Notes: Roush says new engine not ready for 600

CONCORD, N.C. -- After the minor controversy over which Roush Racing teams got to use updated engines with the new Ford cylinder head in last weekend's NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge, only one team will use in Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Ricky Rudd's Wood Brothers team, which has a technical partnership with Roush, will use the new configuration in Sunday's 600-mile event. Roush said the engine is still in development and two of his teams, Greg Biffle and Jeff Burton, turned down the new engine this weekend.

"Do I think they're high risk?" Roush said. "You bet."

COCA-COLA 600 Jimmie Johnson wins his first Bud Pole since October Play video Ryan Newman will share the front row with Johnson Play video  •  Lineup  •  Photo Gallery

Roush driver Greg Biffle caused a stir when he mentioned that teammate Kurt Busch got to use the new engine in the all-star race because he was higher in points than Biffle. Roush said that in a situation where there are limited engines, a consideration is given based on points.

But Roush made a point that there are plenty of the new Ford D-3 cylinder heads to go around.

"We had connecting rods that were scarred on the side due to the interface with the crank shaft on all the engines that ran, and Mark Martin had a broken valve spring in his, so it's definitely not ready for 600 miles yet, and it's not ready for all the teams for sure," Roush said. "It's not ready for prime time in a championship chase."

Roush has an agreement with co-engine builder Robert Yates that provides Yates' two teams with new engines first, and then Roush's teams get them based on points.

Roush also said the new engine shows only 12 more horsepower at the top end of the power band, and virtually nothing more on the bottom.

"We've been working on it," Roush said. "There's a different camshaft. There's a different valve spring. There's a different valve. There's a different cylinder block dimension. There's a different connecting rod. There's a different balance problem on the crankshaft and the crankshaft damper. There's a whole bunch of components that have to be tuned to this cylinder head that have to come on line together."

And that's the delay, Roush said. When will all Roush and Yates teams have them? Perhaps by July.

Hendrick, Evernham differ from Yates/Roush

Hendrick Motorsports and Evernham Motorsports do things a little differently than Roush and Yates when it comes to engine distribution. Both those teams build their own engines, with Hendrick providing engines for its four teams, plus two for MBV/MB2 Motorsports.

	Rick Hendrick

Team owner Rick Hendrick has a five-horsepower rule, where if an engine is not within five horsepower of another engine, it won't be sent out. And each of his teams know exactly what the other teams have.

"We wouldn't bring a head out for one guy without having it for everybody," Hendrick said. "We had one of those situations, and it was a late-night discussion. We just decided that we'd have the parts and pieces for everybody, or we wouldn't run it at all."

Kenny Francis, crew chief for Evernham's No. 19 car driven by Jeremy Mayfield, said Evernham's engine department wouldn't implement new parts until there are enough for both cars. Francis said Evernham's engine department plans for those kind of things at least a month or two in advance.

"We typically don't have to deal with that," Francis said. "We've never really run into any issues like that. Our engine shop tries to get everything proven out and get enough stuff built. By the time they get everything proven out to where they're comfortable with it, there's usually enough stuff for both cars anyway.

"They won't just rush out there and put something on the racetrack without proper testing and making sure they have their bases covered."

Gordon ready for Johnson and Vickers?

	Jeff Gordon

Jeff Gordon will appear on Bravo's "Celebrity Poker Showdown" in July, competing against Angie Dickenson, Kathy Griffin, Penn Jillette and Ron Livingston. Gordon's Hendrick teammate, Jimmie Johnson, said he, Gordon and Brian Vickers have played poker while on vacation.

"We play poker enough on vacations between Vickers and Jeff and myself," Johnson said. "We haven't played in awhile. Nickel bets, of course. I'd have to say it's been a pretty even game so far.

"Jeff said he's honed his skills a little bit after being at that tournament and was able to learn some more tricks of the trade, so we'll have to see. He's one to bluff pretty well. He comes in pretty strong and pushed it all in. We'll have to see what his skills are now."

Johnson: Go ahead and beat that, Chad

Johnson poked fun at crew chief Chad Knaus after winning the Coca-Cola 600 pole Thursday night with only one lap of qualifying. Knaus wondered if Johnson could have run faster that second lap, but Johnson didn't care.

"We didn't run the second lap," Johnson said. "You can go run it if you want."

Vickers needs his beauty sleep

	Brian Vickers

Rookie Brian Vickers got an unexpected wake-up call of sorts during his post-qualifying press conference Thursday night. Vickers was told he was the guest of Nextel's Friday morning question-and-answer session with the media.

"Friday?" Vickers said with a puzzled look on his face.

Oops. That's Saturday, he was told.

"Don't scare me like that," Vickers said. "I was looking forward to sleeping late on Friday."

Most popular driver voting tops 1 million mark

Voting in the Grands Biscuits NMPA NASCAR Most Popular Driver Awards is almost double the totals at this time a year ago. Last year, more than 700,000 votes were cast by the end of May, but in 2004, more than 1.2 million votes have been tallied.

To no one's surprise, Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues to lead, with Gordon second, Kevin Harvick third, Michael Waltrip fourth and Tony Stewart fifth.

Voting, which is done through the Internet, ends Nov. 22. The award is presented during season-ending ceremonies in New York in early December.

Five million reasons to cheer

Most NASCAR fans pledge allegiance to a single driver, but during this weekend's Coca-Cola 600 there will be five million reasons for them to pull for up to six drivers to perform well.

Should the Gillette Young Guns -- Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick -- finish the race in the top six spots, and a consumer correctly picks their order of finish at www.gilletteyoungguns.com, they will be entered into a random drawing to collect a grand prize of $5 million dollars.

If there is a consumer winner, Gillette will also donate $5 million to the National Prostate Cancer Coalition (NPCC) as well.