Do NASCAR teams really use Mobil 1?

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Originally Posted by bdcardinal
http://www.ryr.com/wp-content/uploads/NASCAR-Spec-Engine-Maintenance.pdf

This is for the engine built by Robert Yates Engines for the K&N East and West series as as the Pintys Series. They use a similar engine in the Menards ARCA series and the Gander Outdoor Truck Series. All are based on the GM LS engine.

Well there you go! All the mentioned brands + Gibbs are recommended
grin.gif
 
Originally Posted by OVERKILL
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
http://www.ryr.com/wp-content/uploads/NASCAR-Spec-Engine-Maintenance.pdf

This is for the engine built by Robert Yates Engines for the K&N East and West series as as the Pintys Series. They use a similar engine in the Menards ARCA series and the Gander Outdoor Truck Series. All are based on the GM LS engine.

Well there you go! All the mentioned brands + Gibbs are recommended
grin.gif



I know the co-owner of a Cup team, next time I see him I will ask, they run Hendrick engines.
 
Originally Posted by OVERKILL
Well there you go! All the mentioned brands + Gibbs are recommended
grin.gif


From the Yates document list:
0w-50 Mobil One (they gotta mean the 0w-50 "Racing" one),
15w-40 Redline -- must be the red-bottle "40WT race oil", which is technically a 15w-40
XP9 10w-40 Driven (Gibbs),
40wt Amsoil. --- I'm not sure which Amsoil they mean here. I don't see a straight 40 weight Amsoil.
 
Originally Posted by oil_film_movies
Originally Posted by OVERKILL
Well there you go! All the mentioned brands + Gibbs are recommended
grin.gif


From the Yates document list:
0w-50 Mobil One (they gotta mean the 0w-50 "Racing" one),
15w-40 Redline -- must be the red-bottle "40WT race oil", which is technically a 15w-40
XP9 10w-40 Driven (Gibbs),
40wt Amsoil. --- I'm not sure which Amsoil they mean here. I don't see a straight 40 weight Amsoil.


Yes, that was my take as well. Pretty cool to see the M1R 0w-50 on there, it's the only 0w-xx mentioned.
 
Also note that the engine in those series lasts a lot longer than a Xfinity or Cup engine. The Cup short blocks have to run 2 races under the new rules from last season. The engines go back to the builder and are stripped to the short block, and when they dyno them they are within 1-2hp of a fresh one.

They also have 2 versions now, no more restrictor plates, there is a 550hp and a 750hp version depending on which tapered spacer they use. 550hp for tracks 1.366 miles and longer except road courses and 750hp for tracks 1 mile and under.
 
That is true
Like Stewart Haas racing
Penske Teams all use Pennzoil Racing Oil
Everyone else use what works for them
 
Years ago I had a good friend who worked for Mobil. He was in the pits of Nascar and Formula races and said they all used Mobil 1, even the cars that had other oils names on them. (Shell etc.) Things could have certainly changed but back then Mobil was the most advanced synthetic oil. That was before the Castrol lawsuit.
 
I know enough about oil formulation to know that while a typical modern, off-the-shelf of the correct viscosity grade may allow a NASCAR engine to get by without obvious issues, it is not going to perform as well as an oil optimized for the racing application. Even small performance differences are highly valuable in the sport. Off-the-shelf oils meeting current specifications are not performance-optimized for their intended purpose because development and material costs are factored into the chosen formulation. The companies, when making those oils, are trying to maximize profits, not maximize product performance.
 
I've been in the pits....those branded oil bottles that are neatly stacked on a tool cart will sometimes have a different brand of oil in them.

Dump it out and refill with different oil, many are shocked this happens.
 
Originally Posted by loneryder
Years ago I had a good friend who worked for Mobil. He was in the pits of Nascar and Formula races and said they all used Mobil 1, even the cars that had other oils names on them. (Shell etc.) Things could have certainly changed but back then Mobil was the most advanced synthetic oil. That was before the Castrol lawsuit.

Still happens today. Teams will dump out their sponsored oil and refill the bottles with oil of choice...the TV cameras only see the branding on the bottle.

They do not use off the shelf oil...they either use the racing line or a custom formulation.
 
It's likely impossible to know what % of Nascar teams are using Mobil 1. Many are for sure, but they are also using other brands. All of the majors can formulate fantastic racing oils, including Joe Gibbs Racing. An individual from JGR once told me that prior to their development of their own oil, Mobil 1 Racing oil 0w30 was the best they had tested. That was years ago. Castrol, Pennzoil, Valvoline all can formulate top notch racing oils. Mobil has always been a big player simply because they are invested in it. They are a huge player in the oil industry in general with a tremendous amount of resources.
 
The oils recommended for a spec engine sold to the public is very different from what is used in the NASCAR cup series engines. The JGR engines use Driven XP2 which is closest to a 0w-8 oil grade.

KV100 = 5.86 cSt
KV40 = 25.91 cSt
VI = 182
TBN = 1.8
TAN = 2.9
HTHS = 2.02 cP
POE = 12%

I'm not sure what the Mobil 1 and Pennzoil guys are running, but I highly doubt it's anything available to the public, and also highly doubt it's thicker than a 20 grade.
 
Years ago there was an article where Rusty Wallace said they qualified on a special Mobil 1 0w5 oil. All the companies make special blends for certain teams.
 
Originally Posted by buster
Years ago there was an article where Rusty Wallace said they qualified on a special Mobil 1 0w5 oil. All the companies make special blends for certain teams.


I have to wonder if that changed when NASCAR went first with the one engine a weekend rule and now having a short-block last 2 race weekends.
 
It ultimately depends on what oil the engine was developed with. My engineer friend in Indy Car (Castrol sponsored) said his team had Castrol bottles filled with M1.

Since the engine had M1 during development(durability testing..etc) it was too high of a risk to change it to another oil.
 
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