WELCOME, N.C. (March 15, 2024) The NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series seasons are in full swing. After four races in the 2024 season for the Cup and Xfinity Series, the stats speak for themselves on the power of ECR engines. For instance, winning consecutive Xfinity pole positions at Daytona and Atlanta with RCR’s No. 2 driver, Jesse Love, winning consecutive Xfinity races at Daytona and Atlanta with RCR’s No. 21 driver, Austin Hill, and then winning the Atlanta Cup race with Trackhouse Racing’s No. 99 driver, Daniel Suarez, ECR Engines 2024 season is off to a great start.
In total, ECR has two wins, nine top-five finishes and 14 top-10 finishes in the Xfinity Series. In the NASCAR Cup Series, ECR Engines has taken home one checkered flag, four top-five finishes and seven top-10 finishes. ECR went out and swept the weekend on Sunday after winning what is arguably the most historical NASCAR finish in history. Trackhouse Racing’s No. 99 Chevrolet driver, Daniel Suárez, crossed the stripe on the outside of a three-wide group by just .003 seconds. Two of the three cars in the three-wide finish were powered with ECR Engines, the other one being Richard Childress Racing’s No. 8 Chevrolet, driven by Kyle Busch. In total, ECR Engines has taken home one checkered flag, four top-five finishes and seven top-10 finishes in the NASCAR Cup Series.
“We started off the season on a really high note,” said Bob Fisher, Senior Vice President of ECR Engines. After Atlanta, the NASCAR teams headed out west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Phoenix Raceway, the very track where ECR Engines ended the 2023 season with driver of Trackhouse Racing’s No. 1 Chevrolet, Ross Chastain, winning the last race of the season.
ECR had high expectations going back to Phoenix this year, but their teams didn’t have the performance we were expecting. Keep in mind, this year race teams ran the new aero package mandated by NASCAR; however, it will not be utilized at Bristol,” said Fisher.
That aero package is going to put a premium on handling according to Fisher. The aero package that was utilized last fall in the No. 1 winning Chevrolet was different from the one used this spring. While it influenced the racing in Phoenix, hopefully the Chevrolet teams will refine and optimize the balance of the cars.
“It will reduce the racing line to a single line so hopefully it highlights or accentuates engine performance even more. Basically, the rear diffuser has been adjusted by reducing the number of elements on it according to Vice President and COO of ECR Engines, Matthew Wiles.
While the NASCAR Cup Series will race this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, the Xfinity Series will take the weekend off and return to COTA next weekend, where ECR has had lots of success in the past, having won multiple NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series races at that track.
“We have strong drivers that typically perform well at COTA in both series,” said Wiles. Looking ahead to the next few races on the schedule, ECR is confident they will finish the season as strong as they started it.
After COTA, the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series will head to Richmond where the same package used in Phoenix was run, “Going to Richmond is going to be an unknown. As far as our engine performance, we’re not concerned at all. We know we have a solid package that’s going to be effective and will perform well. Based on development data, we do not believe that we need to make wholesale changes with this package,” said Fisher.
“We’re just trying to piece together some things to better understand the new downforce implications,” said Fisher. ECR Engines will work with their teams, abstract the data, information, and unitedly strengthen their programs.
So far this season, ECR Engines have powered 12,200 miles in the Cup Series and 13,100 miles in the Xfinity Series. Tune in for all the Bristol Cup Series action beginning on Saturday with practice and qualifying at 5 p.m. EST on FS1. Sunday’s race will air on FOX at 3:30 p.m. EST.