Definition Essay

NASCAR’s

There are many different types of race cars. There are Indy Cars, Drag Cars, Gt Cars, Rally Cars, and last but not least NASCAR Cars. The most common and most seen race car in the U.S would be the NASCAR Cars. NASCAR which stands for National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is the most well known and most profitable motorsports company in the United States.
There are many different things that make a NASCAR vehicle an actual NASCAR vehicle. First of all, the term Stock Car in NASCAR comes from early forms of racing where all cars that competed had to have the stock body of an actual production car. This is not true in modern times because of the oil crisis that occurred in the 1970’s which led to production cars having to use smaller engines and thus would not allow stock cars to use high performance engines, which in turn lifted the ruling to allow them to use high performance engines, limited to 5.8 liters.
Stock cars that compete in NASCAR are under very strict regulations. They are checked before and after every race to make sure all competing cars are within standards. Every car is checked for: angle and size of the spoiler, weight, ride height, and use of high speed restrictor plates. Every car’s body lines and shapes are made from templates. To ensure teams don’t change the shape of the vehicles body NASCAR has templates of every team’s car and checks the bodies after every race to ensure that no team has altered the body of their vehicle.
To get more in depth about NASCAR regulated stock cars we will start with the engines. All cars must use a: cam in block, pushrod type engine. Unlike most modern cars today where the camshaft is located over the valves, these engines uses a camshaft in the engine block that pushes actual pushrods that open and closes the valves. All cars must also use a carburetor instead of today’s fuel injected engines.
The bodies of the cars must also fall under exact NASCAR specs. All cars must have special seats which protect the shoulders and rib cage during crashes. All cars must also have roof flaps which help prevent cars from flipping over after going sideways. Every vehicle is also custom built with a full internal roll cage which gives the car full structural support in an accident.
As you can see there a lot of rules and regulation that must be met when constructing a stock car to compete in NASCAR events. The engine, body, and drive train must all pass rigorous tests by NASCAR officials.