What parts of a Nextel Cup race car are actually “stock”?
There is nothing stock on a NASCAR Nextel Cup Car except for maybe the drivers underware! No, they don’t use the commerically available engine blocks or heads or body parts or anything else, except for the car manufacturer logos. The frame and body are all manufactured by the teams and meet NASCAR’s requirements which have nothing to do with Chevy, Ford, or Dodge’s specifications. The body styles are simular on the nose and tail on the older race cars, but not on the CAR OF THE FUTURE which are all built exactly the same. The only difference is in the logo applied to the hood. No, Toyota does not offer a rear wheel drive V-8 powered car and neither does Ford or Dodge. Chevy has the Monte Carlo SS. As an owner, I’m constantly having to purchase parts offered by specific NASCAR approved manufacturers and Chevy, Dodge, and Ford are not on the list. Yes, they do offer some racing aftermarket parts, but we are only allowed to use things like carbs, batteries, ignition systems, and the like.
A stock car is a racing vehicle with the basic chassis of a commercially available automobile. But the similarities between a Ford Taurus racing the Winston Cup and its commercial counterpart are few and far between. We found a great 1999 article by David Miller called “What Makes a Stock Car Stock?” that shed some light on the issue. The main NASCAR stipulation is that a stock racing car must have the original engine block and cylinder heads. Of course, automobile makers are eager to highlight the similarities between stock cars and regular passenger cars. Stock cars have realistic-looking, but fake, headlights (they’re decals) and try to conform to the general profile of passenger cars. Early stock car races were just that — recently purchased automobiles racing around an oval track. While this may have been more true to form, it was also highly dangerous.
