More than 1 million miles of electronic fuel injection and not a problem
It should come as no surprise that the milestone was decidedly under the radar, given that the switch to EFI itself has been smooth, almost seamless and virtually invisible. Yes, there were issues with fuel pickup, pump configurations, sensors and throttle linkages as teams adjusted to a new computer-based method of supplying fuel to the immensely powerful engines used in NASCAR Sprint Cup racing. But not once in a million miles has the brain of the EFI system, the electronic control unit (ECU), failed, from the electronics supplied by McLaren to the computing power supplied by chip maker Freescale. With its frequency and length of races, NASCAR Sprint Cup racing arguably puts more stress on the engine and the EFI system than any other competitive series.
As a driver puts a car through its paces, the ECU records a wealth of data that can be downloaded and analyzed. In fact, the most visible difference between a carbureted system and EFI may well be the banks of laptop computers teams now set up in their garage stalls. NASCAR Wire Service