (March 13, 2006) – D&N Motorsports took to the track today for their third round of testing at Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia.  Two previous test sessions had turned up a few problems with the installation of their new race engine, and had the team struggling to find solutions.

At the start of the day the team concentrated mainly on the fuel system and engine tuning.  Data they obtained from previous tests had suggested a problem with the fuel system in the car.  After an evaluation of the system, the team found several components that needed to be replaced.  They added an additional monitoring device as well, and the system proved to be stable after the first session on track.

Pleased with the performance of the fuel system, Drivetrain Engineer Mark Womack went to work on tuning the engine.  After Womack made a few adjustments to the engine control unit (ECU), Driver Dennis Short took the car back out for its second run.  During that run the problem they encountered during the previous test had resurfaced, but the cause was a little mind boggling.  The problem wasn’t with the fuel system, but with the in car radio system.  Dennis noticed that every time he pushed the button to talk on the radio, the car would stall momentarily until he released the button.  Frequencies from the radio were interfering with the electronics in the ECU and causing the fuel injectors to misfire.

Know they knew the source of the problem, so the team talked through a few different scenarios on what was causing the frequencies to interfere.  The likely cause was in the wiring of some of the electronics in the car.  Correcting the problem would have taken away valuable track time, so the team opted to continue tuning the car and fix the problem later at the shop.

Womack continued to tune the engine while Crew Chief Don Short and Crewmember Mike Leischner went to work on setting up the suspension.  The rest of the day was spent making short runs and trying different suspension settings.  Tire temperature and pressure data were obtained as well, and by the end of the day the team had the car dialed in.

This was D&N’s last test before the start of their season at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio next month.  The team is looking forward to the start of the season, and hoping for good results.

DENNIS SHORT, OWNER/DRIVER NO. 24 SATURN: “The car is completely different now with the new engine.  Breaking and shifting points are different, so I basically have to learn how to drive it again.  We were very fortunate to have Mark Womack build and tune the engine for us.  He is a very talented engineer, and we learned a lot from working with him.”

DON SHORT, CREW CHIEF NO. 24 SATURN: “Today’s test was very productive.  We spent quite a bit of time trying different suspension setting, while Mark tuned the engine.  Dennis not being able to communicate with us slowed things down a little, but we were still able to accomplish the goals we set out to accomplish.”