Its not total BS Dustin, just partial

Its the stock block and crank, he just has $700 worth of rods/pistons in it. The crank had been in several motors over the past few years (not to mention being in a stock car for many years) and finally gave up the ghost on the dyno at 800hp. He took that opportunity to build a 3.0 liter aluminum block motor like the one in Sean Carlson's Meguirs Focus (since changed to a Neon).

That car is a heavy pig too in import terms. It weighs 2600 lbs with him in it. The reason is the interior. He still has the dash and door panels in it, plus all the stock body and glass. When I saw that car at Moroso a couple of years ago, he was listening to the Dixie Chicks in the staging lanes

Joe is a really cool laid back guy. He used to be an english school teacher, but quit to go racing full time. His other cars are a low 10 second daily driven Pinto (featured in Hot Rod a few years ago) and a 13 second Ranger with a turbo 2.3 (used to tow the pinto all over the US)

BTW, the Focus had 26 miles on it when he pulled it into the chassis shop and cut the floorboard out of it for the chassis