Imagine building your project car with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s old tachometer, Joey Logano’s rear axle, or Jimmie Johnson’s trailing arms. Used race parts are out there, and you don’t have to wake up for an early-morning auction to find them.
Quicker than a racecar can be built, it can be disassembled and parted out. According to those in the industry, 90 percent of a NASCAR racecar can be recycled and repurposed, so we decided to go dumpster-diving in NASCAR country to see if it’s possible to recycle last season’s racecar into this year’s project car.
How to Buy a NASCAR Engine
When a sanctioning body changes its spec rules, the market floods with leftover parts. Take for instance the Chevrolet SB2 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series spec engine, which was introduced in 1998 and replaced by the R07 in 2007.
“At one time, we had a lot of them,” said Dennis Borem, manager at Pro Motor Engines (PME). “That’s starting to dwindle, but there’s a big market for street rods.” The SB2 is currently allowed in the Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity Series.
“It’s pretty easy to get 800hp out of an SB2,” said Dennis. A well-worn engine may be scored for as low as $5,000 to $8,000, but typically a refurbished SB2 from PME is $10,000 to $20,000.
The SB2 is designed for racing with lightweight pistons rings which seal best with frequent high-rpm use. A PME repurposed street engine features thicker piston rings and dished pistons to lower the 12:1 compression. Dennis also recommends a more low-end-friendly camshaft.
An engine built with new parts—which are rare, as Chevrolet has ceased manufacturing SB2 components—goes for around $30,000 to $40,000.
“It’s hard to beat a small-block Chevy though,” said Dennis. “But the person we sell the SB2s to are looking for something different.” Also, the SB2 inherently makes more power. The lower divisions, like Super Late Model, still run 23-degree, small-block Chevys which produce 600 hp. A used SBC is $7,000 to $10,000 or new for $20,000 to $22,000.
Of course, there’s also the Ford engines: the FR9 Carb, introduced in 2009, and the FR9 EFI engine, introduced in 2012. Nevertheless, they are still in high demand as the current Ford offering for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (EFI version) and the Xfinity Series (carb version) rely on them. A new FR9 block retails for over $13,000.
Chevrolet manufacturers R07 engines, which can be purchased new through one of the licensed race teams, such as Hendrick Motorsports, however, it’s difficult to purchase a complete engine from a team. For Hendrick, the pistons, oiling system, and camshafts are top-secret bits you can’t buy.
Timing plays an important role in scoring an engine. The Camping World Truck Series and ARCA series both allow the Ilmor Engine NT1 spec engine, which will be mandatory in the truck series next season. Recently, Triad Racing Technology, a supplier of Toyota NASCAR engines, sold off all of its Toyota engine assets, possibly in response to the new rules. Rule book changes, coupled with the rumors of the R07 being replaced in the near future, may soon cause an influx of used engines on the market.
Where and How to Buy
Formerly, the best way to score used parts or tools was visiting a race shop auction (often the ones going out of business). Those are more scarce since used parts houses have sprouted up over the last decade. The major used parts sellers include Hendrick Motorsports Raced Parts, Circle Track Warehouse (formerly 2nd Chance Racing), and SRI Performance (formerly Roush Racing Used Parts). All, with the exception of Hendrick Motorsports, are located in the same town as the majority of the NASCAR teams: Mooresville, North Carolina.
SRI Performance is the largest, with 30 employees in a 40,000 square-feet facility, literally across the street from Circle Track Warehouse’s 20,000 square feet building.
SRI Performance acts as a thrift shop, where its appraisers visit local shops or parts are dropped off. Items are sorted, inspected, cleaned, tested, and tagged. Most electronic items are tested and everything is given at least a basic inspection for breaks, damage, etc. Any broken or worn items are discarded.
Pricing begins at roughly 50 percent of retail. SRI Performance says they don’t necessarily base pricing off demand, but the condition of individual parts. Higher mileage items sell for less.
SRI will trash any worn or unrepairable items, and fix those that can be fixed. Radiators and trans coolers receive soda blasting, a flush, and fresh paint.
Circle Track Warehouse is a much smaller operation, with owner Bryan Rogers, his wife, and one on-call employee. Bryan says he buys parts almost every day, “I generally have about 10 to 12 shops I deal with weekly,” said Bryan. “Other shops prefer I call them monthly or yearly.”
He purchases and inspects everything he sells, but doesn’t do the same prep and refurbishing as SRI Performance. In the case of high-end items like scales and driver A/C units, these are sent back to the manufacturers for inspection and re-calibration. These methods, according to Bryan, allow him to sell parts cheaper than the competition.
One of the largest teams in NASCAR, Hendrick Motorsports, simply sells from in-house through Hendrick Raced Parts. When cars return from a race weekend, they’re torn down, parts are tagged, and placed into cabinets. When the cars are reassembled, parts are checked for dates and miles. If an item has exceeded its usage, it’s sent to Raced Parts for resale. “Every component has a pre-determined life, and we push them to less than 50 percent,” said Mark Anderson, manager at Hendrick Used Raced Parts.
Mileaged Out
All NASCAR parts have a lifespan. For big teams, their lifespan is a fraction of its true use, but once it reaches the teams predetermined amount of race time, those items are considered “mileaged out,” and sent to a used parts warehouse. Everything off a crashed racecar is sold, no matter the mileage.
“Certain components on the racecar can only go a certain amount of laps,” said Karl Altomare Jr., engine tech sales at SRI Performance. “Sometimes what team A thinks is mileaged out, team B—the lower grade team—can use for an entire season.”
For top teams, an inexpensive item like spark plug wires are only raced once. “When you have millions of dollars tied up in a race team, you don’t want to risk it over a $300 set of wires,” said Alex Cummings, marketing specialist with SRI Performance. They sell used for $45 a set and can be used on most small-block applications.
Teams often switch sponsors, which means products, parts, cars, or branding of a competitor must disappear. Metal-working tools and welders are a common purchase. SRI recently sold a batch of 16 welders from a single team.
Late last year, Richard Petty Motorsports switched over from Ford to Chevrolet when it partnered with Richard Childress Racing. Therefore, it sold all Ford cars, engines, and parts to SRI Performance. That was the last major team to sell a fleet’s worth of parts in 2018.
The most common mileaged-out components are driveline expendables like axles, third members, and brakes. They are typically rated for 600 to 1,200 miles, which is 1 or 2 weekends. “An ARCA racer will run that same part for several years after that,” said Bryan.
Ford 9-inch housings can be found for under $100, and locker assemblies $100 to $150. The third members are around $600-$1,200, depending on the condition and quality of components.
“We receive anything a shop has,” said Karl. “We’ve received ice makers, microwaves… whatever is at the shop, they bring in to sell.” When Micheal Waltrip Racing closed its doors in 2015, SRI received the bulk of their team, including a complete gym used for the pit crew.
Ultimately, the best method to purchase parts is to visit the showrooms in person. Items come in and go out of the shops quickly, meaning shop websites aren’t regular updated. Salesmen are often the best resource for scoring parts that are out of stock. They know where the demand is and keep on the lookout.
The end of the year is a good time as shop’s are clearing house. Circle Track Warehouse sponsors a blowout sale every December (Charlotte Racers Expo) as it makes room for an influx of parts they receive.
The parts houses are less like crows waiting for scraps from failed teams, but instead, repurpose items for budget-strapped teams struggling to survive. “These used parts keep a lot of smaller, ‘budget teams’ on the track,” said Karl. If you visit any of these parts houses, tell them Car Craft sent you!
Imagine bragging to your friends that your switches came out of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s car.
So, how do you steal parts that top-level teams have devoted millions of dollars to perfecting? You buy them used. These Autometer 5-inch tachometers sell for around $100.
Some of the most common items sold for street applications are suspension parts, which include the double-wishbone style arms, spindles, and rear trailing arms.
If you were able to get your hands on a Chevrolet R07 engine outside of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, you’d likely want to change the EFI setup. The R07 uses an expensive and sealed McLaren ECU, and the less-than-ideal fuel injector placement is mandated by the rules. One engine builder told us, “they made it crappy for every manufacturer,” to keep the injector placement fair amongst teams.
The SB2 geometry is similar to that of a small-block Chevy, but the oiling system and head design are its major advantages over older engines.
A stack of lower control arms at SRI Performance gives you an example of how plentiful the suspension components are.
Not everything is used at the parts houses. Rule changes, new sponsors, and changed teams result in leftover new parts as well.
SRI Performance advertises that they can build complete plumbing systems in house using used braided lines and its own flaring tools.
Carbon-fiber ducts are plentiful, and can be used for A/C ducting, brake cooling, and routing intake air.
Driveline components are said to be the best deals at the parts houses. These spider gear sets are unopened, still in the box.
Be the first to comment