Why do some racers put a chevy engine in a ford car?

Why do some racers put a chevy engine in a ford car? - 1

Depending on the type of race car being built, Chevrolet engines are reliable, and parts are readily available.

They like to play head games.

Parts availability, and engine size. A 350 Chevy is preferred over a 302.

I asked a couple guys at a car show.

Chevy engines are cheap!
Some claim the performance parts are not on the market for Ford engines!
But the simple fact is the stock Ford part is often what costs extra money for a Chevy engine.
Take rods. In racing circles they talk about "pink rods". The way this term came about is that the rods are inspected and if not properly post cleaned develop a pink color. GM charges extra for pink rods. All of the rods that go into Ford engines are inspected- so a stock Ford rod is a pink rod.
The complete engine is like that- Ford engines are built to a tighter standard then a stock GM engine.
But most hot-rodders just don't know that!
A typical Ford engine has too small of a carburetor and a restrictive exhaust system.
A typical GM engine has too big a carburetor, but still a restrictive exhaust system.
Fuel injection tends to run the same way.
In all honesty I can get more power cheaper by building a Ford engine. Been there and done that! But none of those I raced against would believe how little I spent on the engine which just beat their high dollar GM counter part.
I had a 221 V-8 in a 62 Fairlane that could take "built" Camaro's. There was no way I could convince the guy I just beat that it was a 221, I'm sure the "stock" two barrel didn't console them any either.

Ford chassis with Chevy engine can be race tuned better than stock for less money

Easier to work on and more readily available parts.