Are wrecked NASCAR race cars reused after a crash? JGR explains how teams manage the process

With several close battles through the season, NASCAR fans get to witness contacts ranging from mild bumps to total wrecks in almost every race. Now, Joe Gibbs Racing has answered a popular question from fans, 'whether a car can be reused after a massive wreck?'

Although there are no hard-and-fast budget caps as seen in Formula 1, repairing a new-generation NASCAR race car can add challenges for team owners. While minor repairs can be dealt with easily, major wrecks require a massive amount of time and resources. Apart from certain exceptional cases, each team does its best to salvage as many parts as possible to keep the cost to a minimum.

Joe Gibbs Racing explained the process in a reel on its official Instagram page. The video focuses on Christopher Bell's #20 Toyota Camry which was involved in a multi-car wreck during the FireKeepers Casino 400 race at Michigan International Speedway.

Here's a look at the video from Joe Gibbs Racing's Instagram post, captioned:

"Will a wrecked NASCAR race car be reused?"

As explained in the short video, the race car goes back to the team's shop where it is completely disassembled for verification. After the investigation process, teams discard the damaged parts. Meanwhile, all retained components are reused for the next race weekend.

While the car may look similar to what it was before the crash, the team highlighted that it won't be exactly the same due to the nature of the repair. Bell had shared a post explaining the process of rebuilding a race-winning car on his Instagram page as well.

Apart from saving money, the practice of reusing parts is beneficial to the environment as well, making the sport more sustainable. Also, some special cars are either sent to museums, sold to collectors, or given to drivers as a token of appreciation from the team.

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A brief look at the multi-car crash during the NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 race

While fans were disappointed with rain postponing Sunday's (18th August) FireKeepers Casino 400 race, the event on Monday (19th August) compensated for it by offering several close battles between the championship leaders. The turning point in the race came on lap 116, a few laps after the first restart.

After clearing the debris from the tire blowouts of Joey Logano and AJ Allmendinger, officials restarted the race on lap 113. However, just minutes into the race, Hendrick Motorsports's Kyle Larson lost the rear of his #5 car, resulting in a spin on turn 4.

With the pack still clubbed together after the restart, Larson collected multiple drivers during his spin. The pileup included cars driven by Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace, Todd Gilliland, Chase Briscoe, and Logano.

While Logano, Gilliland, Bell, and Larson DNFed immediately, Buescher, Wallace, and Briscoe somehow managed to continue racing, albeit with damage.

Here's a look at the video of the incident, posted on YouTube by NASCAR:

Larson commented on the incident after a mandatory medical check at the infield center and was quoted as saying (via NASCAR):

“Yeah, I just messed up. You try to get all you can on restarts. I was just trying to funnel myself up the race track. I didn’t want to get stuck on the bottom three-wide. Just got myself in an awkward aero spot and lost it. It’s unfortunate. I made a mistake and cost ourselves a lot of points today."

The incident cost Kyle Larson the lead in the 2024 Cup Series regular championship. He currently stands in fourth place, behind Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, and Denny Hamlin.