"The block might be a 1955 model block, but all the pieces around it are all new with new materials and pieces and they are lighter," Lawrence says. "They limit some pieces, but we are still searching for the ultimate valve springs, the ultimate camshafts. You always have guys who figure out how to make it better.
"We have outdated the carburetor, but with a computer system on a fuel-injected engine, it would be easy to get an unfair advantage."
Lawrence says when he started in 1982 an engine could be put together in one day. Today, that work time is up to two days because of the variety of pieces, despite the additional manpower in the engine department. Crankshafts are 20 pounds lighter. The pieces are lighter, but more durable. A fabricator can work four days to build the right oil pan. Teams can spend $800 on oil lines alone.
That is the result of research and development, and how what may seem simple in theory has become more complicated.
"There are teams that bring four or five engineers to the racetrack every weekend," Lawrence says. "We used to never see engineers. But I think fuel injection will be here in less than five years."
When fuel injection arrives is up to NASCAR. But with a research and development center now in place in Concord, North Carolina, NASCAR officials admit fuel injection is an issue that is under consideration.
"It's something down the road," NASCAR President Mike Helton says. "You have to keep an open mind to things like that. There is a place for normally aspirated engines. The uniqueness of motorsports-I don't think there is anything wrong with our relationship with the manufacturers to use carburetors on normally aspirated engines.
"The issue we need to keep an open mind to is: Would it make more sense one day-particularly from the efficiency of the engine, the life of the engine, the cost of the car owner's involvement in engine programs-to have a different engine package than we do today."
Helton says NASCAR Managing Director of Competition Gary Nelson, Charlie Whiting of Formula One, and Brian Barnhart, the vice president of operations with the Indy Racing League, have all discussed how to police fuel-injected engines. The IRL uses rev-limiters, which Helton says is a possibility for NASCAR.
The current carbureted engine may be coming to the end of its life cycle, but what is amazing is how something that is a relative antique can continue to crank out the horsepower.
"I think it's a tribute to the competitors to take something that has been around for so long and continue to make it better," Helton says. "At the same time, I don't think there is anything wrong with using a 1955 V-8 block system in these cars. I think it works well in these cars.
"The conversation is all about, 'What do you do next?' What will determine when we do it is the technology-how we police it. What will drive us is the benefit of the car owners and the competitors and what happens on the racetrack."