A peak at a 410 sprint car engine.

It’s not uncommon for a World of Outlaws team to have 6 engines. It is a big expense. It’s a very hard lifestyle as well. David Gravel has a YouTube channel and it allows good insight as to life on the road with one of these cars. After you race and sign autographs it’s time to load only until you reach the nearest car wash. They unload, wash the car, reload, then drive - usually many hours to reach the next town you race in. Maybe get to bed around 4 am. Back up at 9. Unload the car at the hotel parking lot, service the car, set the valves, look at the oil filter. Put the nights setup on the car and reload. Get to the track by 2 to get in line when the pit gate opens at 3. Get in the track, unload, prep and put heat in the engines around 5 pm to do it all over again. Rinse and repeat 90 nights per year!

David
 
Next up will be the Chili Bowl.

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Back in the mid-late eighties I was a crew member for Jim Nace in Central PA. Charlie Garrett got his start in sprint car engines with Nace and has been building some of the best 410s for years. When Jason Myers’s owned the Outlaws for a few years, he was running Garrett engines.
 
Back in 1986, when they went to iron block 410s in Central PA, Charlie was building 4x4s- GM hi nickel 350 block with a 4 inch stroke. Block was also lightened as much as possible. If I’m remembering correctly those same engines were some of the first with down nozzles, Brodix -11 heads. His shop was absolutely spotless.
 
That is still a common practice for ASCS (360) engines. Most will use a Dart “Little M” block then lighten it. Some take off as much as 40 pounds off the block. While Richard Maskin was with us we could get some of his “blemished” blocks for our friends, to machine as the defects would be machined away.

Most people just run down nozzles. Tim Engler likes to run both up and down.
 
Back in 1986, when they went to iron block 410s in Central PA, Charlie was building 4x4s- GM hi nickel 350 block with a 4 inch stroke. Block was also lightened as much as possible. If I’m remembering correctly those same engines were some of the first with down nozzles, Brodix -11 heads. His shop was absolutely spotless.

Love that head, Dck Gazan built me a 434 small block with a set of those. I couldn't believe how much power it made.

I cant actually type his name because of the censor Block because no one called him Richard....
 
I started going to my local dirt track this past summer and I was hooked. The sprint cars were a big draw for the crowd but I actually enjoyed the regular old dirt trackers. Sprint cars are unique in that they don't use normal transmissions and they had to be pushed around the track to get them going. They were obviously more powerful than the normal dirt track cars but they didn't really go any faster simply because of the track dynamics.

I'm looking forward to the start of the 2023 season at Senoia Raceway - the fastest 3/8 mile track in south (haha, I think they all say that).

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I would agree that a 410 sprint car and a dirt super late model have roughly the same horse power. The difference is in the weight. A sprint car is roughly half the weight of a dirt late model. The wing and right rear tire make a huge impact as well.

Just my $0.02
 
All,

I thought I would share a little glimpse into one of our engines we use as part of our R&D. Having a relationship with Sammy Swindell especially now that he is racing part time vs full time is invaluable. With a bore of 4.133 and a stroke of 3.820 you end up with 409.8 cubic inches. The heads are All Pro who dominates the sprint car world. These are 13 degree heads. The injection is built by Tim Engler (former tractor puller). The butterflies are 2.900 each. These engines run on pure methanol at 16:1 compression. These engines will turn between 8500-9500 rpms. Usually closer to the 8500 mark. We use our BAS 5W40 in these engines. On cool nights when qualifying a 20Wxx may not be your friend. some of our customers will run a 10W50 in the heat of the summer. The cam data will be meaningless for comparison as the cam is a 60mm cam with wheel guided lifters (note bushings). The cam weighs a mild 14 pounds. The end result to the valve is a lift of .791 on the intake (2.200) and .775 on the exhaust (1.600). The spring are 750 pounds open. Here are some pictures. I never get tired of looking at these. These make 920 and 940 HP.

David


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Thanks for sharing David! Not many better sounds than a 410 at full song. I’m about 2ish hours from Knoxville. I try to make a WoO or All-Star show once a year. Super fun to watch!

Just my $0.02
 
Thanks for sharing David! Not many better sounds than a 410 at full song. I’m about 2ish hours from Knoxville. I try to make a WoO or All-Star show once a year. Super fun to watch!

Just my $0.02

Please stay in touch with me. I am always at the Knoxville nationals. You would be welcome to join me. We can perhaps twist Molakule’s arm to come out as well since he is close.

Current weight rule is 1425 pounds with the driver. The cars themselves are very light.
 
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All,

I thought I would share a little glimpse into one of our engines we use as part of our R&D. Having a relationship with Sammy Swindell especially now that he is racing part time vs full time is invaluable. With a bore of 4.133 and a stroke of 3.820 you end up with 409.8 cubic inches. The heads are All Pro who dominates the sprint car world. These are 13 degree heads. The injection is built by Tim Engler (former tractor puller). The butterflies are 2.900 each. These engines run on pure methanol at 16:1 compression. These engines will turn between 8500-9500 rpms. Usually closer to the 8500 mark. We use our BAS 5W40 in these engines. On cool nights when qualifying a 20Wxx may not be your friend. some of our customers will run a 10W50 in the heat of the summer. The cam data will be meaningless for comparison as the cam is a 60mm cam with wheel guided lifters (note bushings). The cam weighs a mild 14 pounds. The end result to the valve is a lift of .791 on the intake (2.200) and .775 on the exhaust (1.600). The spring are 750 pounds open. Here are some pictures. I never get tired of looking at these. These make 920 and 940 HP.

David


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Not much in terms of cooling in those jackets. Cylinders look tuff is it an iron block. I think temps would be my biggest worry an warpage
 
Not much in terms of cooling in those jackets. Cylinders look tuff is it an iron block. I think temps would be my biggest worry an warpage
It's a brodix block you can see it in one of the picts. Dave also mentioned in an earlier post.
 
Not much in terms of cooling in those jackets. Cylinders look tuff is it an iron block. I think temps would be my biggest worry an warpage

They don’t run very warm on methanol. The radiators are pretty small and on cool nights a good portion of the radiator gets a panel in front of it. The blocks do move around a lot. Mostly because they are light.
 
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