NASCAR Engine Suppliers: Where Did They Go?
11 December 1999
NASCAR Engine Suppliers: Where Did They Go? When the NASCAR Winston Cup teams visit Daytona in February there will be plenty of teams, cars, and drivers. But one thing changing in modern racing is the number of engine suppliers. The trend now is for the big teams to supply the smaller teams with engine programs that cost about $2 million for a season. The Roush, Yates and Hendrick engine programs are expected to power about 20 cars at Daytona. About 15 suppliers will provide engines to nearly all of the field at races in 2000. Richie Gilmore, head engine builder at Dale Earnhardt Inc. and former Hendrick Motorsports engine builder, said the number of engine suppliers will continue to dwindle in the coming years with both positive and negative effects on the sport. DEI builds its own engines for the #1 Pennzoil Monte Carlo driven by Steve Park and the #8 Budweiser Monte Carlo driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Gilmore On The Dwindling Number of Engine Suppliers: "This number of engine suppliers is as low as it has ever been. Because some of the big teams are supplying the smaller teams you have seen a lot of engine shops in the sport close their doors and layoff employees. We average about 8-10 calls a day from people out of work from places that closed or from people on smaller teams. Those smaller teams just write a check at the beginning of the year and they don't have to worry about buying equipment, overhead, personnel and etc. I think most engine deals now are about $2 million plus the cost of taking an engine tuner to each race whose responsibility is to look after that particular engine. You have to pay for some equipment during the season but that $2 million covers a lot. In the long run we are probably going to end up with just four or five engine suppliers providing engines to the entire Winston Cup field and just a few people standing on their own. I think you will also see a lot more factory support in the future. Especially when Chrysler comes in. General Motors and Ford will have to work even that much harder and focus even more attention on their engines. What is the Effect On Competition? "In a way it will help the competition because you will see some of the smaller teams with engine programs similar to the bigger teams so they have a better chance to compete. I know in the Hendrick case those guys are getting pretty close to what the Hendrick teams are getting. So it's a good deal for those folks buying the engines. By the same token those bigger teams are also going to make a lot of money selling engines. Selling engines creates revenue for the bigger teams to buy the latest and greatest equipment, better engineers, better drivers, and better crewmembers. Selling engines is a business decision. Is It Tougher On The Remaining Building Their Own Engines? "Those of us supplying only one or two teams are always fighting a battle in purchasing parts. The parts that used to take 6-8 weeks for delivery are now backed up to where it takes as much as 14 weeks and it's just because we were bumped further down the list to the big companies. I think we at DEI are eventually going to supply other teams in addition to the Pennzoil and Budweiser teams. It will be something you have to do to compete with the Hendricks, Roush and Yates of the sport. You will have to have a type of rental program to create another avenue for money. It's better than raising your sponsorship fee." The Following Is A List of Engine Builders Plus The Teams It Is Expect To Supply Engines To In 2000 Hendrick Motorsports 8 (#5 T.Labonte , #24 J.Gordon, #25 Nadeau, #60 G.Bodine, #45 Benson, #50 car, #36 Schrader, #00 Jones) Roush Racing 6 (#6 Martin, #99 J.Burton, #16 LePage, #17 Kenseth, #97 Little, #21 Sadler) Robert Yates Racing 6 (#88 Jarrett, #28 Rudd, #23 Spencer, #66 D. Waltrip, #75 Dallenbach, #32 Pruett) Penske Racing 3 (#2 R.Wallace, #12 Mayfield, #? Robby Gordon) Richard Childress Racing 3 (#3 D.Earnhardt, #31 Skinner, #71 Marcis) Bill Elliott Racing 3 (#94 B.Elliott, #9 Bickle, #11 B.Bodine) SABCO Racing 3 (#40 Marlin, #42 Irwin, #7 M.Waltrip) Dale Earnhardt Inc. 2 (#1 Park, #8 Earnhardt Jr.) Joe Gibbs Racing 2 (#18 B.Labonte, #20 Stewart) Andy Petree Racing 2 (#33 Nemechek, #55 K.Wallace) Petty Enterprises 2 (#43 Andretti, #44 Petty) Bill Davis Racing 2 (#22 W.Burton, #93 Blaney) Morgan-McClure Racing 1 (#4 Hamilton) T&L Engines 1 (#27 Eel River Racing) Misuraca-Yarborough Motorsports 1 (#98 Car) Larry Hedrick Racing 1 (#41 Car) Jasper Motorsports 1 (#77 Pressley) AJ Foyt Enterprises 1 (#14 Bliss)