How to Buy Used NASCAR Parts—Cheap!

Jesse KiserAuthor
Feb 3, 2020

One Multi-Million-Dollar NASCAR Team's Trash Can Be Your Treasure

Imagine building your project car with Dale Earnhardt Jr. 's old tachometer, Joey Logano's rear axle, or Jimmie Johnson's trailing arms. Used race parts are out there, and you don't have to wake up for an early morning auction to find them.

Quicker than a race car can be built, it can be disassembled and parted out. According to those in the industry, 90 percent of a NASCAR race car can be recycled and repurposed, so we decided to go dumpster-diving in NASCAR country to see if it's possible to recycle last season's race car into this year's project car.
Imagine bragging to your friends that your switches came out of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car.

How to Buy a NASCAR Engine

When a sanctioning body changes its spec rules, the market floods with leftover parts. Take, for instance, the Chevrolet SB2 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Seriesspec engine, which was introduced in 1998 and replaced by the R07 in 2007.
"At one time, we had a lot of them," said Dennis Borem, manager at Pro Motor Engines (PME). "That's starting to dwindle, but there's a big market for street rods." The SB2 engine is currently allowed in the Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity Series."It's pretty easy to get 800 hp out of an SB2," Dennis said. A well-worn engine may be scored for as low as $5,000 to $8,000, but typically, a refurbished SB2 from PME is $10,000 to $20,000.

The SB2 is designed for racing with lightweight pistons rings that seal best with frequent high-rpm use. A PME repurposed street engine features thicker piston rings and dished pistons to lower the 12:1 compression. Dennis also recommends a more low-end-friendly camshaft.

An engine built with new parts—which are rare, as Chevrolet has ceased manufacturing SB2 components—goes for around $30,000 to $40,000.

"It's hard to beat a small-block Chevy, though," Dennis said. "But the person we sell the SB2s to is looking for something different." Also, the SB2 inherently makes more power. The lower divisions, like Super Late Model, still run 23-degree small-block Chevys that produce 600 hp. A used SBC is $7,000 to $10,000 or new for $20,000 to $22,000.

Of course, there are also the Ford engines: the FR9 Carb, introduced in 2009, and the FR9 EFI engine, introduced in 2012. Nevertheless, they are still in high demand, as the current Ford offering for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (EFI version) and the Xfinity Series (carb version) rely on them. A new FR9 block retails for more than $13,000.
If you were able to get your hands on a Chevrolet R07 engine outside of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, you'd likely want to change the EFI setup. The R07 uses an expensive and sealed McLaren ECU, and the less-than-ideal fuel injector placement is mandated by the rules. One engine builder told us, "They made it crappy for every manufacturer," to keep the injector placement fair amongst teams.Chevrolet manufactures R07 engines, which can be purchased new through one of the licensed race teams, such as Hendrick Motorsports, but it's difficult to purchase a complete engine from a team. For Hendrick, the pistons, oiling system, and camshafts are top-secret bits you can't buy