This is the Statt Mann Baby. Time to Scatt a little bit.

Saturday night’s NASCAR winner in Kansas, Martin Truex, won in a Toyota.

But maybe the story of the young season is the performance of the Fords in the NASCAR Cup series. Eight of the top 15 drivers are in Fords led by Brad Keselowski who’s third in the standings.

That’s a far cry from recent years when Roush Fenway carried the Blue Oval in the middle of the field.

NASCAR Ford V8

Imagine my surprise, though, when I read in the Motorology Facebook group that the Ford FR9 engines in NASCAR are pure racing engines that have no connection to anything that comes from any Ford assembly line.

As was said in the Motorology post: “The current Ford, Chevy, and Toyota NASCAR engines are far more similar to each other than to any production V8s.”

That’s troubling. Don’t we want the National Association of Stock Car Automobile Racing to be about stock cars racing? Maybe it should be Spec Car Automobile Racing. Maybe it’s the spec racing that’s driving away fans.

Or maybe we should look at the race results as participation results, like Little League. If the manufacturers demand to trade their dollars for trophies, maybe the fans are right to trade their dollars for better TV.

Peace.