What makes a car a NASCAR?

J

jimform2k1

Guest
Hi,

I'm not a serious nascar fan but like watching the races.

With Toyota now onboard and since most of the cars look alike, what exactly makes a stock car, a nascar? The engine block? The manufacturer's name? The chassis? etc...

Is there a site/link I can read more about this?

Thanks
 
Hi,

I'm not a serious nascar fan but like watching the races.

With Toyota now onboard and since most of the cars look alike, what exactly makes a stock car, a nascar? The engine block? The manufacturer's name? The chassis? etc...

Is there a site/link I can read more about this?

Thanks

All the cars must meet the same restrictions on the outside.. So they are essentially the same to the viewer. Just about the only real difference in the cars is the engine.
Betsy;)
 
There are only 3 pieces of a race car that are stock --- bought from the manufacturer

The hood
The top
The deck lid

All the rear-end gears are Ford. Every part of the engine is re-worked. Watching the manifolds being custom cut on the CNC machines is fascinating. The engine rooms of those teams who build their own are so clean I swear you could eat dinner on the floor.
 
Hi,

I'm not a serious nascar fan but like watching the races.

With Toyota now onboard and since most of the cars look alike, what exactly makes a stock car, a nascar? The engine block? The manufacturer's name? The chassis? etc...

Is there a site/link I can read more about this?

Thanks

You have to understand that the word "stockcar" goes back a long time. In the early days, those cars that raced in this series were straight stock, right off the showroom floor. In fact, that is a story about one of the old guys doing exactly that, taking a car off the showroom floor and racing it. Over the years, because of safety, things were changed to make the driver safe, and that even continues to this day. Up until about 10-15 years ago, the cars really bore a good resemblance of those cars on the showroom floor, but with all the safety features installed. When a certain manufacturer began to gain an advantage over the other, NASCAR had to act, or all the sponsorship money and manufacturer's help would leave if the competition wasn't level. What you see today is a result of all of that wrapped up in one. All the cars now have the same shape going through the air with a few exceptions. The engines, while engineered by the manufacturer of the nameplate, all have to be approved and are pretty much equal. (Keep in mind that all of the cars in the Cup series are V8's. You aren't going to find very many Ford Fusion's, Chevy Impala's or Toyota Camry's with V8's. You can find Dodge Charger's with V8's though, but nothing like what you find at the track.)

So you see, the term stockcar now is nothing like what it was in the beginning when the term was first coined.
 
Buck, in 2006 they put the small block chevy V8 in the Montes and impalies. still FWD, but you can now get a v8 in them.
 
well geefunk, thats the way it is , and since i wasnt disareeing with you then whats the point of you commenting to me of why i dont want to argue why. see i knew someone wouldnt leave it alone way to go rookie.
 
well geefunk, thats the way it is , and since i wasnt disareeing with you then whats the point of you commenting to me of why i dont want to argue why. see i knew someone wouldnt leave it alone way to go rookie.

Because there is no point in saying that you disagree if you just leave it at that and decline to comment any further. It just opens yourself up for criticism and hurts your credibility.

Funny that you'd call me a rookie when you're not exactly a veteran yourself.
 
here is a little info on the engines.


Bill Davis racing runs two NASCAR teams, the Caterpillar sponsored No. 22 car and the Amoco sponsored No. 93 car. In 2001 both of these teams were racing Dodge Intrepid cars.

Dodge provides the engine block and cylinder head for the engine. They are based on a 340 cubic inch V-8 engine design that was produced in the 1960s. The actual engine blocks and heads are not made from the original tooling, they are custom made race engine blocks, but they do have some things in common with the original engines. They have the same cylinder bore centerlines, the same number of cylinders and the same base displacement. And like the original 1960s engines, the valves are driven by pushrods (see this page for information of the different types of valve arrangements).

The engine in today's NASCAR racecars produce upward of 750 horsepower, and they do it without turbochargers, superchargers or particularly exotic components. So how do they make all that power?

Here are some of the factors:


The displacement is large -- 358 cubic inches (5.87 liters). Not many cars have engines this big, but the ones that do usually generate well over 300 horsepower.
The NASCAR engines have extremely radical cam profiles, which open the intake valves much earlier and keep them open longer than street cars. This allows more air to be packed into the cylinders, especially at high speeds (see How Camshafts Work for more details).
The intake and exhaust are tuned and tested to provide a boost at certain engine speeds. They are also designed to have very low restriction, and there are no mufflers or catalytic converters to slow the exhaust down either.
They have carburetors that can let in huge volumes of air and fuel -- no fuel injectors on these engines.
They have high intensity programmable ignition systems so the spark timing can be customized to provide the most possible power.
All of the subsystems like coolant pumps, oil pumps, steering pumps and alternators are designed to run at sustained high speeds and temperatures.
When these engines are assembled, they are built to very exacting tolerances (parts are machined more accurately), so that everything fits perfectly. Cylinders are bored to more exacting tolerances than street cars. The crankshafts and other rotating parts are balanced. Making sure that the parts are as close to their exact dimensions as possible helps the engine achieve its maximum potential power and also helps reduce wear. If parts are too big or small, power can be lost due to extra friction or pressure leakage through bigger than necessary gaps.

After the engine is assembled, it runs on the dynamometer (measures engine power output) for 30 minutes to break it in. The engine is then inspected. The filters are checked for excess metal shavings to make sure no abnormal wear is taking place.

If it passes this test, then it goes on the dynamometer for another two hours. During this test, the ignition timing is dialed in to maximize power and the engine is cycled through various speed and power ranges.

After this test, the engine is inspected thoroughly. The valve train is pulled and the camshaft and lifters are inspected. The insides of the cylinders are examined with borescopes (inspects the interior using mirrors). The cylinders are pressurized and the rate of leak down is measured to see how well the pistons and seals hold the pressure. All of the lines and hoses are checked.

Only after all of these tests and inspections are finished is the engine ready to go to the races. Insuring the reliability of the engine is critical -- almost any engine failure during a race eliminates any chances of winning.
 
Because there is no point in saying that you disagree if you just leave it at that and decline to comment any further. It just opens yourself up for criticism and hurts your credibility.

Funny that you'd call me a rookie when you're not exactly a veteran yourself.

why would i care about criticism and why would i hurt my credibility, i didnt say there was or wasnt anything, something, or that thing or this thing. so where is there something thats going to hurt any credibility when there was nothing that i said was in question credible. criticism i can handle with a f@#$ you, but since i have sayed nothing that warrants criticism, or an f!@# you, then theres nothing that can be credible. yep there is plenty of reasons for people to say they disagree with something and feel that they dont want the crap to be a long and drawn out bullsh@# topic they leave it at that. I CAN GIVE AN EXAMPLE: YOU QUESTIONING ME ON WHY I WOULD LEAVE MY COMMENT AT THAT. I TRIED TO LEAVE IT AT THAT LIKE I SAID BEFORE BUT NOW LOOK , YOU HAVE ME TYPING A BUNCH OF CRAP THAT DOESNT NEED TO BE SAID, AND WHY WHEN I SAID LEAVE IT AT THAT. I GUESS YOU EITHER CANT READ OR JUST DONT KNOW WHAT LEAVE IT AT THAT MEANS.
 
Way back in 1958-59 when N.A.S.C.A.R. was originally organized, formed and incorporated by "Big Bill" France the cars raced at that time were "stock": could be bought right off the showroom floor.

The sanctioning body/corporation known as the North American Stock Car Racing Association has through the years morphed into the North American
Spec Car Racing Association aka NA$CAR :sad:
 
Way back in 1958-59 when N.A.S.C.A.R. was originally organized, formed and incorporated by "Big Bill" France the cars raced at that time were "stock": could be bought right off the showroom floor.

The sanctioning body/corporation known as the North American Stock Car Racing Association has through the years morphed into the North American
Spec Car Racing Association aka NA$CAR :sad:

Hmmmm, that's a new one on me. For all I've ever known, NASCAR stood for National Association for Stock Car Racing, and I thought it was formed in 1948. You learn something every day.
 
also, with the new comon template, the hood, decklid, and roof are even now no-longer factory.
 
why would i care about criticism and why would i hurt my credibility, i didnt say there was or wasnt anything, something, or that thing or this thing. so where is there something thats going to hurt any credibility when there was nothing that i said was in question credible. criticism i can handle with a f@#$ you, but since i have sayed nothing that warrants criticism, or an f!@# you, then theres nothing that can be credible. yep there is plenty of reasons for people to say they disagree with something and feel that they dont want the crap to be a long and drawn out bullsh@# topic they leave it at that. I CAN GIVE AN EXAMPLE: YOU QUESTIONING ME ON WHY I WOULD LEAVE MY COMMENT AT THAT. I TRIED TO LEAVE IT AT THAT LIKE I SAID BEFORE BUT NOW LOOK , YOU HAVE ME TYPING A BUNCH OF CRAP THAT DOESNT NEED TO BE SAID, AND WHY WHEN I SAID LEAVE IT AT THAT. I GUESS YOU EITHER CANT READ OR JUST DONT KNOW WHAT LEAVE IT AT THAT MEANS.

You'll want to reference post #13 as a good, quality post. He/she brought facts to the discussion and it was far from a "long and drawn out bullsh@# topic," which you could have done using two methods:

(1) reference post #13
(2) by not posting that you disagree in the first place.
 
You'll want to reference post #13 as a good, quality post. He/she brought facts to the discussion and it was far from a "long and drawn out bullsh@# topic," which you could have done using two methods:

(1) reference post #13
(2) by not posting that you disagree in the first place.


Thanks jeefunk.

by the way i am a he. :)
 
You'll want to reference post #13 as a good, quality post. He/she brought facts to the discussion and it was far from a "long and drawn out bullsh@# topic," which you could have done using two methods:

(1) reference post #13
(2) by not posting that you disagree in the first place.

:einstein: YEP YOU ARE AN EINSTIEN. :einstein:

see the thing here is that people will make a comment and want to leave it at that. there is always one jackass that cant understand what leave it alone means.
 
:einstein: YEP YOU ARE AN EINSTIEN. :einstein:

see the thing here is that people will make a comment and want to leave it at that. there is always one jackass that cant understand what leave it alone means.

BACK OFF or get an infraction!
 
:einstein: YEP YOU ARE AN EINSTIEN. :einstein:

see the thing here is that people will make a comment and want to leave it at that. there is always one jackass that cant understand what leave it alone means.

And, in the same instance, YOU should have never made the post to begin with. If you make a post, don't explain yourself, and say "just leave it at that", well HERE, that ain't good enough. Either post what you want/need to say or don't post at all.
 
I thought that each manufacturer's engine is based on their own small block design.

Dodge 340, Chevy 350, Ford 351 and whatever V-8 Toyota has in their full size truck.

The all have a common 358 cu in displacement.
 
np ;)

I figured you were a he, but I just KNEW if I typed "he" instead of "he/she," you would've been a Samantha that went by Sam!

Well, were it me I'd rather have my sex mistyped than be called a "he/she"...:eek:
 
This was an interesting thread until some assholes ****ed it up. What the **** is wrong with you people?
 
I thought that each manufacturer's engine is based on their own small block design.

Dodge 340, Chevy 350, Ford 351 and whatever V-8 Toyota has in their full size truck.

The all have a common 358 cu in displacement.

I thought more along those lines........
for some reason I thought that they used a hemi block ....or is it the heads?
 
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