Some of you "conspiracy theorists" are really out in left field. Larry's engine "lost" a pushrod tip on the burnout. He backed up and shut it off thinking that it might have been a fuel/carburetor problem. He shut off the fuel pump and re-started the engine. It still had a terrible miss so he shut it off rather than risk more severe engine damage. Even though some of you say that you can't believe it, for the last few years pushrod tip failure has been a very real problem in Pro Stock engines. For a long time the rocker arm manufacturers were taking the heat for having "bad" adjusters. Several very smart people have addressed the issue, and tip failure is less of a problem now. Some of the things that they have tried are: Different hardnesses on the tips, different radius/shape on pushrod cup, different coatings, changing ball diameter on rocker arm adjuster, etc. I don't know another Pro Stock driver who is more eager to race (disregarding poor track conditions), than Larry Morgan. If he could have made the pass without causing severe engine damage, he would be in the second round at Gainesville.
Thanks, Ollie
Thanks, Ollie