Over the years, countless NASCAR cars have raced on fabled race tracks, broken records, and made history. But after a point in time, these incredible pieces of machinery are set to rest on the sidelines. They often do find life with new owners once they hit the auctions. But out of all the iconic cars that have been auctioned off, which ones had the biggest price tag attached to them?
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The value of a NASCAR race car can be determined by several factors. The most important one would be the name of the driver that once rode it to victory lane. Racecars like Dale Earnhardt Sr’s 1994 Chevrolet Lumina fetched a whopping $1.3 Million in an auction.
Similarly, there have been several more such as – Jeff Gordon’s 1997 Chevrolet Monte Carlo which sold at $1.1 Million. Then there was David Pearson’s 1969 Ford Torino Talladega went to the highest bidder for $1.8 Million. Also Junior Johnson’s 1963 Chevrolet Impala at $2.8 Million.
But possibly the highest auction price tag belongs to the King of NASCAR, Richard Petty. His iconic high aerodynamically shaped 1970 Plymouth Superbird sold for an eye-watering $3.5 Million once.
Tony Stewart’s NASCAR race-driven car sells at an auction
Meanwhile, one of Tony Stewart’s old race cars was recently sold at an auction. But the prices weren’t as interesting as some of the others on the list. The 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix fetched only $15,400. The chassis, which was named ‘Elvira’ was the same one that Bobby Labonte raced between the 1997 and 1998 seasons.
This Tony Stewart 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix sold at Mecum yesterday for $15,400
The chassis was named “Elvira” and was raced by Bobby Labonte in 1997-98
At New Hampshire in July 1999, Stewart led 118 laps in it, but ran out of fuel while leading with two laps to go pic.twitter.com/TSG6yGVILK
— nascarman (@nascarman_rr) January 5, 2024
One of the interesting moments for the car came after Stewart was on his way to win the New Hampshire race during the 1999 season after leading the majority of the race (118 laps). Unfortunately for him, Smoke ran out of fuel during the final two laps of the race. The victory was clinched by Jeff Burton, while Stewart managed to secure himself a 10th-place finish.
Stewart’s racecar might not have been the one when he was at his level best. But it did carry some history within it. So whoever owns the car now would be lucky to have got the same at such a steal deal. After all, not many people can say they own a race-worn NASCAR Cup Series car in their garage.
