Hi KB,
Yes, things are looking a little bleak so far this year. I think its due to a couple of things. One of which is
that a number of years ago, NASCAR mandated that GM and Ford establish a uniform engine that all teams would use. That is, Ford teams use one type of block and heads (Yates), and Chevy teams would do the same with their engines. This was to be set in stone for years to come. Ford is STILL using that original combination that I think is getting close to 10 years old and actually has its roots to the early 70s. At that time, GM settled on the venerable Chevy small block with new 23 degree valve cylinder heads as their standard bearer. However, not long after that, GM asked NASCAR for a revision for a new head of 18 degree valves, and got it. Ford remained the same. Then a few years ago, GM asked for a WHOLE new engine called the SB2 (which looks a lot like the Ford engine) and got it. Ford was kept the same. About the time GM introduced the new engine, Ford won a few races in a row and NASCAR changed the rules to hurt the Fords on the shorter tracks and also hurt them on the super speedways (spoiler and valence changes). What NASCAR didn't consider is that while this evened out the field temporarily, the GM teams would FURTHER develop their new engine, while the mature Ford engine was about at the peak of its development. This is what I think is happening now. The Fords were slowed down to match with the early SB2 engined cars; but now that the GM engines have been refined and are running HP equalvalent to the Fords, GM has ended up with a total package advantage. Ford has asked NASCAR for a slight enhancement to their heads, but have been denied. It always seems that in NASCAR and other sanctioning bodies, if Fords start to win regularly, something needs to be adjusted; however, if GM wins regularly, everything is as it should be! On top of this, we have Dodge with a clean sheet of paper, pure racing engine that is early in its development. I guess its some consolation to know that GM abandoned the layout of the vaulted small block Chevy to copy the Ford's.
66 Fastback
85 GT Hatchback
67 Coupe
82 GT Hatchback