[Ben Hecks]

"NASCAR? Boring technology (pushrod carbureted V8s), mediocre drivers."

You bring up an interesting issue. I think Winston Cup cars now must use a pushrod engine with one carb. Toyota's V-8 is a DOHC design.
Ford's V-8s have been OHC for some years so I assume Ford teams scrounge old blocks from the junkyard to run NASCAR. If OHC engines are allowed, the teams with the obsolete pushrod stuff will be in trouble.

[IowaHawk]

Ford/Chevy/Dodge have legacy pushrod heads for their V8 blocks. The goofy thing is that Toyota will supposedly have to cast 'special' pushrod heads for their Lexus V8 blocks; plus 'special' 4bbl intake manifolds. Cripes, why not make them run 6 volt generators?

[Palmetto]

Ford's V-8s have been OHC for some years so I assume Ford teams scrounge old blocks from the junkyard to run

You are correct, Ford no longer offers any pushrod V8 engines. However, for all the NASCAR teams, the blocks are customed made anyway. Since they all have the same dimensions (bore, stroke, and bore centers), I wouldn't be shocked if the castings all came from the same foundry.

If OHC engines are allowed, the teams with the obsolete pushrod stuff will be in trouble.

If the rules were changed to allow OHC engines AND pushrod engines, the teams would have to weigh any potential penalties assessed to the OHC crowd - displacement limits, weight, restrictors, etc. and decide accordingly. If the OHC engines had an advantage, then Ford and GM could compete quite well - they both make several outstanding examples of DOHC V8 engines in production, and both have extensive DOHC V8 racing experience (Ford in F1, GM in IRL, both in CART).

[B Knotts]

Wow. I didn't realize they required pushrod engines and carbs in NASCAR. That's just stupid. What's the point is using obsolete stuff like that?