History of the Dodge Motor and NASCAR

Kurt Busch, driving No. 22 Shell/Penzoil Dodge takes a quick pit stop during August's 2011 Brooklyn, Michigan NASCAR event.

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Dodge, Chrysler and Plymouth have a long and illustrious history in NASCAR, particularly during the company's muscle-car glory years. Dodge has been, in many ways, a victim of its own success in America's most popular racing series. It might even be fair to say that Chrysler's aggressively competitive performance division and its engines have made NASCAR what it is today.

Related Searches: The Early Years

If you don't already know that NASCAR started out as a competition between rum-runners, then consider your rock roof officially rolled away. Early Dodge racers, like those from other marques -- used whatever was available at the time. Chrysler's world-beating FirePower Hemi debuted in 1951, but it was far too expensive for the back-woods boys at the time. It wasn't until 1954 that Lee Petty brought Chrysler a championship with his Hemi-powered New Yorker. Tim flock and Buck Baker conquered the next two years with their Hemi-powered C-300s. Chrysler Corp. pulled its factory backing until 1961, but returned in a big way afterward.

The Wedge

The late 1950s and early 1960s were a transitional time for Chrysler and NASCAR. The old Hemi engine was on its way out, and the new B-series and RB-series "wedge" engines were on their way in. The wealthier teams had already ponied up the cash for Chrysler's newest B-series limited engine, which saw use in 361, 383 and 400 cubic inch forms. The RB-series came along in 1959. Those engines quickly fell into the shadow of Chrysler's Max Wedge 426, a large-bore engine that served as the company's primary performance engine until 1964 and again after the Hemi ban of 1965.

The 426 Race Hemi

What can you say about Chrysler's legendary 426 Race Hemi that hasn't already been said? With its cross-bolted main caps, hemispherical combustion chamber and heavy-duty construction, this engine set more records and won more races than any other single engine in NASCAR history. Race-bred and born for the track, the new Race Hemi propelled Richard Petty to a series of crushing victories during the 1964 season. So crushing, in fact, that NASCAR banned the Hemi until 1966. Ford pitched a hissy fit and left NASCAR until it returned with it's own hemi-head 427 two years later. If you can't beat em.

LA-series and Replacement

The Hemi dominated NASCAR until 1971, when event organizers made a series of regulations changes that forced it into extinction. Engines larger than 358 cubic inches had to use restrictor plates, and by 1974 the LA-series small block had completely replaced the big blocks of yore. The LA block never actually went out of use, it just evolved into the bespoke full-race engine in use today. As of 2011, Chrysler doesn't utilize either the New Hemi of Magnum-series engine in NASCAR. While the newest generation of Dodge race engines can trace their ancestry back to the LA, they don't share a single part in common with Chrysler's now out-of-production V-8.

References"Ultimate American V-8 Engine Data Book, Second Edition"; Peter Sessler; 2010"NASCAR Nation: A History of Stock Car Racing in the United States"; 2010"Dirt Track Chassis and Suspension"; Editors of Circle Track Magazine; 2007Photo Credit Geoff Burke/Getty Images Sport/Getty ImagesRead Next:

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