NASCAR Car Facts
NASCAR vehicles have come a long way since Red Byron captured the organization's first sanctioned race at Daytona Beach in 1948 driving a 1939 Modified Ford. Today, NASCAR cars are colorful, aerodynamic and fast, nearly defying the meaning of "stock" car.
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Manufacturers
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In the early days of NASCAR, fans could cheer for as many as nine car manufacturers, according to Nascar.com (See Resources). Today, only Dodge, Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota remain in the NASCAR field.
Hardly a "Stock" Car
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Reaching speeds of near 200 miles per hour behind 750 horsepower and equipped with numerous safety modifications, today's NASCAR cars resemble stock or street vehicles in body design only.
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Protecting the Driver
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The NASCAR car frame is designed to provide as much safety for the driver as possible through a structure of steel tubing of various thicknesses. Each type of tubing is selected for a specific purpose, such as to collapse during a crash to soften the blow.
No Assembly Line Fabrication
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NASCAR car bodies are made by hand from sheet metal. NASCAR rules dictate the shape of the vehicles and all cars are built from templates supplied by the organization.
Big Engine Equals Extreme Power
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To reach the top speeds on a superspeedway, the engine in a NASCAR car must be much larger than your family sedan. Dodge, for example, uses a 358 cubic-inch engine in its NASCAR models.
Tomorrow is Here
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NASCAR introduced the Car of Tomorrow in 2007 and all cars in the NASCAR Nextel Cup now use this design, which implemented several new safety features, including a stronger fuel cell to reduce potential fires.
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