That’s not a misprint — indeed the engine in the street stock driven by Noah Samples has run 12 years, without issue. That is until it blew up this past weekend at Sayre Speedway in Alabama, with five laps to go in the 100-lapper. The spectacular failure punched a hole in the oil pan. When the smoke occurred, Samples quickly pulled off the track without any further incident.
“Over those 12 years, [the engine] never got refreshed, at all,” said Samples, of Cordova, Alabama. “All I did was keep the oil changed — I’d run two to three weeks on the same oil [currently Mobil 1 racing oil]. Then, spark plugs and small maintenance that you’d do with a regular vehicle.
“We never took [the engine] apart, doing bearings and rings and that kind of stuff. We were going to do that during this offseason.”
The engine did not sit idle much during that time, either. Samples said he ran it regularly most seasons. Earlier this year, Samples had finally cracked into victory lane at Sayre Speedway with his trusted power plant. He started racing there at age 15 and he’s about to turn 24. Samples saw his father frequent victory lane at the paved oval.
“When you finally get your first win after it takes that long, it’s a good very feeling,” Samples said. “Especially with my dad winning there all the time.”
Speaking of dads, Noah Samples is a dad himself. He and his wife, Madison, have a two-year-old daughter — and just this week he found out another one is due.
Typically, gender reveals for babies use blue or pink smoke. Perhaps his trusted engine giving a smoke show indicated a kid was on the way that they didn’t know was coming.
As far as the car, Noah Samples plans to look over the engine and hopefully repair it for next season. If that’s not possible, he said he has a spare engine that he could prepare for competition.
The Outside Groove Executive Editor has covered motorsports since 2000. His many awards include the 2019 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Jim Hunter Writer of the Year and the 2013 Russ Catlin Award for Excellence in Motorsports Journalism.
