Daytona 500: Ford's Specht Thursday quotes

One of the major topics this week has been the consolidation of the Robert Yates and Jack Roush engine departments for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season. Greg Specht, North American Operations Manager for Ford Racing Technology, spoke about how that collaboration would affect other Ford teams in the future.

GREG SPECHT , North American Operations Manager, Ford Racing Technology

"Several of us have been approached and questioned about things like, 'Where can you go to get a Ford engine ?' Or, 'Are the Yates and Roush teams the only ones that will be able to get Ford engines?' We want to make it clear and let everyone know that's not the case at all. The rules of the game here with NASCAR are that a manufacturer has to make their engines available to anybody, including their competitors. Anybody can go to their local Ford store and buy a block, and a head and a manifold, and put it all together, and go racing with it. I want to make it clear that the rules are the same. There are numerous engine tuners out there. Yates and Roush are one of them and among the best, but our equipment is available to anybody who wants to run it."

ALL 8 FORD TEAMS ARE SOMEHOW AFFILIATED WITH YATES OR ROUSH. HOW WOULD IT WORK IF A NEW TEAM CAME IN AND WANTED TO RUN A FORD? WOULD THEY HAVE TO GET THEIR ENGINES FROM THIS YATES/ROUSH ORGANIZATION? "There's not going to be a requirement to go to the Yates/Roush joint venture to get your engines. That's not going to be a prerequisite. I would encourage anybody to do that because, as I said, I think they are making the best engines. But that's not going to be a prerequisite for signing on board with the Ford program."

AS FAR AS THE NUMBER OF TEAMS, ARE YOU CONTENT WITH HAVING 8 OR WOULD YOU LIKE MORE? "We're always ready, willing and able to talk to newcomers to this sport or somebody who is racing another brand now but would like to race a Ford product. We're open to having those conversations, but, quite frankly, we're not recruiting and we're not desperate by any stretch of the imagination. But, certainly, we're always open to talking with people coming into this sport or would want to switch from another manufacturer."

THIS ROUSH/YATES MERGER ISN'T MEANT TO DISCOURAGE PEOPLE FROM RUNNING IT, IS IT? "No, not at all. That is a separate entity. Getting an engine from that activity is totally separate from joining the Ford program."

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