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Joe Gibbs uses secret motor oil to gain more horsepower
http://blog.al.com/blogoftomorrow/2009/04/did_secret_blend_of_motor...
The Wall Street Journal has an interesting story about how Joe Gibbs Racing has spent about $1 million a year for the past 10 years trying to develop a better motor oil for its cars -- an oil that will help deliver an extra 10 horsepower.
The story relates how the formula for this motor oil is a secret guarded almost as carefully as the recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Joe Gibbs Racing, one of Nascar's richest and most-successful teams, won't say which company assembles its synthetic oil and will only identify the scientists who work on its formula as "William the chemist," who's in charge of formulating the oil, and "Douglas," who used to work for NASA and is in charge of analyzing the team's worn engine parts under a microscope. "I don't want other teams trying to find out who these guys are," says Lake Speed Jr., who runs the team's oil program.
And then it mentions how the team tried something new with its oils last year at Talladega.
Qualifying oils are thinner and faster, while regular motor oils have more viscosity to protect engines longer. Before Talladega last season, Joe Gibbs Racing decided to try thinning out its regular racing oil with a mixture of qualifying oil to eke out slightly more horsepower. After running the experiment by Douglas and William, Mr. Speed got a warning from the two scientists. "You're scaring the hell out of us," they told him. The experiment worked, and one of the team's drivers, Kyle Busch, won.
That would have been the spring race, which Busch won when a caution came out on the last lap.
The Wall Street Journal has an interesting story about how Joe Gibbs Racing has spent about $1 million a year for the past 10 years trying to develop a better motor oil for its cars -- an oil that will help deliver an extra 10 horsepower.
The story relates how the formula for this motor oil is a secret guarded almost as carefully as the recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Joe Gibbs Racing, one of Nascar's richest and most-successful teams, won't say which company assembles its synthetic oil and will only identify the scientists who work on its formula as "William the chemist," who's in charge of formulating the oil, and "Douglas," who used to work for NASA and is in charge of analyzing the team's worn engine parts under a microscope. "I don't want other teams trying to find out who these guys are," says Lake Speed Jr., who runs the team's oil program.
And then it mentions how the team tried something new with its oils last year at Talladega.
Qualifying oils are thinner and faster, while regular motor oils have more viscosity to protect engines longer. Before Talladega last season, Joe Gibbs Racing decided to try thinning out its regular racing oil with a mixture of qualifying oil to eke out slightly more horsepower. After running the experiment by Douglas and William, Mr. Speed got a warning from the two scientists. "You're scaring the hell out of us," they told him. The experiment worked, and one of the team's drivers, Kyle Busch, won.
That would have been the spring race, which Busch won when a caution came out on the last lap.
Views: 34
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by alan4s on
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Color me skeptical.
Sure, winning races is important, but if they've come up with an oil formulation that can really improve HP and/or efficiency by that much, they could make much more money by selling it on the open market. I suspect Coach Gibbs is savvy enough of a business man to know this.
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Permalink Reply by robbyfansinceimsa on
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Joe Gibbs racing oil has been available on the market for a few years at least.
matt
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http://www.joegibbsracingoil.com/ check it out
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Permalink Reply by NIKAL on
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I was going to post the same thing. One of the off-road teams that we helped used Gibbs oil and I use to carry a case with me at all the races we chased for them. I think in some of my teams pit/chase box's we still have a few quarts of Gibbs oil.
I'm sure what you can buy and even the teams that Gibbs Oil supports are not getting the latest and greatest blend that the Gibbs Cup cars are running.
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After posting this I was in the garage and I opened up a few pit box's and sure enough I still have a few quarts of Gibbs oil. The bottles I have are white and instead of the label being a decal it is actually printed or stamped on the bottle. It just says Joe Gibbs Oil and it's blend type. Then written in marker is the actual 20-50 weight. I dont know who wrote that, it could have been the team. I'm thinking these bottles are a few years old and I even know if the oil is still ok? I guess if we need oil in the motor during a race, any oil fresh or old is better then none!
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Permalink Reply by Keith on
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William and Douglas at work...
Bwahahahahahaha!
Hendrick and Roush will biatch loud enough that NASCAR will implement a "oil" rule.
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Permalink Reply by Bigzoom on
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From Jayski.com
$10 Million, Just for Motor Oil: The most advanced piece of technology in a NASCAR vehicle these days isn't its engine, its suspension or anything made of carbon fiber. It's the motor oil. Joe Gibbs Racing has spent about $1 million a year over the past decade to perfect its motor oil. As a result, its engines have squeezed out an extra 10 horsepower, a roughly 2% increase that can be a serious advantage in NASCAR races.With NASCAR increasingly cracking down on the use of technology in the sport to cut costs, motor oil is one of the last places teams can innovate without restraint. Companies like Shell, Quaker State and Mobil also make special oils packed with synthetic lubricants, new polymers and experimental molecules for the teams they sponsor. All this has spawned a culture of secrecy. Shell was so worried about protecting its motor-oil formula that it recently refused to allow used race oil to be sold as a souvenir to NASCAR fans. The concern, a spokesman said, is that someone could "reverse engineer" the used oil to see what its properties are. Joe Gibbs Racing, one of NASCAR's richest and most-successful teams, won't say which company assembles its synthetic oil and will only identify the scientists who work on its formula as "William the chemist," who's in charge of formulating the oil, and "Douglas," who used to work for NASA and is in charge of analyzing the team's worn engine parts under a microscope. "I don't want other teams trying to find out who these guys are," says Lake Speed Jr., who runs the team's oil program.(Wall Street Journal)(4-13-2009) Comment here
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