NASCAR is indeed an expensive sport and that is not a debate. According to reports, a NextGen stock car can cost anywhere between $125,000 and $400,000. For the record, the price of a Lamborghini Huracan ranges somewhere between $249,865 and $348,773, which explains how costly a NASCAR car can be. Therefore, it's needless to say that for every team, the car is one of their biggest and most precious assets.
But NASCAR is a dangerous sport as well. There is a reason they say ‘rubbing is racing.” In every nook and corner of it lies the chance of contact. Therefore, the cars are susceptible to damage right from the beginning to the end of the race. On that note, what do the teams do with a car that gets so damaged that it cannot be repaired at all?
NASCAR Cars Fate when Damaged Beyond Repair
A few months ago, Joe Gibbs Racing posted a video that answers that question. The first step is to carry the car to the R&D center to evaluate how bad the damage actually is. This usually happens when the damage is really gruesome. “In this scenario,” said the video, “we don’t even have to worry about getting the car into the hauler.” So what can be done if the car is not going to be loaded into the haulers?
“We get to cutting, parts are sawed off to help the car fit,” they explained. “Option three is when the race is close enough to the shop we can use one of our flatbed trucks.” As heartbreaking it might be watching the mechanics saw parts out of the car’s body, this is the brutal truth of NASCAR. However, certain areas on the body of the car are made fragile on purpose, and here's why.
The human body is the most delicate element inside the car when it's running on the racetrack. So whenever there is a bad crash, and the hood of the car doesn't crumble as the contact ensues, the direct force resulting from the collision directly affects the driver and renders serious damages to his or her body. So when the car is made brittle, it's because the nose of the car absorbs the maximum shock and crumbles, leaving as little force as possible to go on and harm the driver.
What Happens to a NASCAR Car After The Race?
In an earlier interview, veteran crew chief Chad Knaus admitted that the used cars are always recycled. There are very rare occasions when the cars are thrown away into the bin entirely. “A car has to be pretty bad if we say it's a 'do not resuscitate.” said Knaus. “We send everything out to be recycled.”
However, there happen to be a few special cars that cannot be recycled. Some of these cars are parked today at Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Dirty Mo Acres farm in Mooresville, one of which is the Chevrolet that 4X Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon drove to victory lane in the 1997 Daytona 500. Cars like these are the epitomes of history itself and are priceless.
Are NASCAR Engines Destroyed after every race?
It's not an unknown fact that the engine on a car is rebuilt before every race. So what happens to an engine after it has run its course? In short, even they are recycled. The bits and pieces are sent to scrapyards like Gordon or Foil's, Inc., in Harrisburg, where they are pressed into metal sheets, which can then be amalgamated into new steel.
FAQ's On NASCAR Teams
A. In simple words, they are recycled.
A. Every team has two cars, one is the primary car and the other is a backup car.
A. The engines are rebuilt after every single race.
A. Other than the central section or sometimes even the three main chassis sections, everything on a car can be changed before every race.
A. A NASCAR engine lasts for about 800 miles.
