The engines used in NASCAR stock cars undergo an immense amount of strain through every race. They function at the highest levels of performance for over three hours and have a making cost in the 6 figures, which makes them expensive components. This makes it natural to be curious if teams will be able to use an engine in more than one race. A fan recently had the same question and Joe Gibbs Racing answered.
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The team revealed that NASCAR mandates that a certain number of engines be used twice in a season. It added, “About half of our engines will be used twice and the other half will be used only for one race. An engine can survive for about two races but we prefer to stick to one. Before their second use engines get some basic maintenance done. We are restricted on what can and cannot be replaced.”
Before 2017, teams could use new engines for every race and would rarely choose to reuse them. However, NASCAR implemented a rule in the 2018 season that mandated 13 short-block engines be used for two races each. This meant that fresh engines had to be used and sealed so that no one in the race shop could tamper with them before their next run.
Teams had a slight breathing space under the provision that they could choose when a particular engine was reused. A key reason behind this move from the promotion was to keep running costs down for the underfunded teams. On the other end of the scale, engine-related failures and penalties have turned out to be a pressing disadvantage since.
The engine procedure before and after the 2018 rule change
Before the 2018 rule was implemented, teams would disassemble every engine after a run and assess its parts, including the crankshaft, cylinder head, and so on, for reuse capability. After the rule came into place, teams couldn’t follow this procedure for every race. The 13 engines that are to be used twice make up for 26 races in a season. Teams are free to use single-time engines for the remaining 10 races.
In the case of a forced engine swap, the promotion levies a penalty and the driver has to restart from the rear of the field. NASCAR engines that have completed their lifecycle are mostly sent to the scrapyard to be recycled back to their constituent state. Seldom does the part of a NASCAR car go to waste and the engines are no different.
