Messages In This Thread

• NASCAR news: RCR Racing via their ECR Engine shop building Dodge engines for 2027 season.
  • I'd like to see how they can come up with a new Dodge engine by Feb. '27. Or even a year from now. I sure hope NASCAR isn't letting them use "rebadged" Chevy engines. That would not sit well with most of us old school fans! *NM*
    • The last gen Dodge engine was a worked over NASCAR Chevy motor that was pure race not made by GM (Ilmor)
    • Wouldn’t it be the same as they’re running in trucks? Or is that a different spec. *NM*
      • ALL NASCAR Truck series use Ilnor GM BASED (not really) engine *NM*
    • Aren't the long blocks all pretty much the same? Same bore, same stroke, same cylinder spacing, maybe minor differences in the heads and intake *NM*
      • No, the engines in Cup and O'Reily have to be made by the same manufactuer as the body. If you ever looked at what they are running today, obviously they are not production-based engines. However, they are all different. And no the blocks are not all the same. Nobody tells
        • Supposedly, Dodge got out of NASCAR after Penske, their top team, switched back to Ford. Stellantis said then they would stay in if their was a strong team that wanted to run Dodge.... *LINK*
  • It’s all interesting, but TBH modern NASCAR confuses me a little. They are basically spec cars with absolutely zero in common with anything production, so definitely not “stock cars”. While I understand how they got here (basically safety and parity), it confounds me
    • Obviously, the car/truck manufactuers see value in putting their name on race cars. Don't forget, Chevrolet and Honda have Indy car teams, 5 european manufactuers and Cadillac have Formula One teams. Talk about zero relevancy to production cars! *NM*
      • GM would be better off spending that money fixing their truck engines *NM*
      • Sure, but Indy and F1 are not “stock car racing”. Never have been, nor pretended to be. If a company has an engine program for that type of racing, fine. Put a “powered by” sticker on it.
    • There's new Chrysler vehicle product coming. Long range plan revealed by Stellantis earlier this year, has new vehicles for Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram.{PIC)
      • Interesting. All but one look like SUVs or pickups though. Now that the coupe/sedan is no longer popular (and almost unavailable), maybe NASCAR should flip to SUVs since that’s what many people buy these days. Doesn’t matter, though, I will still watch. *NM*
        • It is teetering on irrelevance for GM, probably close for Ford
          • Good perspective. Thanks! Involvement, however that looks, is always better than none. *NM*
            • We are coming to a difficult time in the industry for sure
              • I think that applies to the world in general, rather than just the auto industry. The switch to renewable energy, i.e. electric cars etc. will turn NASCAR into a nostalgia series, which may not bode well for its future.
                • I feel a lot of that air coming out of the balloon, lately
                  • I feel that is temporary, as in other parts of the world the technology is advancing in leaps and bounds. I see battery technology as the holy grail that might make charging stations a non issue.
        • Re: Interestingly, NASCAR had an electric SUV racer prototype built "for evaluation purposes" in 2024. Don't remember hoiw the fans reacted, but IIRC, Dale Earnhardt jr. was initially 'thumbs down:... *LINK*
          • How did "Formula E" turn out? I don't think it was "successful". I guess I didn't pay any attention to it. *NM*
            • Re: How did "Formula E" turn out? I don't think it was "successful". I guess I didn't pay any attention to it.
          • Thanks for that. It rings a bell but I didn’t pay a lot of attention to it at the time. IMHO, the biggest detriment would be the potential for thermal runaway in the event of a crash. I won’t go into the details, as the info is readily available online, but…