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Ford NASCAR engine. NASCAR engine bay. 1987 Ford Thunderbird stock car engine. Chevrolet NASCAR V-8 motor. Ford V-8 stock car engine. NASCAR, the highest governing body and top level division for stock car racing in the United States, has used a range of different types of engine configurations and displacements since its inaugural season in 1949.
NASCAR logo. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) makes and enforces numerous rules and regulations that transcend all racing series.. NASCAR issues a different rule book for each racing series; however, rule books are published exclusively for NASCAR members and are not made available to the public. [1]
In 1982, NASCAR's then-new second-tier series (currently known as the NASCAR Xfinity Series) competitors began looking at alternatives from the 5-litre based (311 cu in (5.1 L) engines, as in short track racing there was a push for six-cylinder engines to save on costs, with some series allowing weight breaks.
NASCAR eventually adopted a restrictor plate to limit top speeds for the 7.0L engine as teams switched to small-block 358 cu in (5.9 L) engines. NASCAR edited the rules in a way that they hoped would make the cars safer and more equal, so the race series would be more a test of the drivers, rather than a test of car technology. [21]
At racing speeds approaching 200 miles per hour, a modern NASCAR race car can generate enough lift to get airborne if it spins sideways. To keep cars firmly planted, roof flaps were required in 1994. [3] 1994 was also the final year that V6 engines were used in the Busch Series, as many short track series had abandoned six-cylinder engines.
In the next decade, Ford's Mercury brand left, as did Chrysler's remaining brand in Dodge. General Motors had been using four different brands in NASCAR up to 1991, but within three years, Buick and Oldsmobile were no longer represented on the grid. Pontiac survived until 2004, leaving only Chevrolet as the lone General Motors division.
The NASCAR championship season consists of a series of races, held usually on oval tracks, and in a few cases, road courses. [4] Each season throughout NASCAR history has consisted of between 8 and 62 races. [5] The results of each race are combined to determine two championships in each of the top series, one for drivers and one for manufacturers.
Robert Yates, the head engine builder for Junior Johnson's team at the time, noted in an interview with author Tom Jensen for the 2002 book Cheating: An Inside Look At The Bad Things Good NASCAR Winston Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed that the engine was indeed illegal. Petty stated at the time that only three of his engine's eight cylinders ...