by chad3006 » Wed Apr 30, 2014 12:45 pm
At the time I wrote the original post, I was thinking of something separate and different from damage. The example I was thinking of was the destroked hemi engines used in Trans Am racing in the early 70's. The hemis had for a time dominated NASCAR and drag racing and were poised to possibly dominate Trans Am too. However, the destroking (to keep them in the displacement rules of Trans Am) had a negative effect – they blew up frequently. Many times Dan Gurney or Sam Posey would lead the races for the first several laps, but the engine would throw a rod through the oil pan or something and the race was over for the hemi drivers. In other words the engines had potential to be formidable, but couldn't be pushed too hard or they'd blow – so they were never really contenders in Trans Am racing.
I've read of similar examples in Formula One racing too, where a car was fitted with some new “thing” that potentially made the car unbeatable, but the new device proved too unreliable to be a consistent winner.