Jimmie Johnson is king of the mountain until another driver knocks him off—that’s the logic that has made Johnson Sporting News’ pick to repeat as NASCAR Sprint Cup champion for the fifth straight season. His car uses Chevrolet Engines prepared beyond max.

Started three races in 2001. 2002 was his official rookie season which featured three wins (California, Dover, Dover) and five poles. Jimmie finished fifth in the points and still lost Rookie of the Year honors to Ryan Newman.

Jimmie started off his rookie season with a bang starting the Daytona 500 on the pole. He hasn’t looked back since.

His team is partially owned by Jeff Gordon who took Jimmie under his wing to help teach him the ropes of racing in NASCAR’s premier division. In 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 Jimmie has out shined his mentor by posting more wins and running higher in the Sprint Cup point standings.

Jimmie has proven that he has what it takes to dominate the sport. The only remaining question is how many more NASCAR Sprint Cup series championships can he win? Are four more titles within reach?

A Chevrolet has won five of the past seven Daytona 500′s but the past two have been won by a Dodge (Ryan Newman) and a Ford (Matt Kenseth). The past four Daytona 500 winners were first time 500 winners (Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Newman and Kenseth).

Here are some of the main NASCAR engine characteristics that separate them from regular engines:

* The displacement is large — 358 cubic inches (5.87 liters). Not many cars have engines this big, but the ones that do usually generate well over 300 horsepower.
* The NASCAR engines have extremely radical cam profiles, which open the intake valves much earlier and keep them open longer than street cars. This allows more air to be packed into the cylinders, especially at high speeds (see How Camshafts Work for more details).
* The intake and exhaust are tuned and tested to provide a boost at certain engine speeds. They are also designed to have very low restriction, and there are no mufflers or catalytic converters to slow the exhaust down either.
* They have carburetors that can let in huge volumes of air and fuel — no fuel injectors on these engines.
* They have high intensity programmable ignition systems so the spark timing can be customized to provide the most possible power.
* All of the subsystems like coolant pumps, oil pumps, steering pumps and alternators are designed to run at sustained high speeds and temperatures.

When these engines are assembled, they are built to very exacting tolerances (parts are machined more accurately), so that everything fits perfectly. Cylinders are bored to more exacting tolerances than street cars. The crankshafts and other rotating parts are balanced. Making sure that the parts are as close to their exact dimensions as possible helps the engine achieve its maximum potential power and also helps reduce wear. If parts are too big or small, power can be lost due to extra friction or pressure leakage through bigger than necessary gaps.

After the engine is assembled, it runs on the dynamometer (measures engine power output) for 30 minutes to break it in. The engine is then inspected. The filters are checked for excess metal shavings to make sure no abnormal wear is taking place.

If it passes this test, then it goes on the dynamometer for another two hours. During this test, the ignition timing is dialed in to maximize power and the engine is cycled through various speed and power ranges.

After this test, the engine is inspected thoroughly. The valve train is pulled and the camshaft and lifters are inspected. The insides of the cylinders are examined with borescopes (inspects the interior using mirrors). The cylinders are pressurized and the rate of leak down is measured to see how well the pistons and seals hold the pressure. All of the lines and hoses are checked.

Only after all of these tests and inspections are finished is the engine ready to go to the races. Insuring the reliability of the engine is critical — almost any engine failure during a race eliminates any chances of winning.

Although these are racing engines. GotEngines.com puts their rebuilt engines for sale through many of the same pre testing procedures. That is only one way we outperform the competition. Call us @ 1-888-344-8044 for more information on replacement engines.