Breakdown of a NASCAR crash and repair

By the end of Sunday's Sprint Cup race at high-banked, high-speed Dover International Speedway, most — or maybe all — cars will need some serious fixing up. While an entire car costs up to $300,000, ever wonder how much it costs when a bumper gets bumped or an engine explodes? It's not as simple as ordering parts from the local body shop. Huge, mega-dollar teams have cadres of mechanics and fabricators to make parts and rebuild cars from the wheels up before every race. Labor alone may cost 35 percent more than it would for a small team with just a few people doing the same work. And some of the tiniest teams contract with big teams for all repairs. Former crew chief Tommy Baldwin, whose team Tommy Baldwin Racing is in its first full season, estimates the costs of a crash for a small team like his.

  • Costs
  • Crash 1
  • Crash 2
  • Crash 3
NASCAR repairs

Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 56 Toyota, Sonoma, Calif., 2010

Truex was among the leaders until he was spun out by Jeff Gordon, which caused him to drop into a huge pack that ended up in a massive, multi-car wreck.

Truex wreck

Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 Chevrolet, Indianapolis, 2010

Most of this damage came late in the race after Juan Pablo Montoya hit the wall and careened into Earnhardt and Marcos Ambrose.

Earnhardt wreck

Carl Edwards in the No. 99 Ford, Talladega, Ala., 2009

Edwards's car went airborne into the catch fence after being hit from behind by Brad Keselowski on the last lap of the April race. Seven fans were injured by debris.

Edwards wreck

Published Oct. 1, 2011.
Sources: Heather Lumpp of Tommy Baldwin Racing, NASCAR, Richard Petty Racing
Bonnie Berkowitz and Patterson Clark/The Washington Post